Jablonec nad Nisou
Encyclopedia
Jablonec nad Nisou (ˈjablonɛts ˈnad ɲɪsou̯; ) is a town in northern Bohemia
, the second largest town of the Liberec Region
. It is known as a mountain resort
in the Jizera Mountains
, an education centre, and a centre of world-production of glass
and jewellery
. It has the name from the Lusatian Neisse
(called Nisa in the Czech language
).
trees". In August 1496, the village was burnt to the ground by troops of the rebelling Lusatia
n Towns Group in the war between them and King George of Podebrady
of Bohemia. In the 18th century, the first artificial jewellery was produced and the first exporter, J. F. Schwan, spread its name throughout Europe. The village of Gablonz was promoted to a township by Emperor Francis II
on April 21, 1808 and to a town by Emperor Francis Joseph on March 28, 1866.
In the 19th century the town became prosperous and wealthy. Between 1870-1871 the Franco-Prussian War
pushed the most dangerous competition in glass and artificial jewellery manufacturing out of business, as Gablonz traders seized the foreign markets. A steady flow of glass and artificial jewellery products of an incredibly wide range flowed out of the town for the next 60 years. Prosperity and wealth walked hand in hand with demographic advances; Jablonec's appearance was changing dramatically. A deep decline of the glass and jewellery industry followed Black Friday in 1929 and the crisis of the 1930s with its unemployment and hunger led to the great support of Nazis. In October 1938, Gablonz, was occupied by Hitler's German Reich
after the Munich Agreement
, as a part of so-called Sudetenland
. Before 1938, Gablonz had majority of 86% of German inhabitants, and rest of Czechs, Jews and many other groups. In Autumn 1938, most of the Jews, Czechs and anti-Nazi Germans fled to the rests of Czechoslovakia
because of Nazi terror. Beautiful Jewish synagogue was burned down. In May 1945, the town was liberated by the underground anti-Nazi groups together with some 700 French and Italian soldiers who were captives in Gablonz's camps.
Between 1945 and 1949, most of the Germans were expelled
under the terms of Beneš decrees
. However, few thousand Germans who were active in struggle against Nazi rule, participants in Czech-German marriages and Germans with special permits were allowed to stay home in Gablonz. Despite assimilation and emigration to Germany in 1968, the German minority in Gablonz still exists (some 1,000-2,000 people). With the exception of original Czech and Jew Gablonzers who returned to the area, many of the new Czech inhabitants of Gablonz came from nearby Czech towns and villages. Gablonz has also important Greek
minority, founded by Communist refugees of Greek Civil War
in 1949, and minority of Roma. Some of expelled Germans from Gablonz and its surroundings founded the quarter of Neugablonz
near Kaufbeuren
in Bavaria
and group in Enns
in Upper Austria
after 1950. Both towns of Kaufbeuren-Neugablonz and Jablonec signed official partnership in 2008.
and athletic stadiums, an ice hockey
arena, 13 gyms, and 16 playgrounds. It is also well known for its modern architecture from the 1900s, 1920s, and 1930s. The Jablonec valley dam is the northern-most intra-urban valley dam in Europe.
Jablonec shares the tramway line
which connects it to its neighboring city, Liberec
.
.
Before the Second World War, a number of ethnic German football clubs existed in Gablonz, Fortuna, DSK and BSK. These were merged into NSTG Gablonz in 1939 by the Nazis, NSTG standing for Nationalsozialistische Turngemeinde. NSTG played in the Gauliga Sudetenland
but disappeared with the end of the war. BSK however was reformed in 1950 in Bavaria, under the name of BSK Neugablonz
. In 2009, a friendly is planned between the BSK and FK Baumit Jablonec in an attempt to improve contacts between Neugablonz and Jablonec nad Nisou.
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
, the second largest town of the Liberec Region
Liberec Region
Liberec Region is an administrative unit of the Czech Republic, located in the northernmost part of its historical region of Bohemia. Region borders with Saxony, and Poland...
