Olomouc

Olomouc
City
Olomouc panorama from Church of Saint Maurice
Flag Coat of arms
Country	Czech Republic
Region	Olomouc
District	Olomouc
River	Morava
Elevation	219 m (719 ft)
Coordinates
Area	103.36 km² (39.91 sq mi)
Population	101,960 (August 13, 2010) [1]
Density	986 / km² (2,554 / sq mi)
Founded	10th century
- First mentioned	1017
Mayor	Martin Novotný
Postal code	779 00
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Name	Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc
Year	2000 (#24)
Number	859
Region	Europe and North America
Criteria	i, iv
Location in the Czech Republic
Wikimedia Commons: Olomouc
Website: http://www.olomoucko.cz/

Olomouc (Czech pronunciation: [ˈolomou̯ts]; local Haná dialect Olomóc or Holomóc, German Olmütz or Ollmütz, Polish Ołomuniec, Latin Eburum or Olomucium) is a city in Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic. The city is located on the Morava river and is the ecclesiastical metropolis of Moravia.

Architecture of Olomouc

Town hall with astronomical clock

Olomouc contains several large squares, the chief of which is adorned with Holy Trinity Column, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The column is 115 ft (35 m) high and was built in 1716–1754.

The most prominent church is the Saint Wenceslas cathedral. In the end of the 19th century it was rebuilt in neo-Gothic style, but it kept many parts from the original church, which had also been rebuilt many times (Romanesque crypt, Gothic cloister, Baroque chapels). The highest of its three spires is 328 ft (100 m) The church neighbours with the Romanesque Bishop's Palace (often incorrectly called the Přemyslid Palace), a 12th century Romanesque building. (image) The real Přemyslid Palace, i.e. the residence of Olomouc members of the governing Přemyslid Dynasty, used to stand nearby.

Saint Wenceslas Cathedral

The Saint Maurice Church, a fine Gothic building of the 15th century, and the Saint Michael's Church are also worth mentioning. The Neo-baroque chapel of Saint John Sarkander stands on the place of a former town prison. Catholic priest John Sarkander was imprisoned here in the beginning of the Thirty Years' War. He was accused of collaboration with the enemy and tortured here, but did not reveal anything because of the Seal of Confession, and died. The torturing rack and Sarkander’s gravestone are preserved here. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II during his visit in Olomouc in 1995.

Another place that John Paul II visited here was Svatý Kopeček ("The Holy Hill"), a part of Olomouc lying on a hill, with the magnificent Baroque church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary looking down at the city. The Pope promoted the church to Minor Basilica.

The principal secular building is the town hall, completed in the 15th century, flanked on one side by a gothic chapel, transformed now into a museum. It possesses a tower 250 ft (76 m) high adorned with an astronomical clock.

The university, oldest in Moravia and second oldest in the Czech Republic, was founded in 1573 and suppressed in 1860, was reopened in 1946 and called Palacký University.

Olomouc is also proud of its six Baroque fountains. The fountains survived in such a number thanks to cautious policy of the city council. While most European cities were removing old fountains after they had built their water supply piping, Olomouc decided to keep them as water reservoirs in case of fire. For their decoration ancient Roman motifs were used. Five of them depict Roman gods Jupiter (image), Mercury (image), Triton (image), Neptune (image) and Hercules (image), and one depicts Julius Caesar, the legendary founder of the city. (image)

There are few monasteries in Olomouc, including Hradisko Monastery, Convent of Dominican Sisters in Olomouc and others.

• Olomouc Orthodox Church
• Mausoleum of Yugoslavian Soldiers in Olomouc

In the largest square in Olomouc, near the Marian column, is a scale model of the entire old town in bronze.

History

Olomouc is said to occupy a site of a Roman fort founded in the imperial period, the original name of which, Mons Julii, would have been gradually corrupted to the present form. Though this is just a legend, archaeological excavations revealed remains of a Roman military camp from the time of Marcoman Wars close to the city.

