Province of German Bohemia

Province of German Bohemia
Provinz Deutschböhmen (German)
Unrecognised province of
the Republic of German-Austria
1918–1919

  Province of German Bohemia as shown within the claimed territories of German-Austria.
CapitalReichenberg
Area
  Coordinates50°46′N 15°4′E / 50.767°N 15.067°E / 50.767; 15.067
 
 1918
14,496 km2 (5,597 sq mi)
Population 
 1918
2,350,000
History 
 Established
29 October 1918
10 September 1919
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Austria-Hungary
First Czechoslovak Republic
Today part ofCzech Republic

The Province of German Bohemia (German: Provinz Deutschböhmen [ˈdɔʏtʃbøːmən] ; Czech: Německé Čechy) was an unrecognised province in Bohemia (in the present-day Czech Republic), self-proclaimed by a group of German-speaking deputies of the Imperial Council of Austria on 29 October 1918 at the end of the First World War. With the proclamation, the German-speaking deputies from northern and western parts of Bohemia attempted to secede from the First Czechoslovak Republic (which had declared independence from Austria-Hungary on 18 October 1918), and sought to attach themselves to the unrecognised Republic of German-Austria.

The proclaimers laid claim to parts of northern and western Bohemia, at that time primarily populated by ethnic Germans. Important population centers within the envisioned province were Reichenberg (now Liberec), Aussig (Ústí nad Labem), Teplitz-Schönau (Teplice), Dux (Duchcov), Eger (Cheb), Marienbad (Mariánské Lázně), Karlsbad (Karlovy Vary), Gablonz an der Neiße (Jablonec nad Nisou), Leitmeritz (Litoměřice), Brüx (Most) and Saaz (Žatec). The land claimed for the province would later be associated with the "Sudetenland".