Jeseník (until 1947 Frývaldov, German Freiwaldau) is a town in the Olomouc Region in the Jeseník District, 71 km north of Olomouc at the confluence of the Bělá and Staříč rivers. Approximately 11,000 inhabitants live here. It is the largest city in the Czech part of the historical territory of the Principality of Nis.
The town of Jeseník is administratively adjacent to the
municipalities of Mikulovice and Česká Ves to the north, to the west
with the municipality of Lipová-lázně, to the south with the
municipality of Bělá pod Pradědem and to the east with the town of Zlaté
Hory. The distance from the regional capital Olomouc is 69.5 km as the
crow flies, but it is over 100 km by road.
Geomorphologically,
Jeseník belongs to the province of Česká Vysočina, subprovince
Krkonoško-Jesenické (Sudete region), Jeseník region (Eastern Sudetenland
region), on the border of the Rychlebská hora geomorphological unit
(subunit Sokolský hřbet), the geomorphological unit Hrubý Jeseník
(subunit Medvědská hornatina) and the geomorphological unit Zlatohorská
vrchovina (subunits Bělská horokatina and Rejvízská hronatina). The
highest mountains are in the southeastern corner of the cadastre – Velké
Bradlo (1051 m above sea level) and Srnčí vrch (1026 m above sea level).
The territory of Jeseník belongs to the Odra basin, or Kladské Nisy.
Bělá flows through Jeseník in a northerly direction, into which the
Staříč stream flows from the left in the town. In Bukovice, Bělá zprava
receives the Vrchovištní stream, which drains the Rejvíz peatlands. In
the surroundings of Lázní Jeseník there are a number of springs of the
Jeseník system, especially the Romanian, Bezruč, Žofiin, Slovanský,
Rudolfův, Pražský, Polský, Mariin. Others are located to the east of the
city: e.g. English, Greek, Turistic, Eduard, Svornost and Diana springs.
The territory of the city covers almost 20% agricultural land (5%
arable land, 12.5% meadows and pastures), almost 62% forest and 17.5%
built-up and other (e.g. industrial) areas.
From its beginning, Jeseník was called Freiwalde (in the oldest document from 1267 Vriwald), which is based on the German combination im freien Walde - "in the free forest". In the 17th century, the name acquired the suffix -au, derived from hau ("clearing"), which other place names in Jesenice had. The name Frejvaldov was used in Czech from the 19th century, Frývaldov in the 1st half of the 20th century, after the Second World War the name was changed to today's due to its location near the Jesenice Mountains. The Polish name is Jesionik, previously the names Frywałd, Frajwald, Frywałdów were used in Polish.
To the Thirty Years' War
The first mention of Jeseník comes from
1267, when it is cited in a Latin source as Vriwald (later Vrowald,
Vrienwalde, Freynwalde), i.e. a place devoid of forest. Between 1284 and
1295 it became a city. One of the reasons was the strategic location at
the confluence of the rivers Staríče and Bělé, where the road leading
from Silesia to Moravia branched off to Ramzovské and Červenohorské
saddles. This place was already guarded by the local castle belonging to
the bishop of Wrocław in 1284 at the latest. Another reason was the iron
ore deposits in the vicinity: the first mention of iron ore processing
in thirteen hammers near Jeseník dates back to 1326. Jeseník, together
with the villages in the wider vicinity, was thus created by the planned
colonization of the bishops of Wrocław, who acquired the area here in
1199.
A church with a rectory was undoubtedly part of the town
since its foundation, although the first mention of it dates from 1318.
Similarly, the Frývald castle must have existed already in 1284, when
the "Frývald district" existed as an administrative unit, but it is not
explicitly mentioned until 1374 It was actually just a water fortress
equipped - even at the end of the 17th century - with a drawbridge. It
still exists after several reconstructions and served as the
administrative seat of the Frývaldo manor, later a complex of large
estates, until 1945.
In 1295, the city fiefdom was first
mentioned, which included the court and gradually the villages of Ves
Frývaldov, Česká Ves, Široký Brod and Bukovice. They were held by the
Mušín family from 1378. At the beginning of the 15th century, it was
Hynek Mušín from Hohenstein (i.e. today's Hoštejn), who, however, became
a supporter of the Hussites, and therefore the bishop took away the
rychta from him in 1422 and awarded it to Hanušek Mušín, Hynek's cousin.