. It is known as a mountain resort
Mountain resort
A mountain resort is a place to holiday or vacation located in a mountainous area. The term includes ski resorts, where winter sports, including skiing, snowboarding, ice climbing and ice skating are practiced, as well as places where summer activities such as mountain biking, mountain boarding,...
in the Jizera Mountains
Jizera Mountains
Jizera Mountains , or Izera Mountains, are part of the Western Sudetes on the border between the Czech Republic and Poland. The major part is formed from granite, with some areas formed from basalt. The mountains got their name from the Jizera River, which rises at the southern base of Smrk...
, an education centre, and a centre of world-production of glass
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
and jewellery
Jewellery
Jewellery or jewelry is a form of personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.With some exceptions, such as medical alert bracelets or military dog tags, jewellery normally differs from other items of personal adornment in that it has no other purpose than to...
. It has the name from the Lusatian Neisse
Lusatian Neisse
The Lusatian Neisse is a long river in Central Europe. The river has its source in the Jizera Mountains near Nová Ves nad Nisou, Czech Republic, reaching the tripoint with Poland and Germany at Zittau after , and later forms the Polish-German border on a length of...
(called Nisa in the Czech language
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
).
History
The village of Jablonec was founded in the 14th century; the first written document dates back to 1356. The town's name means "place with appleApple
The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
trees". In August 1496, the village was burnt to the ground by troops of the rebelling Lusatia
Lusatia
Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...
n Towns Group in the war between them and King George of Podebrady
George of Podebrady
George of Kunštát and Poděbrady , also known as Poděbrad or Podiebrad , was King of Bohemia...
of Bohemia. In the 18th century, the first artificial jewellery was produced and the first exporter, J. F. Schwan, spread its name throughout Europe. The village of Gablonz was promoted to a township by Emperor Francis II
Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor
Francis II was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 until 6 August 1806, when he dissolved the Empire after the disastrous defeat of the Third Coalition by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz...
on April 21, 1808 and to a town by Emperor Francis Joseph on March 28, 1866.
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
pushed the most dangerous competition in glass and artificial jewellery manufacturing out of business, as Gablonz traders seized the foreign markets. A steady flow of glass and artificial jewellery products of an incredibly wide range flowed out of the town for the next 60 years. Prosperity and wealth walked hand in hand with demographic advances; Jablonec's appearance was changing dramatically. A deep decline of the glass and jewellery industry followed Black Friday in 1929 and the crisis of the 1930s with its unemployment and hunger led to the great support of Nazis. In October 1938, Gablonz, was occupied by Hitler's German Reich
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
after the Munich Agreement
Munich Agreement
The Munich Pact was an agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without...
, as a part of so-called Sudetenland
Sudetenland
Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...
. Before 1938, Gablonz had majority of 86% of German inhabitants, and rest of Czechs, Jews and many other groups. In Autumn 1938, most of the Jews, Czechs and anti-Nazi Germans fled to the rests of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
because of Nazi terror. Beautiful Jewish synagogue was burned down. In May 1945, the town was liberated by the underground anti-Nazi groups together with some 700 French and Italian soldiers who were captives in Gablonz's camps.
Between 1945 and 1949, most of the Germans were expelled
Expulsion of Germans after World War II
The later stages of World War II, and the period after the end of that war, saw the forced migration of millions of German nationals and ethnic Germans from various European states and territories, mostly into the areas which would become post-war Germany and post-war Austria...
under the terms of Beneš decrees
Beneš decrees
Decrees of the President of the Republic , more commonly known as the Beneš decrees, were a series of laws that were drafted by the Czechoslovak Government-in-Exile in the absence of the Czechoslovak parliament during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in World War II and issued by President...
