Příbram is a town in the Central Bohemian Region, 54 km southwest of Prague in the area below Brdy on the river Litavka. Approximately 33,000 people live here. Příbram was famous as a historic mining town, which is now reminiscent of the Příbram Mining Museum, one of the largest mining museums in the Czech Republic, which manages an extensive open-air museum. Now, after the decline of mining, it is known mainly due to the pilgrimage site of the Holy Mountain, where there is a Baroque monastery complex. It is located on a hill directly above the city center, connected to it by a covered staircase. The western dominant of the town is formed by the forested ridge of the Třemošná mountain in Brdy.
In addition to several notes in Old Bohemian legends,
the first real mention of Příbram comes from 1216, when it was the
property of the Prague diocese, later the archbishopric, at the end
of the 13th century silver was already mined here. Příbram received
city rights from Archbishop Zbyněk Zajíc of Hazmburk in 1406, and
was confirmed even after Příbram became the property of the Czech
kings in 1431.
From 1579, Příbram was a royal upper town. In
the Baroque period, the Svatohorská complex was established - the
pilgrimage church of the Virgin Mary surrounded by a square cloister
with corner chapels and a former Jesuit residence. The expansion of
mining continued from the 17th century, in the 18th century five
deep mines were built near Příbram in Březové Hory. In the Vojtěch
mine, a depth of 1,000 m was reached for the first time in the world
in 1875. A fire in the Mariánské důl in 1892 killed 319 miners.
Příbram was one of the most modern European mining districts until
the 1920s.
With the issuance of a decree dated 23 January
1849 in Olomouc by Emperor Francis Joseph I, a mining school was
established for the northern lands of the empire, focusing on
metallurgy. The grand opening took place on November 12 of the same
year in the Zámeček building. He was promoted to a university in
1904 under the name Vysoká škola báňská v Příbrami. The language of
instruction was German, although Příbram was a purely Czech city at
the time. From the beginning, however, there were conflicts with the
Germans and German professors demanded the transfer to the German
region of northern Bohemia, Most, Ústí nad Labem or Liberec, in 1913
the German professors demanded the division of the school into Czech
and German faculties and their assignment to the respective
technical universities in Prague or Brno. After the loneliness of
Czechoslovakia, for a change, they asked for the university to move
to Prague. These efforts continued until the closure of all
universities in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia in 1939.
After the liberation of Příbram, enrollment was made for the school
year 1939/1945 on 4 June, but at the end of June it was rumored to
transfer the university to Ostrava. Decree of the President of the
Republic of 8 September 1945.
During the Second World War,
there was an area of strong guerrilla movement around Příbram.
Příbram was liberated by the Soviet partisans of Captain Olesiňský,
but in nearby Slivice the alleged last shots of World War II fell on
the European continent on May 11, 1945, a day later the last units
of the German Wehrmacht surrendered there. During the communist
regime, the importance of Příbram increased due to uranium mining,
but the local mines were also part of the system of forced labor
camps in the 1950s. The current life of the city was similarly
affected by both the social changes after the Velvet Revolution of
1989 and the cessation of mining activities.
Territorial
integration
The history of territorial integration covers the
period from 1850 to the present. The chronological overview shows
the territorial administrative affiliation of the municipality in
the year when the change occurred:
1850 Czech land, Prague
region, political and judicial district of Příbram
1855 Czech
land, region Prague, court district Příbram
1868 Czech land,
political and judicial district of Příbram
1939 Czech lands,
Oberlandrat Tábor, political and judicial district Příbram
1942
Czech lands, Oberlandrat Prague, political and judicial district
Příbram
1945 Czech lands, administrative and judicial district of
Příbram
1949 Prague region, Příbram district
1960 Central
Bohemian Region, Příbram District
2003 Central Bohemian Region,
Příbram District, municipality with extended powers Příbram