In 1463, his widow Anna sold the Foyt estate to Hynčík from Šilperk,
after whose death (1468) the bishop bought it from his widow Barbara.
The Fojt estate was then included with the town of Frývaldov and was
last mentioned separately in 1547.
The city developed
economically soon after its foundation. As early as 1295, the first
craft guilds, butcher's and baker's, are mentioned. The first mention of
the mining and processing of iron dates from 1328 - that's when Bishop
Tomáš I gave permission to a certain Ludher to build an iron hammer near
the town. Although iron ore from Jeseník was only sold in England in the
14th century, its mining already declined at the end of the said century
and the surrounding mining settlements were also depopulated. A new boom
in the mining of iron, but also silver and gold, occurred in the second
half of the 15th century. At that time, Jeseník and its surroundings
were granted as a fiefdom by the bishops of Wrocław. Under Jiří z
Poděbrady, it belonged to Hynčík from Šilperk, from whose widow the
bishop bought it in 1468 and granted it to Urban Stoš in 1478, to
Baltazar and Melichar from Močilnice in 1481, to Pavel Otwein in 1492,
and to Linhart Vogel in 1497.
The granting of Jesenik and the surrounding estate in 1506 to the
Fuggers, a pan-European business family from Augšpurk, who developed
mining activities here, was significant. In the same year, the city
received upper privileges and received a coat of arms. However, the
deposits were either soon exhausted or proved unprofitable, and the
Fuggers lost interest in the estate. In 1547, the bishop of Wrocław,
Baltazar of Promnice, bought them back, and the surrounding episcopal
estate continued to be administered from Jeseník. Iron mining remained
in the vicinity of the town until the end of the 18th century, but in a
greatly reduced form. On the contrary, craftsmanship developed in the
city, which is evidenced by a number of guild privileges from the turn
of the 16th and 17th centuries.
During the reign of the Fuggers,
the Reformation prevailed in Jeseník, although the rectory remained
under the patronage of the bishop, and it was not until 1579 that a
Catholic priest (albeit a married one) was installed here again.
17th and 18th centuries
As a town located on an important military
route, Jeseník was damaged several times by the army during the Thirty
Years' War. In the 17th century, it was also affected by several fires,
the largest in 1696. Despite this, the city's economic boom continued,
especially in the textile industries (clothing), which was paralyzed
only by the division of Silesia in 1742 and the related loss of the
Silesian markets, formerly the main customer of local production. At
that time, the city also lost mining rights and the associated tax
benefits.
Re-Catholicization in the town and its surroundings
took place without problems (no non-Catholics were registered in 1651),
but the local estate was affected by a long-lasting and intense wave of
witch trials. From the first in 1622 to the last in 1684, the trials,
initiated both by the representatives of the bishop and the townspeople
of Jeseník, claimed about 102 victims in Jeseník alone. Along with the
somewhat later trials in Šumpersk and Velkolosinsk, these are the most
significant examples of the "witch hunt" in the territory of the Czech
Republic.
In 1770, a Roman Catholic archpriesty was established
in Jeseník, separating it from the archpriesty of Hlucholazy. It still
exists in principle, but in 1946 it was transformed into a dean's
office.
In the years 1773–1794, the musical composer Karl Ditters
von Dittersdorf was the episcopal governor in Frývaldová.
19th
and mid-20th century
After a certain decline, Jeseník experienced new
development in the early 19th century, especially industrial
development. In 1822, local businessman Adolf Rayman founded a factory
(Regenhart u. Rayman company) for fine linen, which gained a position on
world markets and dominated the city's economy. Jeseník thus became an
important industrial center (and later also the center of the labor
movement). This position was underlined at the end of the 19th century
by the connection to the important railway line from Hanušovice to
Hlucholaz (1888) and the establishment of the Blühdorn glove factory
(1890). Due to its economic importance, Jeseník also became the seat of
a political and judicial district in 1850 (the judicial district at that
time was smaller than the political one, and it wasn't until 1945 that
the territory of the abolished judicial districts in Cukmantl, Javorník
and Vidnav was incorporated into the district of Jeseník District
Court).
