barracks in the time of Maria Theresa of Austria. Her son Joseph II visited Kadaň in 1779. Joseph's reforms also affected town life. The monastery of Minorites was closed and thereafter became the premises of the first Grammar School under control of the Piarists from 1803 to 1823. 1788 saw the inauguration of the town municipal council. Jakob Marzel Sternberger was its first Mayor and held office until 1822. His great-grandson Jacob Sternberger emigrated to the United States in 1850 as part of the first wave of European immigrants of that time (Max Kade Institute). The last great fire damaged the town in 1811 and since then, the historic centre has retained its pattern. After the Revolution of 1848 the letdown town became a district centre. The institute of the district town lasted in Kadaň for 110 years when it was affiliated with Chomutov District. In the second half of the 19th century homeland study activities developed and a number of institutions, clubs and societies were established. The national composition of the Kadaň population was very explicit – over 90% German and only 3% Czech, with a Jewish community as well. 20th century After Czechoslovakia was established on 28 October 1918, most of the German border population was not enthusiastic about becoming part of a new republic with a clearly Slavonic definition. Instead, four regional self-governed states emerged along the borderland, Kadaň declared itself part of German Bohemia. On 4 March 1919, the first assembly of the Austria parliament. This was the occasion for both peaceful and violent demonstrations in the mostly German-populated border cities. In Kadaň, the curfew and martial law was declared and the Czechoslovak military forces were sent in. The demonstration in Kadaň for self determination was the bloodiest. According to Swiss Neue Zürcher Zeitung report of 7 March 1919, 17 persons were killed, 30 badly wounded, and 80 wounded there. Over all, 25 victims were buried in a memorial grave at the central cemetery. It was restored after the fall of communism in 1989. After the Munich Agreement in later September 1938, Kaaden became part of Reichsgau Sudetenland. The local Czech people were forced to move to central Czechoslovakia, the remaining ones and the Jewish community was strongly oppressed. The synagogue was burnt down during the Kristallnacht of 9 November 1939. According to Beneš decrees, after the World War II, the German population was expelled, and