Vimperk
Encyclopedia
Vimperk (ˈvɪmpɛrk; ) is a town in the South Bohemian Region
of the Czech Republic
. In 2000 the town had 8,090 inhabitants. Vimperk is situated in the Šumava
region in the Volyňka River valley among the foothills of the Boubín Mountains. The town elevation is 700 metres above sea level.
Vimperk is surrounded by the Šumava National Park
, and the park headquarters are located in the Vimperk Castle. The Šumava National Park covers 690.3 km² and is the largest national park in the Czech Republic as well as in Central Europe. The protected lands of Šumava and the Bavarian Forest National Park form what is called the "Green Roof of Europe", which was declared a biosphere reserve
by UNESCO
in 1990.
Historically Vimperk has been known as an important regional center of trade, being located on the Golden Trail (also called the Salt Path) from Passau
. Vimperk is also renowned for its glass-making and printing traditions.
The Vimperk Castle was once an important fortress in southern Bohemia. The oldest part of the castle dates back to about 1195. The Schwarzenbergs
were the last private proprietors of the castle.
(Note: This was the ancient canonry of Prague. St. Vitus Cathedral
did not yet exist at this time.) Territorial disputes between the Duchy of Bohemia and the Duchy of Bavaria
in the 11th century resulted in the loss of much of the local population. Subsequently the provosts at the Vyšehrad Castle
enlisted Benedictian monks from the monastery in Winberg nad Řeznem to colonize the region. In 1174 the monks built the Klášterec Commune and established a colony which they named "Windberg" after their old monastery. In 1195 Albrecht III of Luk, a Bavarian count, built a castle which was given the same name. The names of the town and castle subsequently evolved to Winttmberg, Windterberg, Vimberk, and finally to Vimperk. The son and heir of the aforementioned count, Albrecht IV (1198-1242), ordered men to be sent from his Bavarian domains to the Vimperk area to populate and guard these border regions.
Under Albrecht III and Albrecht IV the Golden Trail from Passau
to Vimperk was developed, on which salt, oil and other essential goods were transported to Bohemia. After the death of Albrecht IV the Vimperk Castle and surrounding holdings fell to his stepbrother, the Bavarian count Otto, and then in 1252 they returned to the Bohemian Crown
. The Bohemian King Přemysl Otakar II, gave the Vimperk castle to his loyal servant Purkart of Janovice. Peter of Janovice, his successor, obtained a document on 20 July 1359 from Holy Roman Emperor
and Bohemian King Charles IV allowing him to retain Vimperk and Kynžvart castles and the towns of Vimperk, Záblatí and Husinec. The earliest documentation of glass-making in Vimperk also dates from 1359. A decade later, in 1369, Peter's children sold all of the Vimperk holdings to a wealthy Prague citizen named Rothlöw, who in turn sold them in 1378 to the knight Kaplíř of Sulevice.
In 1419, during the conquest of Prachatice
by the famous General Jan Žižka of Trocnov
, the Hussites succeeded in expelling all Germanic people from the area of Vimperk. For resisting the Hussites the whole town was burned in 1423. It was rebuilt shortly thereafter and in 1424 obtained some privileges from Konrád Kaplíř of Sulevice. From 1419 until the end of 30 Years War in 1648, all Germanic people were forbidden from living in Vimperk.
Around 1454, Mikuláš Kaplíř of Sulevice obtained permission from the King Ladislav I of Bohemia the authority to collect toll on the Golden Trail. The castle and town of Vimperk were granted to Mikuláš Kaplíř of Sulevice and Peter Kaplíř by King Jiří of Poděbrady
. Peter Kaplíř was defeated by the Catholic Bishop of Passau
, and on 18 September 1468 the town of Vimperk (which was not yet walled) was conquered and burned again by the Bavarian forces. Afterwards, Peter Kaplíř rebuilt the town and fortified it. According to his request, on 24 April 1479 Vimperk was granted the rights of a city by King Vladislav II Jagellonský of Bohemia.
In 1494 the Kaplíř lords sold the castle and town to the knights of Malovec and Hradec. In 1502 the lord of Vimperk, Zdeněk, joined with the lords of Prachatice to ask for changes in regulations concerning the Golden Trail. King Vladislav II Jagellonský agreed to allow merchants the freedom to choose which town along the path to deliver their goods to (the path having been extended well beyond Vimperk prior to 1450). Due to this decision, Vimperk enjoyed a period of tremendous prosperity. In 1484 a printing operation was established which produced the first printed Czech
calendar.
