Osek (Strakonice District)

Osek
Municipality

Osek Castle
Osek
Coordinates: 49°18′43″N 13°57′47″E / 49.31194°N 13.96306°ECoordinates: 49°18′43″N 13°57′47″E / 49.31194°N 13.96306°E
Country  Czech Republic
Region South Bohemian
District Strakonice
Area
  Total 13.91 km2 (5.37 sq mi)
Elevation 450 m (1,480 ft)
Population (2006)
  Total 646
  Density 46/km2 (120/sq mi)
Postal code 386 01

Osek (German: Ossek) is a village and municipality (obec) in Strakonice District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic.

Geography

Osek lies approximately 8 kilometres (5 mi) north-east of Strakonice, 53 km (33 mi) north-west of České Budějovice, and 93 km (58 mi) south of Prague.

The municipality covers an area of 13.91 square kilometres (5.37 sq mi), and has a population of 646 (as at 28 August 2006). It includes the hamlets of Jemnice, Malá Turná, Petrovice, and Rohozná.

History

Vosek in the Kingdom of Bohemia was first mentioned in a 1392 deed. The local Brloh noble dynasty had a Renaissance castle erected in the 16th century. After the 1620 Battle of White Mountain, Osek was seized by the Bohemian Crown and purchased by Prince Karl I von Liechtenstein in 1623, who nevertheless again sold the manor shortly afterwards. From 1850 the village belonged to the nearby market town of Radomyšl, it formed a municipality in its own right in 1919.

On the Jewish cemetery[1][2] near Osek is buried Franz Kafka's grandfather, the butcher (shochet) Jacob Amschel Kafka (1814–1889).[3][4] Franz Kafka's father Hermann was born in Osek in 1852.

External links

References

  1. http://www.obec-osek.cz/data/fs2/ImagePool_17.jpg
  2. http://www.obec-osek.cz/data/fs2/ImagePool_11.jpg
  3. Ladislav Stehlík: "Země zamyšlená" ("Land Contemplative"), Part One, 6th edition, publishing house "Československý spisovatel" ("Czechoslovak Writer"), Prague, 1986, ISBN not assigned
  4. http://www.kohoutikriz.org/priloha/kafka.php
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