Libočany

Libočany (Libotschan) is a municipality and village in Louny District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 500 inhabitants. It is known as the birthplace of Wenceslaus Hajek, the most renowned Czech chronicler.

Geography
Libočany is located next to the town of Žatec, about 20 km west of Louny and 65 km northwest of Prague. It lies in an agricultural landscape in the Most Basin. The municipality is situated on the right bank of the Ohře River. The Liboc River flows through the village; its confluence with the Ohře is located just beyond the municipal border.

History
The first written mention of Libočany is from 1226, when it was a property of the Premonstratensian monastery in Doksany. In 1770, Václav Karel Schroll of Schrollenberg built a new castle on the site of an older stronghold with a new church and rectory.

Before 1918, Libočany was part of the Bohemian part of the Austrian Empire. In 1919 it became part of the newly independent Czechoslovakia. In 1938, it was annexed by Nazi Germany after the Munich Agreement and administered as part of the Reichsgau Sudetenland. In 1945, the municipality was restored to Czechoslovakia and most of its German speaking inhabitants were expelled.

Beer
The brewery from the 19th century produced beer even for US trade with a stock in New York. The Liebotschaner Beer was among four Bohemian beer brands exported to the USA (the others were Pilsner Urquell, Budweiser Bier, and Michelob). The latter beer, as well as Liebotschaner, was produced in the Saaz hops region. Several local American breweries have produced beer under the name of the village, or abbreviated to Lieb (e.g. Chattanooga Brewing Co. in Tennessee, Stegmaier Brewing Company, or Lion Brewery, Inc., Wilkes-Barre in Pennsylvania; Genesee's Liebotschaner Beer was pronounced best of Rochester's post repeal brews in 1932.

The production of beer in Libočany ended after World War I when the Austrian-Hungarian Empire was dissolved and Czechoslovak authorities took over. The buildings of the brewery were demolished in 1939 (during the era of German occupation of Czech lands). After World War II, in socialist Czechoslovakia, it was replaced by a collective farm.

Economy
Libočany is located in an area known for growing the Saaz hops.

Transport
There are no major roads passing through the municipality. The railway that runs through Libočany is unused.

Sights
The Church of All Saints is among the main landmarks of Libočany. It was built in the Rococo style in 1749–1769.

The Libočany Castle is a Baroque building from 1770. Next to the castle is a park. The castle is privately owned and inaccessible.

Notable people

 * Wenceslaus Hajek (?–1553), chronicler
 * Božena Viková-Kunětická (1862–1934), politician, writer and feminist; lived here in 1921–1934