Since the 7th century there was a local power centre in the present-day quarter Povel. Olomouc was an important centre of the Great Moravian Empire in the 9th and early 10th century. The centre shifted to the area of Předhradí, a quarter of the inner city (Eastern, smaller part of the medieval centre). At a later period it was long the capital of the province of Moravia. In 906 the first Jews settled in Olomouc. In 1060 they were forced into a ghetto and instructed to wear a yellow badge. The bishopric of Olomouc was re-founded in 1063 (there are references to bishops of Moravia in the 10th century), and raised to the rank of an archbishopric in 1777. The bishopric was moved from the church of St Peter (now non-existent) to the church of St Wenceslas in 1141 (the date is still disputed, other suggestions are 1131, 1134) under bishop Henry Zdík and the bishop's palace was built in Romanesque architectural style. The remnants of it are one of the most precious monuments of Olomouc; a bishop's palace, a secular building of that early age is unique in Central Europe. The bishopric acquired large tracts of land especially in northern Moravia and was one of the richest in the area.

Olomouc became one of the most important settlements in Moravia and a seat of the Přemyslid government, seat of one of the appanage princes. In 1306 King Wenceslas III stopped here on his way to Poland, where he wanted to fight Wladislaus I the Elbow-high to claim his rights to Polish crown, and was assassinated. With his death the whole Přemyslid dynasty died out.

The city itself was founded in mid-thirteenth century and became one of the most important trade and power centres in the region. In the Middle Ages it was the biggest town in Moravia and competed with Brno for the position of the capital. Olomouc lost finally after the Swedes took the city for eight years (1642–1650).

In 1454 the Jews of Olomouc were expelled. Later in the second half of the fifteenth century is what can be viewed as the start of Olomouc's golden age. It hosted several royal meetings and Matthias Corvinus was elected here Czech king by the estates in 1469. In 1479 two kings of Bohemia (Vladislaus II and Matthias Corvinus) met here and concluded an agreement (Peace of Olomouc of 1479) for splitting the country.

Olomouc fortress in 1686

Olomouc bastion fortress in 1757

During the Thirty Years' War, in 1640, Olomouc was occupied by the Swedes for eight years. They left the city in ruins and so it ceded its position to Brno. Olomouc was then fortified by Maria Theresa during the wars with Frederick the Great, who besieged the city unsuccessfully for seven weeks in 1758. In 1848 Olomouc was the scene of the emperor Ferdinand's abdication, and in 1850 an important conference between Austrian and German statesmen called Punctation of Olmütz took place here. At the conference German Confederation was restored and Prussia submitted its leadership to the Austrians.

Largely because of its ecclesiastical links to Austria, Salzburg in particular, the city had a German influence since the Middle Ages. It is difficult assess the ethnic makeup of the town before an accurate census was taken. However, official documents from the second half of the 16th century and early 17th century reveal that the town's ecclesiastical constitution, the meetings of the Diet and the locally printed hymnal, were all in the Czech language. Also, the first treatise on music in the Czech language was published in Olomouc in the mid 16th century. The political and social changes that followed the Thirty Years War increased the influence of courtly Habsburg culture. The "Germanification" of the town was probably more a result of the cosmopolitan environment of the town than by design. As the cultural, administrative and religious centre of the region, it drew officials, musicians and traders from all over Europe. Despite these influences, the Czech language still persisted, particularly in ecclesiastical publications throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. When the Austrian-born composer and musician Philip J. Rittler accepted a post at the Wenceslas Cathedral in the second half of the seventeenth century, he still felt it necessary to learn Czech. However, the use of the Czech language in official matters went into decline and by the 19th century, the official statistics record that the number of Germans was three times higher than the number of Czechs.^[2] After the revolution in 1848, the Jewish expulsion order of 1454 was rescinded. In 1897 a synagogue was built and the Jewish population reached 1,676 in 1900. Olomouc was enclosed with city walls almost until the end of the 19th century. This suited the city council, because demolishing the walls would allow for extension of the city, which would result in the settlement of many Czechs from neighbouring villages. The city council preferred Olomouc smaller, but German. Expansion came after the WWI and establishing Czechoslovakia, when Olomouc integrated two neighbouring towns and 11 surrounding villages and thus gained new space for its growth.

