Havlíčkův Brod (until 1945 Německý Brod, German Deutschbrod) is a town in the district of the same name, in the Vysočina region, 23 km north of Jihlava on the river Sázava. It is an important transport hub located in the middle of the Czech Republic. Approximately 23,000 people live here.
Originally, a mining settlement stood here by the ford over the
Sázava. At first it was Smilův Brod, according to the founder Smil
of Lichtenburg, the earliest mention of which exists around 1234.
The oldest mention of the town itself, however, comes from a
document dated October 26, 1256, in which the dispute between the
priest of Brod and the Williamite monastery is resolved. King
Přemysl Otakar II. he claimed the territory around Brod, which he
considered royal land, because silver ore was mined here. He got
into serious disputes with Smile, after which a large part of the
land fell to the king.
In 1274, the settlement was elevated
to a city, and at the end of the 13th century, the city was
surrounded by walls. Later, according to German miners, it was
called Německý Brod. The city was called Německý Brod until 1945.
After the lords from Lichtenburg, Brod was held in the 14th
century by the lords from Lipá, later Boček from Poděbrady, and
towards the end of the 14th century from Dubá (1386) and Landštejn
(1397). At the beginning of the 15th century, Brod was held by Mr.
Čeněk from Vartenberk.
During the Hussite wars, in 1422, King
Sigismund sought refuge here with his army. Hussite units led by Jan
Žižka captured Brod and defeated the imperial army. It was one of
Žižka's last victories, this event also definitively ended silver
mining. Německý Brod was razed to the ground. After 1422, the city
was naturally subjugated until the 17th century, when a violent
counter-reformation was carried out.
After the defeat of
Sigismund, Brod was sold to the Trčk family from Lípa, under whom
the city flourished for the second time. In the 16th century Brod
was bought by Count Thurn and after him Rud again. Trčka, who was
the last lord of Německý Brod. His son was murdered with Valdštejn
in 1634. In 1637, Brod was elevated to a royal city.
In the
17th century, through the legacy of Barbora Kobzinová, Latin schools
were founded and teaching was entrusted to the Augustinians. In the
Josephine era, they were abolished and turned into main schools. In
1807, they were restored again and entrusted to the Želivsk
Premonstratensians.
In the years 1871–1874, Vilém Kurz, a
scientist, writer and politician, one of the founders of the Club of
Czech Tourists and one of the initiators of the construction of the
Petřín Observatory in Prague, worked at the local grammar school.
During the First World War, a refugee camp was located here. On May
5, 1945, as part of the displacement of Germans from Czechoslovakia,
the town was renamed Havlíčkův Brod after Karel Havlíček Borovský.
The historical core of the city is a city monument zone. Rebel beer
has been produced in the city since 1995.
Museum of the Highlands Havlíčkův
Brod (Havlíčkovo náměstí 19)
Gallery of fine arts in Havlíčkovo Brod
(Havlíčkovo náměstí 18)
Vysočina Regional Library (Žižkova 4344)
Medical library of the Havlíčkův Brod Psychiatric Hospital (Rozkošská
2322)
Medical library of Havlíčkův Brod Hospital (Husova 2624)
Library of the Potato Research Institute (Obrovský 23666)
Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary
Church of St. Audrey
St. Catherine's Church
Church of the Holy
Trinity
Chapel of the Holy Cross
Church of the Holy Family
Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre
three crosses on Calvary and one
Station of the Cross
Jewish Cemetery and Typhoid Jewish Cemetery
Town houses on Havlíčková náměstí, in
Horní, Dolní and Svatovojtěšská streets (e.g. Havlíčková house)
A
fountain with a statue of Triton
Staff bastion
Staff's cottage
The remains of the city walls
Art Nouveau musical gazebo, the
so-called Šupich Pavilion
Marian
Column on Havlíčk Square
Koudel's fountain on Havlíčková náměstí
Memorial plaque of Karel Havlíček Borovský
Monument to Karel
Havlíček Borovský
Monument to Josefína Havlíčková
Marian
column in front of the dean's church
Memorial plaque to J. V.
Stamice
Sculpture of the Baptism of Christ
Monument to T. G.
Masaryk
Monument to victims of communism
Memorial plaque of
Bedřich Smetana
Monument to Bedřich Smetana
Medieval walls
commemorative plaque at Štáfl's bastion
Memorial at Štáfl's
bastion
The cornerstone of the Future Park
Monument to Vojtěch
Wiedenhoffer
Monument to the fallen
Monument to Miroslav Tyrš
Hnat's stone
Pavilion of the Millennium or Three Graces
Monument to the Wise. František Zahradnický
statue to the Temple
Builders
Memorial plaque on the monument to Antonín Švehla
Memorial plaque to Pavlo Landovský at his birthplace
Havlíčkův Brod is of national importance as a road and
railway junction. Long-distance roads I/34 and I/38 intersect here, from
which the I/19 road and several roads II. classes. National lines No.