. However, few thousand Germans who were active in struggle against Nazi rule, participants in Czech-German marriages and Germans with special permits were allowed to stay home in Gablonz. Despite assimilation and emigration to Germany in 1968, the German minority in Gablonz still exists (some 1,000-2,000 people). With the exception of original Czech and Jew Gablonzers who returned to the area, many of the new Czech inhabitants of Gablonz came from nearby Czech towns and villages. Gablonz has also important Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
minority, founded by Communist refugees of Greek Civil War
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...
in 1949, and minority of Roma. Some of expelled Germans from Gablonz and its surroundings founded the quarter of Neugablonz
Kaufbeuren
Kaufbeuren is an independent city in the Regierungsbezirk of Schwaben, southern Bavaria. The city is completely enclaved within the district of Ostallgäu.- Culture and Objects of Interest :* Townhall * Crescentiakloster...
near Kaufbeuren
Kaufbeuren
Kaufbeuren is an independent city in the Regierungsbezirk of Schwaben, southern Bavaria. The city is completely enclaved within the district of Ostallgäu.- Culture and Objects of Interest :* Townhall * Crescentiakloster...
in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
and group in Enns
Enns
Enns may refer to:* Enns , Upper Austria, Austria* Enns , a surname* Enns , a southern tributary of the Danube River...
in Upper Austria
Upper Austria
Upper Austria is one of the nine states or Bundesländer of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders on Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as on the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg...
after 1950. Both towns of Kaufbeuren-Neugablonz and Jablonec signed official partnership in 2008.
Present-day
Jablonec is a centre of active holiday tourism and sport, with a swimming pool, three footballFootball (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
and athletic stadiums, an ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
arena, 13 gyms, and 16 playgrounds. It is also well known for its modern architecture from the 1900s, 1920s, and 1930s. The Jablonec valley dam is the northern-most intra-urban valley dam in Europe.
Jablonec shares the tramway line
Tramway line between Liberec and Jablonec
The 12 km long tramway line between cities Liberec and Jablonec nad Nisou in the Czech Republic is an intercity transportation system connecting these cities.-Overview:...
which connects it to its neighboring city, Liberec
Liberec
Liberec 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....
.
Famous people
- Peter Herman AdlerPeter Herman AdlerPeter Herman Adler was an American conductor born in Austria–Hungary in Gablonz an der Neiße, which is now in the Czech Republic....
(1899–1990), conductor, lived in Prague, Brno, Bremen, Ki'iv and from 1939 in the United States - Adolf BendaAdolf BendaAdolf Benda was a Bohemian regional historian and jewelry craftsman.He was born as a German-speaking Bohemian in the town of Jablonec nad Nisou and is known as an author of the Geschichte der Stadt Gablonz which was published in 1876-77, shortly before his death. This book was the first complete...
(1845–1878), historian, author of the Geschichte der Stadt Gablonz (History of the Town Jablonec nad Nisou) - Walter Dolch (1883–1914), literary historian and librarian, lived in Prague and Broumov in Bohemia
- Fidelio Finke (1860–1940), local historian, composer and teacher
- Karl Richard Fischer (1871–1934), mayor and historian specialising in local history
- Richard Fleissner (1903–1989), artist and professor of the School of Applied Arts in Jablonec and Munich
- Reinhold HanischReinhold HanischReinhold Hanisch was an Austrian migrant worker and sometime business partner of the young Adolf Hitler. Hanisch, who published articles on Hitler, with whom he had lived in 1910, is, next to August Kubizek, one of the few witnesses to Hitler's Vienna years...
(1882–1937), business partner of Adolf HitlerAdolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
in Vienna, 1910 - Rudolf Hásek (1890–1993), commander of the Czech Legions in the fight against the Bolsheviks, export merchant in Jablonec, WWII resistance fighter, after 1949 exiled in Canada.
- Robert Hemmrich (1871–1946), architect
- Konrad HenleinKonrad HenleinKonrad Ernst Eduard Henlein was a leading pro-Nazi ethnic German politician in Czechoslovakia and leader of Sudeten German separatists...
(1898–1945), WWII German resistance member; Nationalist and later Nazi politician, head of the Sudetenland district (Gau) under Hitler; studied and lived in Jablonec few years - Heinrich Joseph (1875–1941), professor of zoology and anatomy, lived in Vienna
- Gustav LeuteltGustav LeuteltGustav Leutelt was an ethnic German poet and writer from the region of Bohemia, which was then part of the Austrian Empire but is now part of the Czech Republic...
