This small town in the Plzeň Region is located 30 km NE of Plzeň at 49°59′35″N 13°32′10″E. Edvard Beneš, the second president of Czechoslovakia, was born in Kožlany in 1884. websiite
photos: The first Jewish settlers arrived before 1672. In the 1700s, probably they established the Jewish cemetery about 2 km from village on "Šibeniční vrch" (Gallows Hill). near the former scaffold. Lined up by the origin wall are tens of ancient gravestones. Jews from Kůzová used the site until 1940 after extinction of the Jewish community. By the first half of the 19th century, the community moved away.Kožlany village was mentioned for the first time in the reign of Wenceslav I (13rd century) when he donated the village to the monastery in Plasy, but exchanged it for another in 1239. His son, Přemysl Otakar II, built a hunting castle and court there. Kožlany is named for Ota Kožlanský, who established the town with agreement of King Jan Lucemburský. Rights were granted in 1351. The ruins of Kozlanský´s citadel are situated on the crag over the confluence of two brooks of "Studený" and "Hrádecký"- foundations, ditch and castle´s mound.(called Angerback). Pottery production in Kožlany dates from the 18th century. In house number 299 a unique technological equipment - palleting furnace from the first half of the 18th century--can be seen. Sculptor Václav Levý (1820-1870) attended this school as a small child after his parents moved to Kožlany. He studied joinery. A vicar encouraged him and let him visit visit the monastery in Pilzen where he became interested in sculpture. Levý taught Josef Václav Myslbek, a founder of the modern Czech sculpture.His marker was situated on the school building six years after his death. The second president of Czechoslovakia, Edvard Beneš (1884-1948), was born here.[ February 2009]