Mladá Boleslav

Mladá Boleslav
Town
Town hall in Mladá Boleslav
Flag
Coat of arms
Country Czech Republic
Region Central Bohemian
District Mladá Boleslav
Landmark Mladá Boleslav Castle
River Jizera
Center 50 km (31.07 mi) NE of Prague
 - elevation 235 m (771 ft)
 - coordinates 50°24′45″N 14°54′16″E / 50.41250°N 14.90444°ECoordinates: 50°24′45″N 14°54′16″E / 50.41250°N 14.90444°E
Area 28.89 km2 (11.15 sq mi)
Population 44 252 (As of 1 Feb. 2012 [1])
Founded 10th century
Date 974 [2]
Mayor MUDr. Raduan Nwelati
Postal code 293 01
Location in the Czech Republic
Wikimedia Commons: Mladá Boleslav
Statistics: statnisprava.cz
Website: www.mb-net.cz

Mladá Boleslav (Czech pronunciation: [ˈmladaː ˈbolɛslaf]; German: Jungbunzlau, Latin: Bumsla) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic, on the left bank of the Jizera river about 50 kilometres (31 miles) northeast of Prague.

Castle in Mladá Boleslav

Founded in the second half of the 10th century by King Boleslav II as a royal castle. Because there already was a castle known as Boleslav near Prague, this new castle was named Mladá (young) to distinguish it from the older Boleslav, which became known in the 15th century as Stará Boleslav (Old Boleslav). The town received partial city rights in 1334 and 1436, becoming an important site on the road from Prague to northern Bohemia, Lusatia, and Brandenburg. In the 16th century the town was a leading centre of the Unitas Fratrum / Unity of the Brethren / Moravian Church, hosting the Brethren's bishop, Renaissance church, and printing house. After being re-Catholicized in the 17th century, the town's population declined.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Mladá Boleslav was an important Jewish center. In this period, about one fifth of the town's population was Jewish. In the 19th century (in fact, the period of decline of the Jewish community), Mladá Boleslav was dubbed "Jerusalem on Jizera". In 1634, Jacob Bashevi von Treuenberg (born 1580 in Verona, Italy), the first ennobled Jew in the Habsburg monarchy, was buried on the Jewish cemetery in Mladá Boleslav.

In the 19th century new prosperity came: the town became an important regional centre as new schools, theatres, museums, and the Laurin & Klement (today Škoda) automobile factory were founded. Since the 1990s the factory is making it one of the richest Czech towns.

Visitors sights

Important personalities

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Mladá Boleslav is twinned with:

Sports

The local football team FK Mladá Boleslav plays in the Gambrinus liga (top national division), four times qualified for the Uefa Cup and European League, beating such opponents as Olympique de Marseille 4-3 on aggregate in 2006 or US Citta di Palermo 2-1 on aggregate in 2007. The local ice hockey team, BK Mladá Boleslav (Bruslařský klub), relegated in 2012 from the Extraliga, but quickly returned in 2014 and is set to participate in the 2014–15 Czech Extraliga season.

References

  1. ↑ 13-2101-07, Statistická ročenka Středočeského kraje - 3. Obyvatelstvo
    3. Population | ČSÚ Středočeský kraj
  2. ↑ "Mladá Boleslav - Czech republic". Czech.cz. Retrieved 2013-03-26.

External links

Wikisource has the text of a 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article about Mladá Boleslav.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mladá Boleslav.