1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Tetschen

TETSCHEN, a town of Bohemia, Austria, 83 m. N.N.E. of Prague by rail. Pop. (1900) 9692, exclusively German. It is situated at the confluence of the Polzen with the Elbe, on the right bank of the latter river opposite Bodenbach (q.v.), with which it is connected by a chain bridge (1855) and two railway bridges. The handsome chateau of the counts of Thun (built in 1667–73 and restored in 1788), which occupies a rocky height above the town, was at one time fortified, and was a place of some importance during the Seven Years’ War. It contains a magnificent library, with many valuable MSS. and fine collections of coins and armour. In addition to being the principal emporium for the Austrian traffic on the Elbe, Tetschen has a considerable industry, its products comprising chemicals, oil, soap, cotton stuffs, plaster of Paris, glazed and coloured paper, cellulose, beer, flour and preserved fish.

The town of Tetschen originally lay on the south side of the castle rock, but after its destruction by a flood, it was moved in 1059 to its present site. In 1305 it came into the hands of the knights of Wartenberg, who held it for two hundred years. In 1534 the Saxon lords of Bünau obtained it and introduced the Protestant religion, which was exterminated when, after the battle of the White Hill (1620) the Bünau family was driven out. The lordship was bought from them in 1628 by the Freiherr von Thun, by whose descendants, the Counts Thun, it is still held.