Liberec

Liberec
City
Liberec Town Hall
Flag
Country  Czech Republic
Region Liberec
District Liberec
Elevation 374 m (1,227 ft)
Coordinates
Area 106.1 km² (41 sq mi)
Population 103,737 (As of 2007)
Density 978 / km² (2,533 / sq mi)
First mentioned 1352
Mayor Jiří Kittner (ODS)
Postal code 460 01
Location in the Czech Republic
Location in the Czech Republic
Wikimedia Commons: Liberec
Website: www.liberec.cz

Liberec (Czech pronunciation: [ˈlɪbɛrɛts]  ( listen); German: Reichenberg) is a city in the Czech Republic. Located on the Lusatian Neisse and surrounded by the Jizera Mountains and Ještěd-Kozákov Ridge, it is the fifth-largest city in the Czech Republic.

Settled by German and Flemish migrants since the 14th century, Liberec was once home to a thriving textile industry and hence nicknamed the "Manchester of Bohemia". For many Czechs, Liberec is mostly associated with the city dominant Ještěd Tower. Since the end of 19th century the city poses a conurbation with the towns Vratislavice and Jablonec nad Nisou, which are its suburbs. Therefore the total area with suburbs covers 150,000 inhabitants. This creates Liberec the third largest city (with suburbs) in Bohemia after Prague and Pilsen.

Contents

History

Liberec was first mentioned in a document from 1348, and from 1622 to 1634 was among the possessions of Albrecht von Wallenstein. After his death it belonged to the Gallas and Clam Gallas families. The cloth-making industry was introduced in 1579. The prosperous local industry was interrupted by the Thirty Years' War and a great plague in the 1680s. The Battle of Reichenberg between Austria and Prussia occurred nearby in 1757 during the Seven Years' War.

At one time the second city of Bohemia,[1] the city developed rapidly at the end of the 19th century and as a result has a spectacular collection of late 19th century buildings; the town hall, the opera house, and the Severočeské Muzeum (North Bohemian Museum) are of significant note. The Opera House has a spectacular main curtain that was designed by the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt. The neighborhoods on the hills above the town center display beautiful homes and streets, laid out in a picturesque Romantic style similar to some central European thermal spas.

After World War I, the Lands of Crown of Bohemia, consisting of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia one of the parts of Austria overthrowed the Hapsburg rule to became independent. All those lands had mixed population of Czech and German language; some Germans refused to be incorporated into Crown of Bohemia, citing Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points and the doctrine of Self Determination. An independent Sudeten German provinces of Austria was briefly formed with Reichenberg as the nominal Capital. Therefore, Czechoslovak Army occupied with no military clashes the whole area of the secessionist provinces and reintegrated them into Crown of Bohemia which was renamed to Czechoslovakia.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Liberec became unofficial capital of Germans in Czechoslovakia. This position was underlined by foundations of important institution, like Buecherei der Deutschen, a central German library in Czechoslovakia, and by failed effort to relocate German (Charles) University from Prague to Liberec.

The World Crisis devastated the economy of the area with its textile, carpet, glass and other light industry. High number of unemployed people, hunger, fear of future and ignorance of Prague government led to the flash rise of populist SdP Party founded by Konrad Henlein, born in the suburbs of Liberec. However he declared fidelity to the Republic, he secretly negotiated with Adolf Hitler. In 1937 he radicalised his views and became voluntarily Hitler's puppet in order to destabilise and occupy the Czechoslovakia, which was an ally of France and was one of the leading weapon producers in Europe. The city became the centre of Pan-German movements and later the Nazis especially after the 1935 election, despite it had an important democratic major Karl Kostka (Deutsch-demokratische Freiheitspartei). The final change came in summer 1938, after the radicalisation of the terror of the Sudeten German Party (SdP), whose death threats forced Karl Kostka and his family to flee to Prague.

In September 1938, after two SdP's unsuccessful attempts of Nazi coup in Czechoslovakia which were suppressed by police and army, finally the Munich Agreement of 1938 changed the city to the capital of the Sudetengau within Nazi Germany. Most of the large city's Jewish and Czech population fled to the rests of Czechoslovakia or were expelled. Precious synagogue was burned down. After the World War II, the liberated town became again a part of Czechoslovakia and nearly all of the city's German population was expelled following through the Beneš decrees. The region was then resettled by the Czechs. Until today, the city has an important German minority, consisting of anti-nazi Germans active in struggle against Hitler as well as Germans from Czech-German families and its descendents. Liberec has also a Jewish minority with a newly-build synagogue and Greek minority of Communist refugees settled here after Greek Civil War in 1949.

