Plzen

Best known as the home of the huge Škoda Works armaments conglomerate and the famous Měšťansky Pivovar (Pilsner Urquell Brewery), Plzeň was the second largest city in Czechoslovakia at the time of the Sudetenland crisis. With deposits of coal and iron ore nearby the city became an early center of industry. Plzeň is strategically located in Western Bohemia with a major rail junction and access to four rivers. The city is also situated on the old trade route to Bavaria, which makes Plzeň a stepping stone to Prague. These growing transportation networks drew many Czechs to the city during the 19th Century. By the 1930s most ethnic Germans in the area lived outside Plzeň.