by
Robert J. Paulson

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Prof. A. Felbinger, at that time district school inspector in Mies, published the booklet "West Bohemian Homeland" in 1928. In it he describes in a popular and vivid way "The old mountain town Mies" in a conversation between two pupils. The one, Franz from Haid, who attends the 3rd year of the teacher training institute, gets his cousin Karl from Pfraumberg, who wants to take the entrance examination to the Gymnasium the day after, from the station "Mies-Kladrau" and makes him known with his future school town The purpose of the book set out in the preface seems to be best served by presenting the county town of Mies to the newcomer Karl in the words of the local expert Franz.

"On the way from the train station to the city, the big city brick factory first attracts Karl's attention. When the students walked about 10 minutes on the moderately downhill road between the small, mostly ground-level houses of the suburb, Karl suddenly burst out with a call of delight: in front of him lies the old mountain town of Mies with its clustered houses, the single building , especially the town church and further up the stately building of the teacher training center, stand out. Like a beautiful, large crib, it rises on the left bank of the deeply cut Miesa valley. Franz emphasizes the admiration of Charles with the words: "Our professor of geography claims that Mies is due to its picturesque location, the most beautiful city in West Bohemia."

Meanwhile, both have come to Miesabrücke and stay there a bit. "Here," says Franz, "a wooden bridge was first to cross the river, but between 1555 and 1360, the present bridge with its beautiful tower was built

 

Today's traffic no longer, so that next to her a wide modern bridge is to be built. (Note: A new bridge was built after World War II.) The former Harlaß mill below the bridge is now a power station; it provides the city with light and power. "They now walk through the narrow archway and enter the area of the actual city, namely the" New Town ". On the left side of the narrow street rises a long, high wall, a remnant of the former city wall. Mies was once heavily fortified and its three outer city gates were preserved about fifty years ago.

But now the two have to slow their steps a bit, because the Pragergasse rises quite steeply and is very busy with pedestrians and wagons of all kinds. After passing seven minutes they stand on the big, beautiful ring place. It has the shape of a rectangle (146 m long and 75 m wide) and is surrounded by sticky houses all around. Karl does not know where to look. But then his eyes remain on a large, magnificent building on the west side of the Ringplatz and he asks: "What is that big, beautiful house?" "This is the town hall." It is built in the Renaissance style and has not many peers It was finished in 1543. The ancient painting, called sgraffito, represents an important

It is now home to the chancelleries of the Biirgermeisteramt, the district court and the city's savings bank. "Karl is immersed in the sight of the magnificent building, but then his cousin's remark catches on him Contemplation. "You also have to look at the old, beautiful pipe well, from which the Mieser women and girls make the water for cooking and drinking as they did centuries ago, because Mies does not get a modern water pipe until the next year (1929) . " Karl very well liked the old "Biirgerhauser" standing on the "summer side" of the market square with its high gables and beautiful portals. "The Gafichen there between the pharmacy and the" district headquarters "leads to the archbishop's dormitory. The "Konvikt." In this large two-storied house live many pupils from our homeland. "

"Now look to the right! One of the two large buildings is the Gymnasium, where you will be examined tomorrow. The other is the Volksschule and Burgerschule. "As they approach the two school buildings, the ruin of the former Minoritenkirche stands behind the Burgerschule." The Minoritenkloster was founded in 1253 by Ratimir von Schwanberg, then Burghauptmann von Pfraumberg The corpse of Wallenstein was buried in the crypt of the Minorite Church for two years and four months, and was abolished by Emperor Joseph II in 1785. The church was burnt down seven years later by a lightning strike and has since become one Ruirie: The extensive monastery building to the right of the Bur

gerschule is the dean party. "Franz drew Karl's attention to the war memorial monument, unveiled in 1924, and to the beautiful Mariensdule, both of which make a fancy of the Mieser Ringplatz.

On the way to his apartment Franz led his cousin to the city church. It is a three-nave baroque building with a gothic tower of 51m height. The beautiful ceiling paintings come from the famous painter Dollhopf from Schlaggenwald, who painted them in 1766. Worth seeing are also two family pictures from the years 1583 and 1635 and a beautiful painting from the year 1534, depicting the "Adoration of the Three Wise Men", on the wall of the presbytery.

When they are sitting at the open window of the student's bench after lunch and let their gaze wander across the new town to the beautiful Gries Miesa valley, Franz tells his cousin the most important story of the old mining town:

"Mies owes its origin to the ancient mining on silver and lead. The Czechs therefore call it Stfibro, meaning silver. The first safe news of Mies mining dates back to the 12th century. In a document of the year 1266 Mies is referred to for the first time as a city. It was attached from the very beginning. The Bohemian kings John, Charles IV, and Wenceslas IV furnished it with great privilege, so that it flourished rapidly and became, along with Pilsen, the most important city of Westbohmen.

