The City Cham
City of Cham
Our town received its name from the river Chamb, which begins near Bohemia and flows through the Cham-Further sink to the river Regen. The convenient location, a major trade route to Bohemia, had many advantages. In the year 976, Cham was mentioned ("civitas, quae Camma dicitur") for the first time. Already around the year 739 monks of St. Emmeram in Regensburg built in Chammünster the first and oldest House of worship in the area of the Upper Bavarian Forest. Between the 12th and 13th centuries the "new Cham" moved to its present Location.
In the following period trade and commerce flourished, so that Cham could agree mutual custom exemptions with Regensburg, Nürnberg and Breslau. The Hussite wars (1419 - 1436) led to big destructions and a decline of the economy and trade.
In 1489, nobles founded an association against the Duke of Bavaria. In the Thirty Year War Cham was destroyed again. After the Pandur leader, Franz Freiherr von der Trenck, our city had conquered, he let them plunder and pillage for three days. Warlike events, as well as ten town fires destroyed Cham repeatedly. But the citizenry, which had its best representatives especially in indigenous crafts, built up the city always again with diligence, tenacity and real sense of community. Nicholas Luckner, a citizen of cham, became well known through his military career. He was elevated to the rank of count and finally appointed Marshal of France. 1792 Rouget de Lisle dedicated to him the Marseillaise, the French national anthem today.
After the construction of the railway 1861 in the city started on a significant economic upturn. The Prince-Regent period 1886-1912 was also a time for bourgeois prosperity in Cham . It was abruptly ended by the First World War with 152 dead citizens.
On April 18th 1945, British planes bombarded the train station area and the western part of Cham. Here more than 60 people were killed. Five days later, American troops occupied the city. In the following years many refugees especially from Silesia and the Sudetenland came. The population grew quickly from 5,860 to over 10,000.
After the currency reform of 1948, construction activity continued quickly , which gave way to today's district Cham-West. In the following years, Cham became a university town. Today Cham is a commercial, educational, government and garrison town of about 17,000 inhabitants. It combines within its walls harmoniously the old and the new.
In addition to a rich history, the city has also a diverse and beautiful forest landscape in the Eastern Upper Palatinate.
