1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Löcse

LÖCSE (Ger. Leutschau), the capital of the county of Szepes, in Hungary, 230 m. N.E. of Budapest by rail. Pop. (1900) 6845, mostly Germans and Slovaks. The county of Szepes is the highest part of Hungary, and its north-western portion is occupied by the Tátra Mountains. Löcse lies in an elevated position surrounded by mountains, and is one of the oldest towns of Hungary. The church of St James is a Gothic structure of the 13th century, with richly carved altar, several monuments, and a celebrated organ erected in 1623, and long reputed the largest in Hungary. The old town-hall, restored in 1894, contains a Protestant upper gymnasium, founded in 1544, and one of the oldest printing establishments in Hungary, founded in 1585. Bee-keeping and the raising of garden produce are the chief industries.

Founded by Saxon colonists in 1245, Löcse had by the early part of the 16th century attained a position of great relative importance. In 1599 a fire destroyed the greater part of the town, and during the 17th century it suffered repeatedly at the hands of the Transylvanian princes and leaders.