ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA	CZECH REPUBLIC
Středočeský kraj	Central Bohemia region
Okres: Kladno

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Slaný is situated at an elevation of 234 m on the stream Červený potok in the Slaný Plain in the Central Bohemia region, about 25 km northwest of Prague. The municipality has a population of about 15,800 (2019).

The 'Annales Boemorum' (Bohemian Chronicle), written in the early 16th cenrury, record Slaný as having been founded in AD 750, at the site of a salt spring below Slaný Hill (slaný is Czech for 'salty'). The town grew as a result of its location on the trade route between Prague and Saxony. The Benedictines established a hospital here in 1136, together with a church dedicated to St. Gotthard. Slaný was granted the privileges of a town sometime between 1295 and 1305. Slaný was captured by the Taborites in 1425 during the Hussite Wars, and remained in their hands until 1434. Not only did the Benedictine monks have to leave, the town was also one of Hussite holy cities, their preachers expecting it to survive the anticipated end of the world. The town also participated in the Bohemian Revolt that opened the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), housing the family of king Frederick I (Friedrich V as Elector Palatine of the Rhine) who was elected king by the Protestant estates of Bohemia in 1619 but was deposed by the Imperial forces after his defeat in the Battle of the White Mountain (Bíla hora, today in Prague). The Slaný etstates were given to the Industrial development was delayed until around 1860. An important engineering factory was built in 1872 and more followed. The infrastructure and amenities of a modern town have been gradually added since the second half of the 19th century.

The old town hall [left, no. 3704: centre right] with its dominant tower (43 m high) is a prominent feature of the town. The building stands on the site of the original medieval burgher house, donated to the city in 1378. Originally it was a one-storey building with a high stepped gable and a high prismatic tower (already as high as it is today) of square ground plan. A new town hall was built in this site in 1751, which was rebuilt after a fire in 1796. The present town hall was built in 1895–1896 in Historistic Renaissance revival style by the Slaný architect Rudolf Štech. The building is named 'old town hall' today, as the town's administration is now located in the municipal office on the opposite side of the square. Since 1988 the old town hall is protected as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic.

The deanery church of St. Gotthard [far background, barely visible] was founded in the 12th century by Bendictine monks. Before the end of that century, a three-naved basilica had been constructed. The first Gothic phase of construction occurred in the the second half of the 14th century. The Gothic three-nave building was completed by the Hussite Wars (1419–1434). At the beginning of the Hussite storms, the Benedictines were forced to leave and for the next two centuries the Utraquist and later Lutheran priests took over the spiritual administration. Severely damaged by the events of 1425, the church was restored by the mid-15th century. The late Gothic presbytry was added in the second half of the 15th century. Important wall paintings dates from the beginning of the 17th century. The present appearance of the church was influenced by the addition of a Baroque choir, a new staircase to the roof truss at the western façade and also repairs in the last third of the 19th century. The church is listed as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic.

The structure with the triangular roof depicted on the far left is part of the museum, founded in 1885. The museum changed is location several times until in 1940 moved to this place.

[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaný, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slaný; https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radnice_(Slaný); https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kostel_svatého_Gotharda_(Slaný); http://muzeum.slansko.cz/historie/]