The Hussite wars took Mies strongly with. Although it could not take Zizka in 1421, but five years later it surrendered to the Hussite army leader Pfibik Klenau, who occupied it for ten years. Emperor Sigismund

tried in the years 1427 and 1431 Mies to recapture, but each time unsuccessful. The German crusaders, whom he had sent to West Bohemia for this purpose, made the surroundings of Mies harder than the Hussites. Only slowly the city was able to recover from the damage of the Hussite war. In the culling of the Bohemian King George of Podebrad against his numerous enemies, Mies faithfully kept his king; therefore he confirmed the old privilege of the city of Mies and gave her a new coat of arms.

In 1497 the city was completely destroyed by a terrible fire, so that it had to be rebuilt. A second conflagration, it was in 1328, destroyed one third of all Hauser.

In the following decades Mies experienced his first heyday due to the large yield of his mines. It was getting rich and could spend a lot of money on its embellishment and fortification. Thus in 1543 the magnificent town hall, in 1565 the beautiful town church and in 1373 the church on the old cemetery were built. Likewise, many wealthy citizens had new, beautiful homes listed. The marketplace and the main streets were paved and the city walls repaired. In place of the old, wooden Miesabrücke you built the current stone bridge. The city bought farms, mills, ponds and groves, and thereby gained rich income. But the heyday of Mies only lasted until the Thirty Years' War. It took part in the collection of Bohemian Protestants against Emperor Ferdinand II and lost after the suppression of the rebellion all his possessions. Not enough, it was pledged by the Emperor to General Ilow, who had eleven years in his possession. (Ilow was murdered in Eger in 1634 with Kinsky, Terzky and Neumann!) Only four villages were returned to Mies after two years by the Emperor.

When the terrible war ended in 1648, the city, once so beautiful and rich, offered a picture of misery. Over a hundred houses were in ruins and many surviving buildings were no longer inhabited. The fortress walls were expired. The once flourishing mining was very low. Neither the township nor the individual citizens had enough money to heal the terrible wounds of the war. Many decades passed before Mies had recovered to some extent from the misery of the war.

 

Farmers and artisans from neighboring Bavaria immigrated to the desolate, almost deserted West Bohemia, devastated by the war. They brought German language and German culture in the Czech area.

 

During the wars of Maria Theresia and during Napoleonic times, Mies suffered from frequent troop movements. The food and lodging of the soldiers always came at a cost.The Napoleonic wars brought new impetus to the Mieser mines. Old lead ores were put into operation and re- purchased. The heyday of Mies mining lasted for several decades, until the sixties of the thirtieth century. The lead came to stand much higher than overseas and was no longer bought; A colliery after Aderen had to cease operations. In the second half of the previous century, the city walls disappeared into the city gates. Today, only the remnants of the former fortification, the so-called Juden- und der Xiörl and the bastion opposite the cemetery, remain.

: the recent decline of the mountain; Mies was forced to reshape his condition. His fishermen were now mainly occupied with agriculture, trade and commerce. Mies became the seat of several authorities, including the political administration. It received a gymnasium and a teacher training center, a barracks. At last, two industrial enterprises, one-piece flagstones and one carpet factory, were established, which created further opportunities for business in Mies. ^ World War brought unspeakable suffering to many families and families. To commemorate the fallen town, a war memorial was unveiled in the autumn of 1924 on the eastern side of the Ringplatz. And yet

 

The terrible war had done something good for the city, it revived the old mining. At the present time (1928), large numbers of funds and modern machinery are being used in large numbers at two places, the Adalbertzeche, not far from the Galgenberg and on the Ronsberg, and many hundreds of men and women earn daily wages. As a result, Mies has again become the most important city in Western Bohemia next to Pilsen. "

In the afternoon, Franz leads his cousin down the steep "Mourning Mountain" to the beautiful Miesa Valley, on the way to the old cemetery.Most tombs of this Godacker, who has been abandoned for 35 years, are covered with tall grass and flowers, many of them with beautifully wrought iron crosses The small Gothic cemetery church dates back to 1573. It used to be the parish church for the suburbanites, and after a few minutes they reach the swimming school and the Rotmühle where the Miesa  River flows there wide and quiet. You cross the brook of the Rotmühlgraben, walk past the abandoned shooting range of the former rifle association and reach the height, where you can enjoy a beautiful view.

 

On their further tour, both visit the ancient Petruskirchlein. In the small cemetery surrounding it, the dead of the villages Wuttau, Wranowa and Swina were buried. The interesting little church because of its remarkable structure was once the parish church of the village Doubrawa, which was destroyed in 142a by the Hussites.

Below the Kirchleins walkers get into the Mieser city park. This stretches for about half an hour on the left slope of the deep, steep Miesatales. You are delighted with the beauty of the park. They do not know what they should rather admire: the steep slopes, the wildly romantic rock groups, the rushing river, the old collieries and dumps on the right Miesaufer or the beautiful promenades. You can stroll here at any time of the year, because wind and weather can not help the walker. It is especially beautiful in spring, when the lilac flowers and the blackbird flutes, as well as in autumn, when the leaves of its trees and shrubs glow in all colors. In the upper part of the park, the Parkbächlein, which forms many small waterfalls and plunges below the brewery into the Miesa, splashes in a deeply hollow rocky bed.

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