Loket
| Loket | |||
| Town | |||
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| Country | Czech Republic | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Region | Karlovy Vary | ||
| District | Sokolov | ||
| Commune | Sokolov | ||
| Municipality | Loket | ||
| River | Ohře | ||
| Elevation | 427 m (1,401 ft) | ||
| Coordinates | 50°11′19″N 12°45′05″E / 50.18861°N 12.75139°E | ||
| Area | 26.74 km2 (10.32 sq mi) | ||
| Population | 3,177 | ||
| Density | 119 / km2 (308 / sq mi) | ||
| Founded | 12th century | ||
| Mayor | Jaroslav Hlavsa | ||
| Timezone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| - summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Postal code | 357 33 | ||
   Location in the Czech Republic
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 Location in Sokolov District
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| Wikimedia Commons: Loket | |||
| Website: www.loket.cz | |||
Loket (Czech pronunciation: [ˈlokɛt]; German: Elbogen) is a town of some 3,000 inhabitants in the Sokolov District in the Karlovy Vary region of the Czech Republic. From 1938 to 1945 it was one of the municipalities in Sudetenland.
Loket means "elbow" in English. The town is named this due to the town centre being surrounded on three sides by the Ohře River, and the shape the river takes is similar to that of an elbow. The town centre itself features Loket Castle, a 12th-century gothic castle. The town centre is a national monument and as such is preserved from modern developments.
The town plays host to an annual opera festival, which takes place in an open-air amphitheatre with the castle as a backdrop, and also plays host to the Czech Motocross Grand Prix. Loket was also used to portray Montenegro in the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale.
History
Long before 1850 (first Stamp in Austria) and until 1918, the town was part of the Austrian empire, in the Falkenau 18th district (one of the 94 "Bezirkshauptmannschaften" in Bohemia):
References
- Die postalischen Abstempelungen auf den österreichischen Postwertzeichen-Ausgaben 1867, 1883 und 1890, Wilhelm KLEIN, 1967
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
Loket is twinned with:
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Illertissen, Germany