Historical names

All forms of its names are derived from the medieval German word meaning "(the village on the) rich/resourceful mountain" (reicher Berg in modern German). The name was sometimes shortened to Richberk and Riberk, which gave rise to the Czech name Liberk. In Czech, words starting with "R" were often dissimilated into "L".[2] The old street name Hablau near city centre is considered to be a trace of old village possibly founded by Havel of Lemberg, husband of Saint Zdislava of Lemberg.

Science and technology

Side view of the Regional Research Library.

Zoo and botanical garden

Glasshouse of the Botanical Garden.
Theatre F.X.Šaldy in Liberec.

Events

Ještěd mountain with TV tower.

Architecture

Liberec's prominent buildings are the town hall (1893), the castle of Count Clam Gallas, built in the 17th century, and the Ještěd Tower (1968) upon the Ještěd Mountain, build by architect Karel Hubacek, which became a symbol of the city. Václav Havel held a broadcast from the site of the tower in 1968; a plaque beside the tower marks this event. Contemporary buildings of note are also to be found, primarily the work of the firm SIAL, and include the new Regional Research Library (2000) and the Česká Pojištovna office building (1997).

Liberec Tram System

Liberec Tramway.

The first tram was used in Liberec in 1897.
Liberec shares the narrow gauge tramway line which connects it to its neighboring city, Jablonec nad Nisou which is 12 km away. There are also two city lines with standard gauge: The first connects Horní Hanychov (not far to the cable car to Ještěd) and Lidové Sady via Fügnerova. The second connects Dolní Hanychov and Lidové Sady via Fügnerova (only during workdays). There also four historical trams. In the city centre there are two tracks as a memorial, in the past trams were used also on the central place in front of town hall.

Sport

FC Slovan Liberec a football club founded in Liberec and currently playing the highest division (Gambrinus liga). FC Slovan Liberec is one of the most successful clubs in the Czech Republic (2 league titles). HC Bílí Tygři Liberec finished top of the Extraliga (the highest national ice hockey league) in 2007-8. Liberec has hosted two European Luge Championships, having done so in 1914 and 1939 when the city was then known as Reichenberg. In 2009, it hosted the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. The Ski Jumping World Cup always comes to Liberec in January.

Notable people

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Liberec is twinned with:

Closest cities, towns and villages

Destinations from Liberec
Zittau, Hrádek nad Nisou, Chrastava Frýdlant, Görlitz, Bogatynia Raspenava, Hejnice, Nové Město pod Smrkem
Nový Bor, Česká Lípa, Jablonné v Podještědí Tanvald, Desná, Harrachov
   Liberec    
Český Dub, Mimoň, Stráž pod Ralskem Turnov, Hodkovice nad Mohelkou Jablonec nad Nisou, Železný Brod, Semily

References

  1. ↑ Di Duca, Marc. Bradt's Czech Republic (2006)
  2. ↑ The German version of this article

External links

Towns and villages of Liberec District
Bílá · Bílý Kostel nad Nisou · Bílý Potok · Bulovka · Cetenov · Černousy · Český Dub · Čtveřín · Dětřichov · Dlouhý Most · Dolní Řasnice · Frýdlant · Habartice · Hejnice · Heřmanice · Hlavice · Hodkovice nad Mohelkou · Horní Řasnice · Hrádek nad Nisou · Chotyně · Chrastava · Jablonné v Podještědí · Janovice v Podještědí · Janův Důl · Jeřmanice · Jindřichovice pod Smrkem · Kobyly · Krásný Les · Kryštofovo Údolí · Křižany · Kunratice · Lázně Libverda · Lažany · Liberec · Mníšek · Nová Ves · Nové Město pod Smrkem · Oldřichov v Hájích · Osečná · Paceřice · Pěnčín · Pertoltice · Proseč pod Ještědem · Příšovice · Radimovice · Raspenava · Rynoltice · Soběslavice · Stráž nad Nisou · Světlá pod Ještědem · Svijanský Újezd · Svijany · Sychrov · Šimonovice · Višňová · Vlastibořice · Všelibice · Zdislava · Žďárek
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