DEUTSCHLAND	GERMANY
Bundesland: Freistaat Bayern	Bavaria
Regierungsbezirk: Oberfranken
Kreis: Hof

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Hof is situated at an elevation of 495 m on the river Saale in northern Bavaria. The municipality has a population of about 45,900 (2011). In order to distinguish the place from others of the same name, Hof is frequently, though not officially, named Hof an der Saale or Hof in Bayern.

The place originated in the 11th/12th century and was first mentioned in a document of 1214. The new part of the town was founded in 1230. Although Hof was destroyed by a large fire in 2199 it obtained the status of a town already in 1319. In 1373, the bailiffs of Weida sold Hof to the Burgraves of Nuremberg (later Margraves of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, Brandenburg-Bayreuth and Brandenburg-Ansbach). In 1792 Hof became part of Prussia. During the Napoleonic wars it came under French administration in 1806, and finally became part of the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1810.

Hof was connected to the railroad system in 1848 when the lines to Neuenmarkt in Bavaria and Plauen in Saxony were opened. The railway line to to Eger (today Cheb, CZ) followed in 1865. The railway station [top picture] was built in 1880 after the old station had become to small. The representative building consists of two main buildings since Hof was a border station between the kingdoms of Bavaria and Saxony. The connecting building, called 'Königsbau', was built for official representatives of the two countries.

The Theresienstein-Gebäude [bottom left] was built in 1902 in Art Nouveau style. The Fröhlichenstein park was renamed for Queen Therese Charlotte, consort of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, on the occasion of her visit in 1836.

The ruins on the Labyrinthberg [bottom right] were created artificially after 1875. The only really old part is a Gothic archway that had survived the fire destroying the old castle in 1743.

The Town Hall (Rathaus) [left, no. 1686] was built in 1566 in Renaissance style after the previous building had been destroyed by fire in 1562. The town hall was destroyed by fire in 1625 but was rebuilt in Baroque style after the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). When the characteristic tower was damaged by fire again in 1690 it was rebuilt and heightened by the addition of another storey so that it became a bell tower. A large fire destroyed the town hall again in 1823. When it was rebuilt the original walls and vaultings could be reused for the construction, but the style of the decorations this time was Neo-Gothic. Some of the decorations were removed after World War II.