At this time, the development of the city and the region
was mainly due to the spa and the first hydrotherapy institute in the
world, founded by Vincenz Priessnitz in the early 1820s. According to
him, the spa is also called Priessnitz and the main spa pavilion the
Priessnitz sanatorium by architect Leopold Bauer, which together with
the Ripper sanatorium (pavilion) is named after an important personality
who had an influence on the development of the spa. The Karolina
children's pavilion is named after the daughter of Vincenzo Priessnitz,
whom he could not cure and who died at the age of three. The second most
important pavilion Bezruč and of course Maryčka are also worth
mentioning. The symbol of the spa is a lion.
In 1890, a city
hospital was established, in 1872 a boys' and 1888 girls' burghers'
school, and in 1913 a real gymnasium. An important factor in Jesenice's
education was the convent of Voršil women, who settled here in 1881
after they were expelled from their previous place of work in Wrocław by
Bismarck's policy of "cultural struggle". In Jeseník, they gradually
established a monastery and educational complex from 1888, including a
business and family school. They ran their schools until 1939, when
their educational activities were made impossible. After the removal of
most of the sisters, the convent was canceled in 1945 and the last
sisters left in 1948.
On October 13, 1879, a branch church was
first established to the church in Holčovice, and in 1883, a separate
church was established for the evangelical (Lutheran) believers, who
mostly immigrated to Jeseník for work from the countryside. In the years
1881–1883, a neo-Romanesque church was built with the financial
contribution of the Prussian princess Marianna Oranžská, owner of the
Bílá Voda estate. (The choir was dissolved in 1945, and the church and
rectory were taken over by the newly established parish choir of the
Czech Brethren Evangelical Church.)
At the end of the 19th century, tourism began to develop in the area,
as evidenced by the construction of an observation tower on Zlaté Chlum
by the Moravian-Silesian Sudetenland Association in 1899. In 1913, the
Jeseník High School was founded. After 1918, Jeseník became part of
Czechoslovakia, more or less against the will of its inhabitants. The
Czechoslovak army occupied it on January 19, 1919. A large Czech
minority quickly emerged in Jeseník as a center of state administration.
The dominant party among the (largely working-class) population was the
German Social Democracy.
Fryvald strike
On November 22, 1931,
there were riots in the vicinity of the then Frývaldov due to the
dismissal and reduction of wages of workers working in stone quarries
and limestone quarries. The laid-off mainly German workers went on
strike and subsequently, with the help of local communists, organized
protest marches to Frývaldovo. After an agreement with the authorities,
the marches were called off, but the one from Žulová and Vápenná still
set out. A handful of about 20 gendarmes first stopped them at the
viaduct, which the procession solved by bypassing the viaduct via the
railway line above the viaduct. The gendarmes therefore drove about 500
m further and set up a cordon at the local post office behind the
intersection. The commander came to meet and announced to the workers
that the parade had been banned and another one was being discussed. He
was subsequently hit in the face with a stone, and the gendarmes were
also showered with a shower of stones collected on the track. The
gendarmes responded to this incident by firing into the crowd. The
result was a total of 7 dead and 12 seriously injured. The later
Czechoslovak president Klement Gottwald was also present at the workers'
funeral.
Modern history
From the mid-1930s, however, the
Sudeten German party gained strength here. Jeseník and its surroundings
were immediately annexed to Germany after the Munich Agreement, and most
of the Czech inhabitants left the town. On the contrary, the majority of
German residents were displaced after the end of World War II in
1945–1947. In 1947, the former Frývaldov was renamed Jeseník. Over the
course of the next forty years, the city lost many valuable historical
buildings, which were replaced by panel construction. It largely lost
its role as an economic center together with the loss of the status of a
district town in 1960, Jeseník then belonged to the Šumperk district.
As of January 1, 1996, the Jeseník district was renewed. In July
1997, Jeseník was hit by extensive floods. Since 1997, the Rallye Rejvíz
competition of medical rescue service crews has been held in Jeseník.
