Jihlava
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jihlava | |||
| Town | |||
 Jihlava City Wall
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| Country |  Czech Republic |
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| Region | Vysočina | ||
| District | Jihlava | ||
| River | Jihlava | ||
| Elevation | 525 m (1,722 ft) | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Area | 78.85 km² (30 sq mi) | ||
| Population | 50,676 (2006) | ||
| Density | 643 /km² (1,665 /sq mi) | ||
| First documented | 1233 | ||
| Mayor | Jaroslav Vymazal | ||
| Timezone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| - summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Postal code | 586 01 | ||
   Location in the Czech Republic
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| Wikimedia Commons: Jihlava | |||
| Website: www.jihlava.cz | |||
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Jihlava (pronounced [ˈjɪɦlava] ; German Iglau) is a city in the Czech Republic. Jihlava is a centre of the Vysočina Region, situated on the Jihlava river (German Igel) on the ancient frontier between Moravia and Bohemia, and is the oldest mining town in the Czech Republic, ca. 50 years older than Kutná Hora.
Among the principal buildings are the early gothic churches of St. Jacob, Friars Minor church of Our Lady and dominican church of Holy Cross, baroque church of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the Municipal Hall and number of municipal houses containing gothic and renaissance details. There is also a Jewish cemetery, containing some remarkable monuments including tombstone of the parents of Gustav Mahler.
An old Slavic settlement upon a ford (first mentioned in 1233) was moved on a nearby hill where the mining town was found (ca. 1240) by king Vaclav I., in the Middle Ages inhabited mostly by Germans (coming mostly from Northern Bavaria and Upper Saxony). Medieval mines surrounded by mining settlement were localized outside the walls of medieval town (local name Stare Hory). According to legend, the silver mines were worked so early as 799. There is, however, no historical evidence for such statements.
In the era of the Hussite Wars, Jihlava stayed a Catholic stronghold and managed to resist in sieges. Later at Jihlava, on July 5, 1436, the treaty was made with the Hussites, by which the emperor Sigismund was acknowledged king of Bohemia. A marble relief near the town marks the spot where Ferdinand I, in 1527, swore fidelity to the Bohemian estates.
During the Thirty Years' War Jihlava was twice captured by the Swedes. In 1742 it fell into the hands of the Prussians, and in December 1805 the Bavarians under Wrede were defeated near the town. In 1860 it became the childhood home of Bohemian-Austrian composer Gustav Mahler, who retained his ties to the town until the death of both of his parents in 1889.
Before 1945, Jihlava was the center of the second largest German-speaking enclave in Czechoslovakia (after Schönhengst/Hřebečsko). After the end of World War II, the German inhabitants were either slain or evicted; it is estimated that hundreds died on the arduous trek to Austria.
[edit] External links
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
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