Plauen was already settled in the Bronze Age, but the first written record of the city was in 1122, when the oldest church (named "Johanniskirche") was build. About 1224 Plauen has get the Town privileges. 1632 a big part of the city was destroyed in the Thirty Years' War. Since about 1830 Plauen grow because of the textile-industry. In the Second World Warabout three quarters of the city was destroyed by the United States Army Air Force and the Royal Air Force.