Jeseník is a member and seat of the Jesenicko Microregion, a union of
municipalities established in 1999. The town has also been a member of
the Association of Towns and Municipalities of Jesenicka (SMOJ) since
1993, which forms the municipalities of the Jesenik district, and of the
Praděd Euroregion since 1997.
The history described above before the world wars mainly concerns the
City of Frýwaldau itself (Freiwaldau Stadt in German).
From the
beginning, the town of Gräfenberk (Gräfenberg in German) was part of the
City of Frývaldov, renamed in 1947[4] to Spa Jeseník. It was founded in
1808 and was originally called Grabenberg or Gräbenberg, just like the
mountain above the settlement mentioned as early as 1716. It was renamed
to the more luxurious Gräfenberg only in 1836, after the establishment
of the spa. In 1849 it was a settlement of Jeseník, from 1868 only a
local part. A small part of Gräfenberg / Lázní Jeseník was originally
located in the cadastre of Česká Ves.
The southern suburbs of
Jeseník, along the road leading to Červenohorské sedlo, formed a
separate part (suburb) which, due to its privileges, was called Freedom
(German: Freiheit). It was mentioned for the first time as early as
1553, but it is probably the oldest mention of Ves Frývaldová (as early
as 1267), which, unlike the town itself, was subject to the Frývaldov
foyt. This Frývaldo suburb in particular became a center of yarn and
linen production during the reign of the Fuggers, and local products
were the subject of wide international trade. The population of Svoboda
in 1836 reached two thirds of the population of Frývaldov itself; but
its importance was already declining. From 1850 it was a settlement of
the City of Frývaldov, and in 1906 it was the first of the Frývaldov
suburbs to be completely merged with it.
The village of Frývaldov
(German Freiwaldau Dorf) was more recently called a settlement -
basically a suburb of Frývaldov - to the north and west of the town of
Frývaldov in the direction of Lipová, to the north of the Staříč stream.
This was the part of Frývaldovo that was not covered by city privileges.
Most of the settlements here were created by the subdivision of the
bishop's courts, previously there was only the so-called Česká Street
leading north towards Česká Ves. After 1850, the distinction between
town and village lost its legal significance and the Village of
Frývaldov became a settlement of the City of Frývaldov, with which it
was merged in 1924 into a single settlement called Frývaldov.
At
the same time, the formerly independent settlement of Ditrichštejn
(Dietrichstein in German) was merged with Frývaldov, created in 1796 by
the parcelling of the manor's court, also to the west of the city, but
to the south of Staříč. In 1950, the hitherto separate village of
Bukovice with the settlements of Dětřichov, Dlouhá Hora, Mýtinka,
Pasíčka and Seč was added to Jeseník. On January 1, 1976, the
municipality of Česká Ves was merged with Jeseník, which, however,
became independent again on November 23, 1990.
Currently, Jeseník
has three parts:
Jeseník (K. ú. Jeseník)
Bukovice (k. ú. Bukovice
u Jeseník)
Dětřichov (K. ú. Seč u Jeseník)
Basic residential
units: Dukelská, 9. května, Bobrovník, Bukovice, Dětřichov,
Jeseník-střed, Kalvodova, Krameriova, Křížový vrch, Lázně Jeseník, Nad
tratí, Náměstí Svobody, Nerudova, Pod Bukovickým vrchem, Seč, Smetanovy
sady, U Česká Ves , At the hospital, At the barracks, At the sun, At the
siding, Vavřinec and Železná hora.
Cultural monuments
Ripper's Promenade - a 1160 meter long circuit
that occasionally hosts races and competitions, but most of the time spa
visitors stroll along it. The biggest attraction is the statue of a lion
(Hungarian Monument), whose tail is said to make your wish come true if
you touch it.
Water fortress – built at the beginning of the 15th
century on the site of a residential tower from about the middle of the
13th century. A unique document of late Gothic architecture. The
original building is a one-story rectangular building. At the turn of
the 15th and 16th centuries, side wings were added and a two-story
prismatic tower was built. After the fire in 1727, the fortress was
transformed into a castle - a second floor was added, the windows were
broken and the tower was lowered by two floors. Around the fort is a dry
moat, previously filled with water. For most of the time, the fortress
was owned by the bishops of Wrocław or their retainers. Since 1932, it
has been home to the Jesenick National Museum.