225 from Jihlava and Veselí nad Lužnicí, 230 from Kolín and Prague, 238
from Pardubice, 250 from Brno and local line 237 to Humpolca meet in the
Havlíčkobrod railway junction. Express trains between Prague and Brno
run here every two hours, and from December 2021 the yellow express
trains of the Regiojet company will also be stationed here. The city is
also a hub for local bus transport and city transport also operates
here.
It is home to the only public domestic/non-public
international civil airport. It is the only international airport in the
Vysočina Region.
The Potato Research
Institute has been located in the city since the First Republic. The
town brewery Havlíčkův Brod, producing Rebel beer, is also located here.
Flour is also produced in the city. The beginnings of the mill's
existence can be estimated at around 200-300 years ago. However, it was
rebuilt in 1873, rebuilt and expanded from a water mill to a steam mill.
The textile industry is represented in the city by Pleas.
Since the middle of the 19th century, printing houses have been located
in the city. They are currently among the most important book producers
in the Czech Republic. Several book publishing houses are also located
here. Among them are Hejkal Publishing House, Petrkov Publishing House
and Tobiáš Publishing House. A book fair is also held in Havlíčková Brod
every year.
The company HARTMANN - RICO a.s., which manufactures
pharmaceutical supplies, has its branch here, and a little outside the
city, the company producing car parts - Futaba Czech, s. r. o.
HOSPITAL
The first hospital was opened in Německý Brod
as early as 1853. In 1898, a new district hospital was built. Until
then, its area was gradually expanding. In the 1990s, a major
reconstruction was carried out and thanks to this, the loaned buildings
could be returned to the Psychiatric Hospital. Currently, the hospital
has more than 500 beds in 19 departments.
Mental hospital
The
decision to establish an institution for the mentally ill was made
before the First World War, but construction did not begin until after
it. The first patients were placed in it in 1928. During the Second
World War, the institute ceased operations and the buildings served as
an SS infirmary. After the war, it used some of the buildings on the
grounds of the hospital's psychiatric ward. Currently, the area consists
of 12 hospital pavilions and other buildings with technical facilities.
Leadership
2 rivers flow through the city – the Sázava and the
Šlapanka, which flows into the Sázava on the outskirts of the city.
Other tributaries of these rivers in the city are Stříbrný potok,
Cihlářský potok, Žabinec brook and Rozkošský brook, on which there are
numerous ponds. On Stříbrné stream, these are, for example, Nádržní
rybník or Lihovarský rybník. The area around Cihlářské brook is called
Vlkovsko. In Vlkovsk we can find a system of ponds stretching from the
village of Knyk across the edge of the city and continuing in the
Budoucnost park to Sázava. The cascade consists of Knycký rybník, Štičí
rybník, Zádušní rybník, Pfaffendorfský rybník, Hajdovec, Cihlář,
Rantejch, Hastrman, Očko and Obora. There is a pond of the same name on
Žabinec, which is also the largest pond in the city.
Tereza Stýblová (* 1979), presenter and screenwriter of Czech Radio
and Czech Television
Jana Knížková (* 1985), presenter on Frequency 1
radio (since 2010)
Michal Ambrož (1954–2022), rock singer, lyricist,
music composer
Josef Augusta (1946–2017), ice hockey player, hockey
coach
Karel Josef Barvitius (1864–1937), composer and publisher,
first chairman of OSA
Jan František Beckovský (1658–1725), writer,
historian, translator of religious literature
Jaroslav Benák (*
1962), hockey player, hockey coach
Petr Bezouška (* 1978), lawyer
Bohuslav Blažej (1932–1989), graphic artist and typographer
Eduard
Brzorád (1857–1903), politician, mayor of Německý Brod
Michal de
Causis (1380–1432), priest, procurator of the papal curia, author of the
indictment of John Hus
Miloslav Čermák (* 1986), hockey player
Bohumír Dufek (* 1955), trade union leader
Tomáš Dvořák (* 1995),
hockey player
Jan Exnar (* 1951), glassblower and painter
Václav
Felix (1873–1933), mathematician and rector of CTU
Jana Fischerová (*
1955), politician, mayor of Havlíčková Brod in 2006–2010 (the first
woman ever to hold this position), deputy of the PS PČR in 2010–2017
Ivan Fišera (* 1941), sociologist and politician
Antonín Formánek
(1850–1906), lawyer and politician
František Hamza (1868–1930),
doctor, writer
Jaroslav Holík (1942–2015), ice hockey player, ice
