Javorník (Jeseník District)

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Coordinates: 50°23′27″N 17°′17″E / 50.39083, 17.00472
Javorník
Javorník u Jeseníku, Javorník ve Slezsku
Town
none
Coat of arms
Country Flag of the Czech Republic Czech Republic
Region Olomouc
District Jeseník
Commune Jeseník
Municipality Javorník
Elevation 295 m (968 ft)
Coordinates 50°23′27″N 17°′17″E / 50.39083, 17.00472
Area 77.43 km² (29.9 sq mi)
Population 3,014 (2006-10-02)
Density 39 /km² (101 /sq mi)
Founded 14th century
Mayor Jiří Štrajt
Timezone CET (UTC+1)
 - summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 790 70
Location in the Czech Republic
Location in the Czech Republic
Location in the Czech Republic
Wikimedia Commons: Javorník
Statistics: statnisprava.cz
Website: www.javornicko.cz/javornik

Javorník (IPA: ['javorɲi:k]) or Javorník u Jeseníku or Javorník ve Slezsku (German: Jauernig) is a town in the Jeseník District of the Olomouc Region in the Czech Republic. It has about 2,900 inhabitants.

Contents

[edit] Early History

The city, which lies in the foothills of Rychlebské Hory (Reichensteiner Gebirges in German), was established under a medieval fortress, what would later become castle Johannesberg, at the beginning of the 14. century. It belonged to the Principality of Neisse Grottkau, which was under the rule of the prince-bishops of Breslau.

From 1428 until 1432, during the Hussite Wars, Javorník and its fort were under siege by the Hussites. They left the village and the fortress in ruins and it was not until early 16. century, when Prince-Bishop of Breslau Johannes V - Johannes Thurzó (1506-1520) - built, on the remains of the old stronghold of Jauernig, castle Johannesberg. During his reign Javorník gained importance as a mining settlement as several silver and iron ore mines were established in the area.In 1549 the village finally became a town and a first school was also established. Unfortunately, in 1576 the town’s growth was hampered as it was ravaged by a fire. The devastation was minor however, compare to the destruction Javorník experienced during the Thirty Years War, especially then in 1646. The settlement was nearly completely destroyed and it was not until eight years later that Javorník became once again a prosperous town, now with a church, school, town hall and a brewery.

[edit] Golden Age

After the Prussian victory in the First Silesian War in 1742, Austria lost nearly all of its Silesian possessions. However, Javorník together with the so-called Bohemian Silesia remained under Hapsburg control. This was a prosperous period for the town. In 1748, Javorník became the seat of the Breslau diocese responsible for the administration of all its properties in the Freiwaldau region and since 1767 also the center of Habsburg government for the Principality of Neisse-Grottkau. At the same time, Philipp Gotthard, Graf von Schaffgotsch, the prince-bishop of Breslau moved his court on the Johannesberg castle and with him Javorník became also the cultural center of Upper Silesia. Among the most famous personalities living there was August Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, renowned Viennese composer and violinist. By 1804, Javorník had 419 homes and over 3100 citizens, more than any other urban area in the region.

[edit] 19th Century

In 1825 a devastating fire once again ravaged the town, destroying 104 of its structures including the town hall, church and most of its industry. Although Javorník was rebuilt, it never regained the same importance in the region as it had during the golden age in the second half of the 18. century. Most of the textile, brewing and manufacturing industries never fully recovered and the city became once again dependent on forestry and mining, chiefly of silver, arsenic and iron. In 1897, Javorník was linked with the rest of the Austro-Hungarian Empire by a local railway, but even that did not revitalize the town’s industries or its overall growth. In 1880 Javorník had the population of 3,362 citizens, mostly German-speaking. This number continued to decline throughout the first quarter of the 20th century.

According to the Austrian census of 1910 the town had 2,052 inhabitants, 1,956 of whom had permanent residence there. Census asked people for their native language, 1,956 (100%) were German-speaking. Most populous religious group were Roman Catholics with 2,019 (98.4%).[1]

[edit] Post-WWII Years

After 1945, under the Beneš decrees most Sudeten Germans were forced to leave Czechoslovakia. Most citizens of Javorník were evicted from their homes and held at several interment camps in the Freiwaldau district. Many of them were also beaten and killed by numerous militias and paramilitary groups with strong ties to the Communist Party and the Red Army[1]. However, scores of families from Javorník were able to leave with the assistance of Cardinal Adolf Bertram and the Wittelsbachs, a noble German family that owned several properties in the area. They worked tirelessly to save many ethnic German families; helping them to flee Czechoslovakia to the British and US Zones in Germany and Austria. The majority of the German population was expelled from Javorník by 1947. Their property was given or sold to the Czech and Slovak citizens under the repopulation programs of the Czechoslovak government.
Following the Communist coup d'état of 1948, Czechoslovakian government confiscated most of the property which belonged to the Roman Catholic Church and the prince-bishops of Breslau, including their farmland and forest holdings. Most of the businesses closed and were moved to larger cities in the region. By the mid 1960s, the only major employers in Javorník were the JZD ( in Czech Jednotné zemědělské družstvo - agricultural cooperative), small manufacturer of metal furniture and a company producing stuffed toys. As the social conditions in the town continued to deteriorate, in the mid 1980s the Communist government decided to build a subsidiary of MEZ Postrelmov, one of the oldest companies in Northern Moravia, in Javornik. Unfortunately after the Velvet Revolution in 1989, the company found it hard to compete in the new economic environment and closed down in early 1990s.

Today after years of neglect, the picturesque town of Javornik is once again thriving and slowly becoming a regional center of business and tourism.

[edit] Administrative parts of Javorník

The following settlements and villages are administrative parts of Javorník:[2]

[edit] Famous personalities born or living in Javorník

[edit] External links

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Ludwig Patryn (ed): Die Ergebnisse der Volkszählung vom 31. Dezember 1910 in Schlesien, Troppau 1912.
  2. ^ State Administration website

[edit] References

  • Gernot, Ludwig und Wolf, Kurt - Jauernig und das Jauerniger Ländchen. Das 2. Heimatbuch des ehemaligen Gerichtsbezirkes Jauernig - 1995.
  • Hosák, Ladislav - Historický místopis Moravy a Slezska v letech 1848-1960 - 1967, Profil Ostrava.
  • Kuča, Karel - Města a městečka v Čechách, na Moravě a ve Slezsku II. díl - 1997, Libri Praha.
  • Pachl, Hans - Jauernig und das Jauerniger Ländchen. Ein Heimatbuch des ehemaligen Gerichtsbezirks Jauernig - 1983.
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Towns and villages of Jeseník District
Bělá pod Pradědem · Bernartice · Bílá Voda · Černá Voda · Česká Ves · Hradec-Nová Ves · Javorník · Jeseník · Kobylá nad Vidnavkou · Lipová-lázně · Mikulovice · Ostružná · Písečná · Skorošice · Stará Červená Voda · Supíkovice · Uhelná · Vápenná · Velká Kraš · Velké Kunětice · Vidnava · Vlčice · Zlaté Hory · Žulová