(1860–1947), writer and poet - Vladimir Mikolasek (1918–1997), writer
- Karel Mrazek (1910–1998), commander of the Bohemian Units of Royal Airforce in the Second World War
- Jost Pietsch, sculptor
- Rudolf Prade (1888–1944), artists and professor at the School of Applied Arts
- Anton Randa (1864–1918), doctor, patron and founder of the town library
- Marcel Safir (1912–1978), natural scientist and author of children's books
- Josef Vaclav Scheybal (1928–2001), ethnographer and anthropologist
- Josef Schindler (1814–1890), doctor, successor to Vincenz PriessnitzVincenz PriessnitzVincenz Priessnitz, also written Prießnitz was a peasant farmer in Gräfenberg, Austrian Silesia, who is generally considered the founder of modern hydrotherapy, which is used in alternative and orthodox medicine...
s at the Bad GräfenbergLázne JeseníkLázně Jeseník is a small village in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It is administratively part of the city of Jeseník ....
sanitarium - Ladislav Stoll (1902–1981), ideologist of stalinism and pioneer of "Socialist literature", born in Jablonec
- Johann Franz Schwann (1740–1812), founder of the Jablonec export industry
- Karel Simon (1887–1960), French legionnaire, leader of the WWII resistance movement; mayor in May 1945
- Radka VodičkováRadka VodičkováRadka Vodičková , is a professional Czech triathlete, number 1 according to the ETU ranking 2010, and member of the Czech National Team....
a professional Czech triathlete - Johan Volny (1985), actor
- Josef Zasche (1871–1957), architect born in Jablonec, lived in Prague
- Filip Stepanek (1983) Former Hockey Goalman
- Jakub ČuttaJakub CuttaJakub Čutta is a Czech defenceman. He has played for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League. Čutta currently plays in the Czech Extraliga. After three seasons with HC Energie Karlovy Vary, he joined BK Mladá Boleslav in May 2011.- Career statistics :-External links:...
(1981) ice-hockey player - Barbora ŠpotákováBarbora ŠpotákováBarbora Špotáková is a Czech javelin thrower. She is the current Olympic champion, as well as the world record holder....
(1981) javelin thrower - Daniel Špaček Daniel ŠpačekDaniel Špaček is a Czech professional ice hockey player who currently plays with HC Bílí Tygři Liberec in the Czech Extraliga. Špaček previously played with HK Nitra in the Slovak Extraliga, and also in the Czech lower leagues with KLH Jindřichův Hradec, HC Vrchlabí, and HC Benátky nad...
(1986) ice-hockey player - Patrik Maďar (1992) ice-hockey player
Football
The town is nowadays represent by FK Baumit Jablonec in the Czech first division, the Gambrinus ligaGambrinus Liga
The Gambrinus liga is a Czech professional league for football clubs. At the top of the Czech football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 16 clubs, operating a system of promotion and relegation with the Czech 2. Liga. Seasons run from August to May,...
.
Before the Second World War, a number of ethnic German football clubs existed in Gablonz, Fortuna, DSK and BSK. These were merged into NSTG Gablonz in 1939 by the Nazis, NSTG standing for Nationalsozialistische Turngemeinde. NSTG played in the Gauliga Sudetenland
Gauliga Sudetenland
The Gauliga Sudetenland, was the highest football league in predominantly German speaking parts of Czechoslovakia, the Sudetenland, which was awarded to Germany on 30 September 1938 through the Munich Agreement...
but disappeared with the end of the war. BSK however was reformed in 1950 in Bavaria, under the name of BSK Neugablonz
BSK Olympia Neugablonz
The BSK Olympia Neugablonz is a German association football club from the Neugablonz suburb of the city of Kaufbeuren, Bavaria.The suburb of Neugablonz in Kaufbeuren was formed after the Second World War, when refugees from the former German speaking territories in the Czech Republic, mainly from...
. In 2009, a friendly is planned between the BSK and FK Baumit Jablonec in an attempt to improve contacts between Neugablonz and Jablonec nad Nisou.