hockey coach
Jiří Holík (* 1944), hockey player, hockey coach
Ivan
Horáček (* 1952), zoologist
Petr Hrabalik (* 1962), singer
Václav
Humpál (1940–1998), politician
Josef Jahoda (1872–1946), teacher,
journalist, novelist and poet
Pavel Jajtner (* 1947), politician,
former ambassador to Austria, Morocco and the Holy See
Miroslav Jakeš
(* 1951), polar traveler
Eugen Kadeřávek (1840–1922), priest,
theologian, philosopher and rector of the theological faculty
Antonín
Kalina (1870–1922), politician and diplomat
Jan Klán (1911–1986),
military pilot of the French Air Force, RAF, USSR Air Force,
Václav
Klofáč (1868–1942), Czech journalist and politician, the first
Czechoslovak Minister of National Defense
Rut Kolínská (* 1953),
activist, founder of the motherhood center movement
Petr Koubský (*
1961), computer scientist, publicist and analyst
Emil Králíček
(1877–1930), Art Nouveau and Cubist architect
Roman Kučera (* 1964),
coach and football player
Tomáš Kučera (* 1991), soccer player
Marcel Kříž (* 1976), poet, singer-songwriter
Vilém Kurz (1872–1945),
piano virtuoso and teacher
Karel Kut (1902–1961), Czech politician
Karel Kuttelwascher (1916–1959), general, most successful Czechoslovak
pilot in the RAF, flying ace
Pavel Landovský (1936–2014), actor and
playwright, former dissident, signatory of Charter 77
Jan Laška
(1914–1944), pilot of the 313th Czechoslovak fighter squadron RAF
Jiří Liška (* 1949), veterinarian and politician
Jaromír Machač
(1923–2007), resistance fighter and politician
Jarmila Machačová (*
1986), cyclist
Bozena Machačová-Dostálová (1903–1973), politician
Josef Marha (* 1976), hockey player
Radek Martínek (* 1976), hockey
player
Bohuslav Matoušek (* 1949), world-renowned violinist and
violist
Stella Májová (1923–2009), actress, operetta and musical
singer
Ignác František Mára (1709–1783), cellist and music composer
Jaroslav Med (1932–2018), literary critic, writer and historian
Pavel
Mertlík (* 1961), economist, Czech Minister of Finance in 1999–2001
Jan Mikula (* 1992), soccer player
Ladislav Riedl Némkombrodský
(1902–1975), physician, writer
Jaroslav Nebesář (1882–1958), lawyer,
economist, governor of the Czechoslovak State Bank in 1945–1950
Karel
Noll (1880–1928), actor
Jan Novák (* 1979), ice hockey player
Radek Novotný (* 1983), actor
Lucie Orgoníková (* 1976), politician
Pavel Poc (* 1964), politician
Miroslav Polreich (1931–2019),
intelligence officer
Marie Rýdlová (1884–1971), actress
Rostya
Gordon Smith (born 1949), world-class HR specialist
Josef Slabý
(1869–1930), R. K. priest, ordained 1893, ThDr., professor of Old
Testament, in 1927/28 dean in Olomouc, in 1928/29 in the same position
in Prague
Otto Slabý (1913–1993), physician, histologist,
embryologist, university professor
Karel Sodomka (1929–1988),
composer, conductor and choirmaster
Jan Sochor (musician)
(1947–2013), musician, singer, music composer
Tomáš Souček (* 1995),
soccer player
Antonín Stamic (1750–1800), violinist, violist, music
composer
Jan Václav Stamic (1717–1757), composer and violinist of
world importance
Pavel Staněk (* 1973), lawyer and politician
Karel Stibral (* 1971), esthetician and historian
Jan Suchý
(1944–2021), ice hockey player
Petr Svoboda (* 1952), actor,
presenter and businessman
Jaroslav Šerých (1928–2014), painter,
graphic artist, illustrator
Lenka Šmídová (* 1975), yachtswoman,
yachting coach
Marika Šoposká (* 1989), actress
Otakar Štáfl
(1884–1945), painter, graphic artist, illustrator
Jan Štefáček (*
1950), teacher and politician
Josef Štochl (1966–2014), literary
scholar
Marek Švec (* 1973), representative of Greco-Roman wrestling
Bohumil Vít Tajovský (1912–1999), priest, abbot of the Premonstratensian
monastery in Želiv in 1948–1950 and 1991–1999
Jan Těsnohlídek (*
1987), writer, poet, editor, publisher
Břetislav Tolman (1873–1937),
professor of hydraulic engineering and rector of CTU in 1934–1935
Svatomír Tůma (1870–1911), general practitioner, educational worker
Jan Vala (* 1943), actor, presenter
Vítek Vaněček (* 1996), hockey
player
Josef Vašíček (1980–2011), hockey player, died tragically in a
plane crash near Jaroslavl
Vojtěch Weidenhoffer (1826–1901),
businessman and politician
Tomáš Zdechovský (* 1979), journalist,
activist, analyst, MEP for KDU-ČSL
Ladislava Zelenková (* 1949),
politician
Stanislav Zimprich (1916–1942), French Air Force war
pilot, pilot of the 310th Czechoslovak Fighter Squadron RAF
Hynek
Zohorna (* 1990), hockey player
Tomáš Zohorna (* 1988), hockey player
Vlasta Žehrová (* 1956), actress, voice actress
Kamila Ženátá (*
1953), artist