Cheb Things to Do

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St. Vitus, the church of the former Dominican monastery, is located a few steps west from the main parish church St. Nicholas. It was built 1674 - 88. No steeple as usual for Dominican churches. The buildings of the former monastery were turned into an administrative and cultural centre: municipal offices, library, small theatre and such.

You can peek inside the church through the wrought-iron grating - quite beautiful Baroque interior.

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St. Nicholas is the main parish church of Cheb. The oldest parts - western portal and lower storeys of the towers - date from the Romanesque era (around 1230), the choir was built in early Gothic style (1270). A fire destroyed the interior in the 18th century, it was rebuilt in Baroque style according to plans of famous architect Balthasar Neumann (who was born in Eger in 1687).

Entrance fee, buy a combined ticket with the municipal museum, castle and galleries. No photography inside.

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Emperor Friedrich I. Barbarossa commissioned the construction of the castle in Cheb in the 2nd half of the 12th century. Since Albrecht von Waldstein was murdered in Cheb the castle remained uninhibited, in 1734 the French troops destroyed most of the castle.

One leftover - beside the palas (no roof anymore) and the Black tower - is the two-storey Romanesque chapel St. Erhard from the 12th/13th century. The lower, darker chapel was for the domestic service personnel, the upper chapel was for the Emperor and is more elaborate, brighter with marble pillars carrying a Gothic vault.

Closed on Mondays. Combined ticket with the municipal museum, galleries and church(es).

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Right behind Stöckl, on the northern side of the Market square, is the townhouse of the former Mayor Pachelbel from the 17th century where Albrecht von Waldstein (Wallenstein) was murdered on 25th February 1634 upon order by Hapsburg Emperor Ferdinand.

Nowadays the house is home to the municipal museum. It has exhibits on the history of the town and region from the medieval age to 1945 - the most recent history after WWII is left out, if on purpose or not I cannot say. A large department is dedicated to the 30years war and Albrecht von Waldstein.

Open daily except Monday, buy a combined ticket for all the museums, galleries and church in Cheb - much cheaper. No photography inside.

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The picturesque complex of 11 medieval, small townhouses in the lower (northern) part of the Market square is called "Stöckl" (Spalicek in Czech). These townhouses form two small blocks between them running a 1.6 m wide dark alley.

Wooden shanties were first mentioned at this place in 1273. They were replaced by merchant houses built of stone in 1320. A third block of those small townhouses was torn down later. Most of the walls and inner structures are still from the Gothic era.

Nowadays there are a couple of craftwork shops and a cafe in the houses.

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The Market square - nowadays named after a Bohemian King "Namesti krale Jiriho z Podebrad" - is the showpiece of the town. The townhouses on the square are mostly restored (at least the facades) and with its non-regular ground plan and slight descent to the North it makes a picturesque ensemble.

One of the outstanding houses are the former town hall (pic 4), a Baroque building that was erected 1722-28 after plans of Giovanni Battista Alliprandi and is home of a picture gallery (20th century) now. To its right side is the so called Schillerhaus, a former inn where Friedrich Schiller stayed when he did research for his work "Wallenstein" in 1791.

Also on the eastern side of the square, but at the northern end, are two beautiful houses (pic 5): The Schirnding house with Gothic portal and gable and the Gabler house with roccoco facade, where Goethe once stayed.

It is a pity, that I came rather late in the evening to Cheb, and everything was closed already.
At least I could see this great old carriage - obviously formerly used for funerals - in the entrancehall to the town-museum of Cheb.

Schirdingerhaus is another important building of Cheb / Eger.
It has a rather small front with a great gable and a lovely court with arcades.
In this house Albrecht von Waldstein ( = Wallenstein ) was killed on feb. 25th, 1634.
Since 1874 thousands of visitors get there to see this place in the museum.

When you click on my picture , Schirdingerhaus will be on the right, the narrow building with the highest roof.