Sokolov, Czech Republic

Sokolov (), Falknov nad Ohří until 1948 (; ) is a town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic, located to the northeast of Cheb. It has about 23,000 inhabitants.
History.
Until 1918, the town was part of the Austrian monarchy (Austrian side after the compromise of 1867), head of the "Falkenau a.d. Eger" district, one of the 94 "Bezirkshauptmannschaften" in Bohemia.
In 1919, the town, being part of the continuous German Sprachraum, was proclaimed part of the Republic of German-Austria, but shortly afterwards became part of the First Czechoslovak Republic.
From 1938 to 1945 it was one of the municipalities in Sudetenland. During World War II, Falkenau was the site of a sub-camp of the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp. The camp at Falkenau was captured by the U.S. 1st Infantry Division on May 6, 1945. Nearly all of the town's population, being Germans, were expelled after 1945. It was renamed "Sokolov" in 1948 in honour of the Battle of Sokolovo in which Czechoslovak soldiers had fought alongside Soviet soldiers on the Eastern Front in World War II.
Sport.
The town is home to a professional football club, FK Baník Sokolov.
Twin towns – sister cities.
Sokolov is twinned with: