Kralupy nad Vltavou (German Kralup an der Moldau) is a town
located on both sides of the Vltava River about 20 km north of
Prague, in the district of Mělník in the Central Bohemian Region.
Approximately 18,000 inhabitants live here. It is a railway junction
of several regional railways and the main line Prague – Děčín.
The name Kralupy is said to be based on the combination of the
magnifying glass in the sense of "village of bark peelers". The name
would therefore suggest that a large amount of bark was peeling
around Kralupy. However, unlike other municipalities, which in
Bohemia were named Kralupy, according to archaeological findings,
the landscape around today's Kralupy nad Vltavou had a rather steppe
nature. More likely (though less flattering for the city) is the
variant that the name originated as a derogatory designation of a
place where poultry thieves live, people who "rob the chicken".
However, it is possible that it originated completely differently
and one can only speculate as to how. The adjective "nad Vltavou"
distinguishes the town from the German Kralupy or Kralup near
Chomutov, a village that disappeared in 1976 due to coal mining, and
Kralup near Žatec, a village that disappeared in the Middle Ages.
Description of the territory
Kralupy lies at the point where
the Vltava River flows out of the rocky valley of the Prague Plateau
and enters the open landscape of the Elbe. The city center is
located on the left bank of the Vltava in the cadastral area of
Kralupy nad Vltavou, southeast of Zákolanský brook, but this
cadastral area also extends to the industrial and sports zone on the
right bank of the river. Near the city center is the railway station
Kralupy nad Vltavou, a major railway junction. In the center of
Kralupy stands the pseudo-Gothic Church of the Assumption of the
Virgin Mary and the three-nave Basilica of St. Wenceslas,
consecrated on October 27, 1895. In the 1970s, the church was
overshadowed by a new department store in the direction from
Lobeček.
In the southwest, the local part of Minice
(cadastral district Minice near Kralup nad Vltavou) is a part of the
town. In Minice there is a railway station Kralupy nad
Vltavou-Minice on line 093 to Zákolan. The Zákolanský brook flows
through the mines along the railway line and the Knovízský brook
flows into it here. The road II / 240 from Tursk called Pražská also
comes to Kralupy via Minice. In Minice is the church of St. James
the Elder. On the border of Minice and Mikovice at the border of the
neighboring village Otvovice is the natural monument Minická skála.
In the western part of Kralup lies the local parts of Mikovice
(cadastral area Mikovice u Kralup nad Vltavou) and Zeměchy
(cadastral area Zeměchy u Kralup nad Vltavou). The railway line from
Kralupy railway station has a station Kralupy nad Vltavou-předměstí
in Mikovice and further branches to the northwest to Velvar and to
the west to Zvoleněves. The western branch still has a Zeměcha stop
in Zeměchy. The road II / 240 under the name Velvarská in the
direction of Velvar passes through both parts. Mikovice forms the
western part of the continuous development of the town of Kralup.
Zeměchy is an urbanistically independent village about 1 km west. In
Zeměchy, the Church of the Nativity of St. Jan Křtitel, on the
southern edge of the village there is a natural monument Sprašová
rokle u Zeměch. In the northern part of the Zeměchy cadastral
district, at a distance of about 1.2 km from Zeměch, there is a
settlement (homestead) Nový Dvůr.
The northern part of the
town on the left bank occupies the cadastral area of Lobeč, which
is not the only separate local part, but also belongs to the central
local part. The southern edge of Lobeček is crossed by the road II /
101 in the east-west direction, which in the east continues over the
T. G. Masaryk bridge (built in 1926–1928) to another local part of
Lobeček and then in the direction of Veltrusy. Simultaneously with
the Vltava bank, Lobčí passes in the north-south direction of road
III. class to Nelahozeves. In Lobča near the city center there is a
sports hall with a swimming pool. The rocky promontory Hostibejk
with walking paths and an observation gazebo rises above the Děčín
railway line, followed by the Lobečská rock with three so-called
Nelahozeves tunnels (I, II and III). Dvořák's trail leads along the
river bank.
On the left bank, the town of Kralupy borders
(from south to north) with the villages of Dolany nad Vltavou,
Holubice, Otvovice, Olovnice, Velvary and Nelahozeves.
The
right (northeastern) bank of the Vltava occupies the local part and
the cadastral area of Lobeček, and in the south it extends to the
cadastral area of Kralupy nad Vltavou. Closer to the Vltava lies a
residential area with several schools and an ice rink. The eastern
part of Lobečko is occupied by an extensive area of Synthos
Kralupy a.s. (former Kaučuk) and Unipetrol RPA s.r.o (former Česká
rafinérská), which is connected to other industrial buildings in the
southwest. The entire industrial zone is interwoven with a network
of sidings. In the easternmost outcrop of Kralup lies the Chvatěruby
railway station on line 092. The town of Kralupy on this bank of the
river borders Veltrusy and Chvatěruby.
History
The Kralupy
valley has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The first
documented mention of Kralupy (considered a forgery) can be found in
the inventory of the Břevnov monastery from 993. The deed of gift of
King Wenceslas I is authentic, and on April 6, 1253, he dedicated
several villages to Prague's Red Star Crusaders, including Kralupy.
The order had a mill with a fortress built here and the village
remained in its possession until 1848. At that time, the number of
its inhabitants did not reach even 200 souls. The first written
mention of Kralupy is from 1253.
19th century
Back in
1850, Kralupy was only a settlement with 27 houses. Massive
development occurred with the introduction of railways. With the end
of robots came the railway in 1851 and with it progress. The
Buštěhrad railway for the transport of Kladno coal was added to the
Podmokelská railway, which was transferred to ships here. A shipyard
was built and the first chemical factory was established. In 1865,
the Turnov railway was added, railway workshops were built, and a
railway junction was established in Kralupy.
In 1867, the first Kralupy primary school was established. And
the development of the village continued: a steam mill and a steam
sawmill were built, railway buildings grew, a brewery and a sugar
factory were built, so that in 1881 the village with the connected
Lobčí had almost 3,000 inhabitants and was promoted to a town. This
year, the railway line to Velvar was extended. Workshops, chemical
and construction companies were added to the workshops, a savings
bank was established and a telephone was introduced. In 1884,
Kralupy Sokol was established and workers' associations were also
founded. In 1901, the Kralupy mineral oil refinery started
production, which later had 700 employees.
The population
increased, more schools were built and at the end of the 19th
century the Kralupy municipality sought to obtain the status of a
town. An important prerequisite, however, was the church itself.
From the gift of the Prague provost Msgr. In the years 1894–1895,
the parish church of the Virgin Mary and St. Edward Tersch was
built. Wenceslas and only then could Kralupy be promoted to a town
by a decision of Emperor Francis Joseph I of November 22, 1902.
20th century
In 1910, the town had a population of 6,000, a
district court and a tax office were established, and in 1913
Kralupy became the seat of the district political administration. In
July 1914, the First World War broke out, in which 7,000 men from
the district enlisted and the largest bells were confiscated from
the church tower. The new district failed to organize supplies,
there were strikes and demonstrations, and Kralupy became one of the
towns where the coup took place on October 14, 1918.
In 1935,
the first scout unit was founded in Kralupy under the leadership of
Fr. Šandy and V. Kintery.
In the years 1935–1936, the Kralupy
airport was built on the municipal lands in Lobeček northeast of the
town, which was created as part of the "1,000 New Pilots to the
Republic" event, organized by the Masaryk Air League and the
Aeroclub of the Czechoslovak Republic. In 1939, the airport in
Kralupy was occupied by the German army. The flight at the local
aeroclub was of course stopped. After the war, the first motorless
operation was resumed, and a little later, motorized flying on the
Piper aircraft began. Aviation at Kralupy Airport continued until
1958, when the construction of the Kaučuk company began on the
airport area.
Even during the German occupation, cultural
activities that aroused hope did not cease. The local associations
came together and their activities culminated in 1941 with the
celebrations of Antonín Dvořák's centenary.
Kralupy was one
of the most affected Czech cities during World War II, as a large
part of the city was damaged by a heavy raid by American bombers at
noon on March 22, 1945. Its target was the Kralupy refinery. A cloud
of black smoke from the affected oil tank enveloped the entire city,
and further waves of bombers were already dropping their cargo
blindly, for a total of 1,500 bombs. The raid damaged the station,
destroyed most industrial buildings and 117 houses, many other
houses were damaged. The city was completely destroyed, 145 Czechs
and 100 German soldiers lost their lives. Kralupy became the most
war-torn town in Bohemia.
After the liberation in May 1945,
it was time for renewal. German prisoners were deployed to clear the
rubble, and people returned to repair buildings and machinery.
Hundreds of Sunday temporary workers streamed from the surroundings
to the city, while those who could not find a livelihood in the
affected city moved to the border.
"As soon as I came out of
the station hall and looked around the streets, I realized that the
shadow of the March catastrophe was still above the city. In Prague,
shop windows were already shining and the streets were full of
people, the streets of Kralupy were gray and almost deserted.
Nothing festive anywhere. The wind seemed to make crying, tears and
sighs in the corners of the streets instead of rubbish. Sad and ugly
memories were trampled everywhere. "
- Jaroslav Seifert after
visiting Kralup at the end of 1945
From 1947, Kralupy was
again a district town. The building of the District National
Committee was completed on the left bridgehead, a fire house and a
polyclinic in the center.
A nursery and a modern school were
built in Lobeček. In 1948, the Kralupy district was expanded to
include 3 towns and 50 villages with 35,000 inhabitants. As almost
80% of the district's area was arable land, the violent
collectivization of agriculture was promoted, but it did not bring
the expected results. For example, in 1950, cereal yields were lower
than before the war. Representatives of the political opposition
were imprisoned or evicted.
Since 1955, the city has
stagnated, while repairing the war damage, some earlier smaller
operations were canceled and therefore failed to cope with other,
non-war-affected cities. In 1960, a territorial reorganization took
place, Kralupy lost the status of a district town, the district was
divided and the town with the eastern part of the district was
annexed to Mělnicko.
Of great importance for the city was the decision, following the
tradition of the local art industry, to build one of the largest
chemical plants in our republic - the national company Kaučuk. Its
construction began at the end of the summer of 1958 at the Kralupy
sports airport, and hundreds of young people from all over the
country began to come to Kralupy. Production in the new chemical
plant was started in 1963. In 1975, Mr. Kaučuk was expanded with an
oil refinery and the existing production facilities were expanded
and modernized. At the same time, the face of the city began to
change dramatically.
In Lobeček, the construction of a new
housing estate with more than 1,000 flats continued quickly, a new
swimming pool was built, a social house with a cinema and a
multi-purpose hall, and the building of the former ONV was adapted
into a hospital. At the end of the 1960s, construction activity was
moved to the city with the construction of another housing estate,
Kochmanka, and after the liquidation of the sugar factory, another
housing estate of the same name was created on the left bank of the
Vltava. In 1969, an artificial ice rink was built in Lobeček, and 20
years later it was also roofed. In 1974, the reconstruction of the
railway junction was started, during which they were demolished to
the track of the adjacent part of Husova and Jungmannova streets.
The old railway station was also demolished and the new, modern one
was put into operation in 1986. On January 21 this year, with the
assistance of the State Security, the Nobel Prize winner, the poet
Jaroslav Seifert, was buried in the Kralupy cemetery.
The
revolutionary events of the autumn of 1989 marked the "end of
one-party rule." In June 1990, the Sport Hotel was completed, to
which part of the city's national committee moved, in which, in
addition to the Communists, representatives of the Civic Forum were
also represented. In the autumn elections to the City Council, Mgr.
Pavel Rynt. The next year was marked by privatization and
restitution of nationalized property. At the end of 1991, the
Municipal Museum was established, and the following year the
Municipal Police.
In January 1994, Kralčuk in Kralupy became
a joint-stock company. In the municipal elections, Pavel Rynt was
elected mayor again. In October 1995, a boarding house for
pensioners was ceremoniously opened, and the construction of a
footbridge began next to the T. G. Masaryk Bridge. After its opening
in December 1996, repairs to the bridge began.
Flood 2002
The city was hit by a flood wave, with its severity and
consequences, the largest in the history of the lower Povltava.
During this flood, Kralupy was one of the most affected cities. Some
houses can still see a typical "line" showing the height of the then
level. The restoration of the destroyed buildings then continued for
years to come. The flood culminated on 14 August, when the flow
approached 5,000 m3s − 1. The entire center of the city found itself
under water, including the side streets into which the Zákolanský
stream spilled. The water level in the square reached a height of 2
meters, and the station was flooded. The water also threatened the
reinforced concrete bridge of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. Fire brigades
from near and far gathered, the evacuation of residents from
endangered buildings took place without loss of life.
After
the water receded, the cleaning began and the damage appeared, which
everyone helped to eliminate. With good organizational activities
and with the help of neighboring towns and villages, the town was
cleaned up by Christmas. The elimination of the consequences of the
flood continued in the following years, and it seems that the city
got a more friendly appearance.
In May 2017, a group of local
sympathizers with the figure of Švejk, from the work The Fate of the
Good Soldier Švejk during World War II by Jaroslav Hašek, installed
a statue of this literary figure in the pedestrian zone of the local
Husova Street. The costs of making the sculpture were calculated by
the members of the association at 400,000 Czech crowns, which they
collected in the form of a collection.