During the war in 1547 led by Czech protestants against the King Ferdinand I of Habsburg
, the citizens of Vimperk sided with the Czech Protestants. After Ferdinand's eventual triumph he gained Vimperk among his spoils. in 1553 he sold Vimperk to Jáchym of Hradec, but it was seized by Vilém of Rožmberk (called Wilhelm von Rosenberg in German). Vilém's brother Petr Vok of Rožmberk (also known as Peter Vok von Rosenberg, the last member of the House of Rožmberk/Rosenberg) sold the town in 1601 to Volf Novohradský of Kolovraty, who sided with the Czech Protestants during the rebellion of 1618. On 10 July 1619 Vimperk Castle was occupied by the imperial forces under Illow. On the 22nd and 23rd of October 1619, the castle and town were regained by Protestant forces under Arnošt of Mannsfeld, but the main castle was horribly damaged as a consequence of the battle.
Between 1622 and 1624 Jáchym Novohradský of Kolovraty built new castle buildings over portions of the castle that had been destroyed. This construction and other expensive activities ruined him financially so that he was forced in to sell the castle in 1630 to Oldřich, Count of Eggenberg. The Eggenbergs
owned Vimperk Castle until 1719, when the House of Eggenberg died out and all of the Eggenberg holdings, including Ceský Krumlov
, fell to Schwarzenbergs
.
In 1857 the town of Vimperk suffered yet another fire which caused extensive damage to many of the buildings on the main town square. Emperor Franz Joseph
visited Vimperk to see the extent of the damage and authorized imperial funding to assist with repairs and reconstruction.
In 1938 the German military, by order of the German
Nazi
government, expelled all non-Germanic persons from Vimperk claiming it was Sudeten German
territory. At the end of World War II
, all Germanic people were expelled from Vimperk.
In 1947 the Vimperk Castle was nationalized
by the Czechoslovak
state. A part of the property is currently a museum, and the headquarters of the Šumava National Park are also located there.
South Bohemian Region
South Bohemian Region is an administrative unit of the Czech Republic, located mostly in the southern part of its historical land of Bohemia, with a small part in southwestern Moravia...
of the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. In 2000 the town had 8,090 inhabitants. Vimperk is situated in the Šumava
Bohemian Forest
The Bohemian Forest, also known in Czech as Šumava , is a low mountain range in Central Europe. Geographically, the mountains extend from South Bohemia in the Czech Republic to Austria and Bavaria in Germany...
region in the Volyňka River valley among the foothills of the Boubín Mountains. The town elevation is 700 metres above sea level.
Vimperk is surrounded by the Šumava National Park
Šumava National Park
Šumava National Park is a National Park in the Plzeň and South Bohemian Regions of the Czech Republic along the border with Germany and Austria...
, and the park headquarters are located in the Vimperk Castle. The Šumava National Park covers 690.3 km² and is the largest national park in the Czech Republic as well as in Central Europe. The protected lands of Šumava and the Bavarian Forest National Park form what is called the "Green Roof of Europe", which was declared a biosphere reserve
Biosphere reserve
The Man and the Biosphere Programme of UNESCO was established in 1971 to promote interdisciplinary approaches to management, research and education in ecosystem conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.-Development:...
by UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
in 1990.
Historically Vimperk has been known as an important regional center of trade, being located on the Golden Trail (also called the Salt Path) from Passau
Passau
Passau is a town in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the Dreiflüssestadt or "City of Three Rivers," because the Danube is joined at Passau by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north....
. Vimperk is also renowned for its glass-making and printing traditions.
The Vimperk Castle was once an important fortress in southern Bohemia. The oldest part of the castle dates back to about 1195. The Schwarzenbergs
House of Schwarzenberg
-History:The family was first mentioned in 1172. A branch of the Seinsheim family was created when Erkinger I of Seinsheim acquired the Franconian barony of Schwarzenberg, the castle Schwarzenberg and the title Baron of Schwarzenberg, in 1405–21. At this time, they also possessed some fiefdoms in...
were the last private proprietors of the castle.