There were serious tensions between the Czech and German-speaking inhabitants during both world wars (largely brought on by outside provocation). On Kristallnacht on November 10, 1938, the synagogue was destroyed and in March 1939, 800 Jewish men were arrested, some being sent to Dachau concentration camp. During 1942-1943, the remaining Jews were sent to Theresienstadt and other German concentration camps in occupied Poland. 285 of the town's Jews survived the Holocaust. During the war most of the town's German residents sided with the Nazis and the German-run town council renamed the main square after Adolf Hitler. The Czech residents changed the name again after the town was liberated. When the retreating German army passed through Olomouc in the final weeks of the war they opened fire on the town's old astronomical clock, leaving only a few pieces (that can now be seen in the local museum). The one that can be seen today is a 1950s reconstruction and features a procession of proletarians rather than saints. Most of the German population was expelled after the war.

Despite its considerable charms, Olomouc has not been discovered by tourists in the same way that Prague, Český Krumlov and Karlovy Vary have. Its inner city is the second-largest historical monuments preserve in the country, after Prague.

One of Olomouc's famous sons was the film-maker Edgar G. Ulmer, who was born in Olomouc in 1904, but who always preferred to give Vienna as his birthplace, as this sounded less provincial.^[3] Another notable son of Olomouc is football coach Karel Brückner, formerly head coach of the Czech national team and later head coach of Austria.

University

The Palacký University of Olomouc plays very important role in the life of the town: with over 25,200 students (including those at Moravian College Olomouc) Olomouc has the highest density of university students in Central Europe. Many of services are student-oriented and close not only during holidays, but also during the university exam periods. During the summer holiday even the trams run solo (apart from rush-hours), while in the rest of the year the lines are served by two coupled trams. The University buildings comprise about a third of the town's heritage centre; among notable ones are i.e. University Art Centre and the Armoury.

Mayors^[4]

Tramcar Inekon Trio
Public transportation in the core of the town is served by trams, while the suburbs are served by buses

• 1851–1865 Franz Kreilm
• 1865–1866 Franz Hein
• 1866–1872 Dr. Karl Borom. Johann Nep. Alois Schrötter
• 1872–1896 Josef von Engel
• 1896–1918 Karl Brandhuber
• 1918–1919 vládní komisař
• 1919–1923 Dr. Karel Mareš
• 1923–1939 Dr. Richard Fischer
• 1939–1941 Dr. Fritz Czermak
• 1942–1945 Dr. Julius Schreitter
• 1945–1947 Václav Stibor-Kladenský
• 1947–1949 Jan Kučera
• 1949–1950 Ladislav Bernatský
• 1950–1956 Antonín Eliáš
• 1957–1960 Josef Drmola
• 1960–1970 František Řeháček
• 1970–1986 Dr. Jan Tencian
• 1986–1989 Ing. Josef Votoček
• 1989–1990 Břetislav Baran
• 1990–1994 Milan Hořínek Ph.D.
• 1994–1998 RNDr. Ivan Kosatík
• 1998–2006 Ing. Martin Tesařík
• 2006–2010 Martin Novotný

Sport

The main football club is SK Sigma Olomouc.

• SK Sigma Olomouc - football club
• HC Olomouc - hockey club HC-olomouc.cz (Czech)
• Skokani Olomouc - baseball club
• 1. HFK Olomouc - football club
• DHK Olomouc - women handball club DHKzoraolomouc.cz (Czech)
• AK Olomouc - athletic club atletika.olomouc.cz (Czech)

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Olomouc is twinned with:

Trivia

• Asteroid 30564 Olomouc was named after this city.
• Scenes from the 2002 television serial Doctor Zhivago were filmed in Olomouc.

See also

• List of bishops and archbishops of Olomouc
• Záviš ze Zap
• Academia Film Olomouc

Footnotes

External links

• Municipal website
• Portal Olomouc
• Olomouc - Czech.cz, official portal of the Czech Republic
• Olomouc travel guide from Wikitravel
• UNESCO World Heritage Site: Holy Trinity Column
• Palacký University
• Moravian college
• Filmmaker Albert Maysles in Olomouc

Webcams

• Olomouc town hall with an astronomical clock
• Horní náměstí (Upper Square) with the Holy Trinity Column

Tourism

• Official portal for tourist - information, services, leisure time, monuments, culture
• Olomouc-travel.cz

Administrative seats of Czech regions  Brno • České Budějovice • Hradec Králové • Jihlava • Karlovy Vary • Liberec • Ostrava • Olomouc • Pardubice • Plzeň • Prague • Ústí nad Labem • Zlín