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Transportation and Communication

The original path from Úštěk to Česká Lípa that went through the foothills changed into a real road over centuries. As the foothills on both sides were continually built up the road grew narrower so that the town gates had to be torn down--the Czech Gate in the west was demolished in 1830, also due to its weak and shabby condition, the German Gate in the east was demolished later in 1859 as it hindered the fighting of a great fire in the center because it was too narrow to pass. In the year 1842 the main street was paved. Plain roads were built to the neighboring communities of Konojedy (1852), Habřína (1858), Tetčiněves (1867), Skalka over Ostré (1883) and Lhota (1893). Horse-drawn vehicles were soon too slow and they were replaced by railway. The first private railway from Úštěk to Veneřice over Habřina, Lovečkovice and Velké Březno was put to operation in 1888. The railway was in use until 25 May 1978 when it was replaced with a bus line connection. Nevertheless, part of the line from Velké Březno to Zubrnice was renovated as an attraction for tourists. A railway museum was opened in Zubrnice railway station which is about to move to the upper railway station in Úštěk.

After the construction of a new railway from Litoměřice to Česká Lípa was started in 1898 Úštěk became a small railway junction which is still in operation.

The increasing number of cars on the roads, especially heavily loaded trucks, damage the static condition of houses. Also, the so called "Birds' Houses" in the southwestern part of the town are endangered in the place where the road is quite narrow next to the post office building. That is why in 1971 a by-pass highway was started. Many hops storehouses had to give way to the highway construction and were torn down. Only the storehouse in Vilová Quarter remained preserved. It served as an experimental building for the planned shift of a decanal church in Most. The storehouse was lifted and put on rails and moved 35 meters closer to the railway line where it stands until now.


The Jews

Tourist guide books printed after the Second World War ignored the local Jewish community which was small but very important until the end of the war. The Jews of Úštěk were first mentioned in a document from the year 1523. They were considered inferior because of their faith and way of life and they had no civil rights. They suffered the first serious attack in 1745 when the resolution of the Empress Maria Theresia from 1744 ordered Jews to move from the country which was a signal to looting for some of Úštěk citizens. Partakers of the looting, among them also the mayor, were accused and put on trial at the end of 1745.

The Tolerance Patent from 1781was an important step toward equal rights for Jews. From that year Jews were allowed to be tradesmen, to serve in the army, to build their houses outside assigned territory and to build synagogues for worshiping their God. The first, wooden synagogue which the Jews built according to the newly acquired rights unfortunately burnt down in 1793. In its place a new synagogue was built of sandstone from a nearby quarry. Later, the synagogue was extended and served until the Second World War. It survived the war untouched and was occupied until 1945. After 1948 the synagogue served as rubbish dump and quickly dilapidated. First the pews, then also the rest of the wooden equipment was burnt. The roof was decayed and the structural security of the building became damaged. The nationwide unique synagogue was renovated from initiative of the Prague Jewish community the renovation work starting in 1997. The renovation was financially supported by the state and by the town of Úštěk and is currently about to be completed. The houses adjacent to the synagogue were gradually demolished, the last one in 1946. The Jewish cemetery was situated on a slope under the Lhota village opposite to Šibeniční Hill. It was a burial place for Jews from neighboring communities. After 1948 the cemetery was administered by the town and slowly decayed. Today's municipal leaders decided to transfer the premises to the Jewish community free of charge in order to preserve for the future the place in piety.


Protestants

In the past, the territory around Úštěk was both Evangelical and catholic. The St. Michael Church on the cemetery was originally evangelic. According to an edict from 1627 by Emperor Ferdinand II. part of the protestants from Úštěk were forced to leave the country. After the tolerance patent was issued in 1781 only a small portion of the population avowed themselves to be protestants. One exception was the community of Habřina where most of the people were Evangelical. They bought plots, built a school and agricultural buildings and founded an evangelic cemetery. The preserved documents give evidence that the sphere of action of the local parish reached the northern borders of the country. Most of the inhabitants were German and when they were resettled in 1945, the church community collapsed. The agricultural buildings were sold off, the cemetery closed and the church, the most dominant building in the village, became a ruin. Although the Evangelical Church is not interested in the building, the current owner, i.e. the town of Úštěk, requested that the Ministry of Culture adds it to the list of sites and thus hopes to save it from complete ruin.


Wars and Armies

Úštěk was always to a certain extent, either directly or indirectly, influenced by the wars in which Bohemia was involved. During the Hussite Wars the town was occupied by the Hussite warrior Zikmund of Vartenberk. In the time of the Thirty Year War the headquarters of the Saxon army were located in the town. The Swedish army's headquarters were also placed here. The extensive peasant revolt of 1680 was strongly noticeable in Úštěk. Peasants and cobblers armed themselves and declared disobedience to the authorities of Liběšice. Eventually, the army disarmed the rebels and the leaders of the revolt were sentenced to death on 15 May 1680. The next day gallows were erected in front of the meat bank in the place where the town hall and the drugstore stand today. In the presence of the army and the population, the cobbler Bohumír Heft from Úštěk and Jiří Ringel from Chotiněves and Jan Trčka from Okna were hanged. The town was punished by losing its privileges.

The revolution in 1848 influenced the town very little.

During the First World War in 1914-1918, Úštěk was a military town. The town became the seat of the high command of the 9th infantry regiment of the home defense and of the 9th infantry regiment of the imperial army. The regiments hired men between 18 and 50 years of age who were sent to the front after a short training in a camp near the town. Many buildings, especially hops storehouses, served to accommodate of the recruits. Residential houses served as accommodation for commanders and as command offices. Men from Úštěk and neighboring villages also had to go to the war and hundreds of them did not return back home. There are memorials of the killed soldiers across the villages, Úštěk had the names of its soldiers engraved on stone plates and mounted on the inner walls of the church. They were mainly of German nationality and after 1945 the plates were either removed or transformed into memorials of the WWII victims.

It was particularly Germans from Úštěk who were killed during the Second World War. At the beginning of 1945 the town was bombed by the American Air Force. A number of houses were hit by the air attacks and the shock wave knocked out glass tiles of the municipal church. The last air attack on 8 May and 9 May was most probably made by the air force of the Red Army. The withdrawing troops were attacked when passing Údolní Street, and part of the bombs were probably discharged in order to relieve the load of the aircrafts. Some of them fell to the housing area, others hit the fleeing civilians on the road to Litoměřice, or landed in the fields. More than 20 persons were killed. The chronicle from that time give false evidence saying that the town was liberated by the Red Army. The intentional lie was corrected in 1970 when the local newspaper wrote about the Polish Army that was the first to reach the town in May 1945.

Úštěk saw another military attack even after the war ended. It was in 1968 when the armies of the Warsaw Pact occupied the country. In the early hours of 21 August 1968 a tank convoy came from Habřina, continued to the place where Hotel Racek now stands over a railway bridge and on in the direction of Liběšice. The bridge was damaged, had to be torn down and replaced with a new concrete bridge.