History
The forests in the west and south from the Boubín Mountains were owned from 10th century by the Saint Vitus Church canonry of PraguePrague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
(Note: This was the ancient canonry of Prague. St. Vitus Cathedral
St. Vitus Cathedral
Saint Vitus' Cathedral is as a Roman Catholic cathedral in Prague, and the seat of the Archbishop of Prague. The full name of the cathedral is St. Vitus, St. Wenceslas and St. Adalbert Cathedral...
did not yet exist at this time.) Territorial disputes between the Duchy of Bohemia and the Duchy of Bavaria
Duchy of Bavaria
The Duchy of Bavaria was the only one of the stem duchies from the earliest days of East Francia and the Kingdom of Germany to preserve both its name and most of its territorial extent....
in the 11th century resulted in the loss of much of the local population. Subsequently the provosts at the Vyšehrad Castle
Vyšehrad
Vyšehrad is a castle located in the city of Prague, Czech Republic. It was probably built in the 10th century, on a hill over the Vltava River...
enlisted Benedictian monks from the monastery in Winberg nad Řeznem to colonize the region. In 1174 the monks built the Klášterec Commune and established a colony which they named "Windberg" after their old monastery. In 1195 Albrecht III of Luk, a Bavarian count, built a castle which was given the same name. The names of the town and castle subsequently evolved to Winttmberg, Windterberg, Vimberk, and finally to Vimperk. The son and heir of the aforementioned count, Albrecht IV (1198-1242), ordered men to be sent from his Bavarian domains to the Vimperk area to populate and guard these border regions.
Under Albrecht III and Albrecht IV the Golden Trail from Passau
Passau
Passau is a town in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the Dreiflüssestadt or "City of Three Rivers," because the Danube is joined at Passau by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north....
to Vimperk was developed, on which salt, oil and other essential goods were transported to Bohemia. After the death of Albrecht IV the Vimperk Castle and surrounding holdings fell to his stepbrother, the Bavarian count Otto, and then in 1252 they returned to the Bohemian Crown
Kingdom of Bohemia
The Kingdom of Bohemia was a country located in the region of Bohemia in Central Europe, most of whose territory is currently located in the modern-day Czech Republic. The King was Elector of Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806, whereupon it became part of the Austrian Empire, and...
. The Bohemian King Přemysl Otakar II, gave the Vimperk castle to his loyal servant Purkart of Janovice. Peter of Janovice, his successor, obtained a document on 20 July 1359 from Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
and Bohemian King Charles IV allowing him to retain Vimperk and Kynžvart castles and the towns of Vimperk, Záblatí and Husinec. The earliest documentation of glass-making in Vimperk also dates from 1359. A decade later, in 1369, Peter's children sold all of the Vimperk holdings to a wealthy Prague citizen named Rothlöw, who in turn sold them in 1378 to the knight Kaplíř of Sulevice.
In 1419, during the conquest of Prachatice
Prachatice
Prachatice is a town in the South Bohemian Region, Czech Republic.-History:The town of Prachatice has its origins in the 11th century, following the beginning of trade on the "Golden Path"...
by the famous General Jan Žižka of Trocnov
Jan Žižka
Jan Žižka z Trocnova a Kalicha , Czech general and Hussite leader, follower of Jan Hus, was born at small village Trocnov in Bohemia, into a gentried family. He was nicknamed "One-eyed Žižka"...
, the Hussites succeeded in expelling all Germanic people from the area of Vimperk. For resisting the Hussites the whole town was burned in 1423. It was rebuilt shortly thereafter and in 1424 obtained some privileges from Konrád Kaplíř of Sulevice. From 1419 until the end of 30 Years War in 1648, all Germanic people were forbidden from living in Vimperk.
Around 1454, Mikuláš Kaplíř of Sulevice obtained permission from the King Ladislav I of Bohemia the authority to collect toll on the Golden Trail. The castle and town of Vimperk were granted to Mikuláš Kaplíř of Sulevice and Peter Kaplíř by King Jiří of Poděbrady
George of Podebrady
George of Kunštát and Poděbrady , also known as Poděbrad or Podiebrad , was King of Bohemia...
. Peter Kaplíř was defeated by the Catholic Bishop of Passau
Bishop of Passau
The Diocese of Passau is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in Germany. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of München und Freising. The diocese covers an area of 5,442 km². The current bishop is Wilhelm Schraml.-History:...