The town hall is at
its core a Renaissance building from 1610. The current form dates from
1710.
Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary – neo-Renaissance
building from 1882–1883. It was built on the site of an older later
rebuilt Gothic building, the first written mention of which is from
1418. A part of the medieval tower and the baroque west front of the
nave have been preserved from the original building. Neo-Gothic main
altar by sculptor Bernard Kutzer.
Neo-Romanesque evangelical church
The chapel of the Voršilek monastery and educational institute from
1896-1897 in the neo-Romanesque style.
Plague column of the Holy
Trinity from 1721.
Statue of St. Jan Nepomucký on the square.
The
dean's office by the church with a classicist facade and a stone plaque
with the town coat of arms from 1606.
House number 166 on Masaryk
Square. The first written mention of the house dates from 1702, in 1926
the house was rebuilt.
House reference number 176 in Tovární street.
Originally a suburban house dating back to 1782. Ground-floor building
with a Rococo facade, hipped roof and three-part layout. The house is
known under the name Katovna. However, the executioner's dwelling was
never here.
Descriptive house number 178 with an Empire-style facade,
it housed the city governor until 1506, later it was a tavern for the
right-wing burghers. From 1912 there was the first cinema in the city.
Villa of Erwin Weiss, descriptive number 679 on Skupova Street from
1901–1903. An important villa house in the spirit of English Art Nouveau
by the Viennese architects Franz von Krauss and Josef Tölk. The social
part of the house is consistently separated from the intimate part. An
entrance hall with an oak staircase has been preserved from the
interior.
Cwrczek's villa – a romantic building from 1899-1900 in the
style of a castle with the use of elements of half-timbered masonry.
Two villas of the Regenhart family, descriptive numbers 672 and 339.
Villa quarter under the railway station – several architecturally
interesting villas, e.g. descriptive number 306, 307, 322, 324 or
28/319.
Priessnitz's monument in Smetana Gardens by the important
sculptor Josef Obeth.
Art Nouveau bridge over Běla from 1901–1902.
Birthplace of Vincenz Priessnitz - house reference number 175 on the
site of the original birthplace built in 1822, probably raised by one
floor in 1838.
Priessnitz Sanatorium from 1909-1910 by the prominent
architect Leopold Bauer. A three-storey building in neo-baroque style,
but in detail with art nouveau and historicist elements. Inside, a
central hall with a spiral staircase and a large dining room have been
preserved. In the years 1928–1929, an extension was made by the same
author, on which the author has already dispensed with historicizing
reminiscences and decorative details. Participation of the sculptor
Josef Obeth and other artists in the decoration.
Neo-Gothic tomb of
Vincenz Priessnitz, his wife and daughter from 1853.
A number of
other spa buildings and monuments (for example, the Czech, Polish,
French monument, etc.).
Natural monuments
Sunny Meadow - or
Southern Slope - a unique composition in the Czech Republic, called "The
Path of Life", created in 1980-1985 by the Brno sculptor Jan Šimek. The
author was inspired by the Jesenice formations on Červená hora, Vozko or
Petrové kamen.
Jesenice springs - in the woods around Studniční vrch
there are passable paths with monuments and healing springs.
A number
of rock formations - Antonín's Rocks, Devil's Rocks, Francis' Rock,
Hilda's Rock, Hydropathic Rocks, Bear's Rocks, Rock Landing, Terezina's
Rocks, Vilémov's Rocks, Lookout Na Radosti
Memorable trees:
vejmutovka pine in the park near the museum, forest beech in Smetanavy
Sady, the so-called Hackenberg's linden, two elms in front of the cafe U
hradeb, yew in the garden of Villa Regenhart, "magical spruce" in the
spa (with a wizard), heart-shaped linden on the spa colonnade
The
area of Jeseník is also affected by:
Jeseníky protected landscape
area
Jeseníky bird area (for whooping crane and whooping crane)
The Rychlebská Hory - Sokolský hřbet, a Europeanly important locality,
Interesting buildings
The Way of the Cross leads from the English
spring to Křížový vrch to the chapel of St. Anna.