, and on 18 September 1468 the town of Vimperk (which was not yet walled) was conquered and burned again by the Bavarian forces. Afterwards, Peter Kaplíř rebuilt the town and fortified it. According to his request, on 24 April 1479 Vimperk was granted the rights of a city by King Vladislav II Jagellonský of Bohemia.
In 1494 the Kaplíř lords sold the castle and town to the knights of Malovec and Hradec. In 1502 the lord of Vimperk, Zdeněk, joined with the lords of Prachatice to ask for changes in regulations concerning the Golden Trail. King Vladislav II Jagellonský agreed to allow merchants the freedom to choose which town along the path to deliver their goods to (the path having been extended well beyond Vimperk prior to 1450). Due to this decision, Vimperk enjoyed a period of tremendous prosperity. In 1484 a printing operation was established which produced the first printed Czech
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...
calendar.
During the war in 1547 led by Czech protestants against the King Ferdinand I of Habsburg
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand I was Holy Roman Emperor from 1558 and king of Bohemia and Hungary from 1526 until his death. Before his accession, he ruled the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburgs in the name of his elder brother, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.The key events during his reign were the contest...
, the citizens of Vimperk sided with the Czech Protestants. After Ferdinand's eventual triumph he gained Vimperk among his spoils. in 1553 he sold Vimperk to Jáchym of Hradec, but it was seized by Vilém of Rožmberk (called Wilhelm von Rosenberg in German). Vilém's brother Petr Vok of Rožmberk (also known as Peter Vok von Rosenberg, the last member of the House of Rožmberk/Rosenberg) sold the town in 1601 to Volf Novohradský of Kolovraty, who sided with the Czech Protestants during the rebellion of 1618. On 10 July 1619 Vimperk Castle was occupied by the imperial forces under Illow. On the 22nd and 23rd of October 1619, the castle and town were regained by Protestant forces under Arnošt of Mannsfeld, but the main castle was horribly damaged as a consequence of the battle.
Between 1622 and 1624 Jáchym Novohradský of Kolovraty built new castle buildings over portions of the castle that had been destroyed. This construction and other expensive activities ruined him financially so that he was forced in to sell the castle in 1630 to Oldřich, Count of Eggenberg. The Eggenbergs
House of Eggenberg
Eggenberg is the name of an Austrian noble family from Styria whose last male heir died in 1717 bringing an end to the House of Eggenberg.- History :The origin of the Austrian noble house of Eggenberg is shrouded in darkness...
owned Vimperk Castle until 1719, when the House of Eggenberg died out and all of the Eggenberg holdings, including Ceský Krumlov
Český Krumlov
Český Krumlov is a small city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic, best known for the fine architecture and art of the historic old town and Český Krumlov Castle...
, fell to Schwarzenbergs
House of Schwarzenberg
-History:The family was first mentioned in 1172. A branch of the Seinsheim family was created when Erkinger I of Seinsheim acquired the Franconian barony of Schwarzenberg, the castle Schwarzenberg and the title Baron of Schwarzenberg, in 1405–21. At this time, they also possessed some fiefdoms in...
.
In 1857 the town of Vimperk suffered yet another fire which caused extensive damage to many of the buildings on the main town square. Emperor Franz Joseph
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...
visited Vimperk to see the extent of the damage and authorized imperial funding to assist with repairs and reconstruction.
In 1938 the German military, by order of the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
government, expelled all non-Germanic persons from Vimperk claiming it was Sudeten German
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...
territory. At the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, all Germanic people were expelled from Vimperk.
In 1947 the Vimperk Castle was nationalized
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
by the Czechoslovak
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...
state. A part of the property is currently a museum, and the headquarters of the Šumava National Park are also located there.
People
- Adam Franz of Schwarzenberg (1680 - 1732) - who repaired the Vimperk Castle and renovated some buildings in Baroque style.
- Dr. Albert PopperAlbert PopperAlbert Popper was a mayor of Vimperk and doctor for the House of Schwarzenberg.Popper was born in the village of Bresnitz to a Jewish family...
(1808 - 1889) - Mayor of Vimperk. - Johann Steinbrener - Established a huge printing operation in Vimperk in 1855 that printed books in about 30 languages.
External links
- Municipal website (cs, en, de)
- Prachatice District
- News (cs)