Česká Lípa (German: Böhmisch Leipa) is a town in the Česká Lípa
district in the Liberec Region. It lies 80 km north of Prague on the
Ploučnica river with the historic center on its right bank. Česká
Lípa includes 14 local parts with a total area of 66.10 km², which
have a total of approximately 37 thousand inhabitants. Jitka Volfová
(ANO) has been the mayor of the city since 2018.
The city was
built near the Lipý water castle at the ford over the Ploučnica
river, where a small fishing settlement existed from the 10th
century. The Ronov family, especially Jindřich from Lipé in the
years 1305–1319, were responsible for the founding of the town, and
the Berk family from Dubé for its development. A hundred years
later, it was taken over by the Hussite army of Jan Roháč of Dubá
and affected by devastating fires. Its further flourishing was due
to the foundation of the Albrecht z Valdštejn monastery and school,
later Kounicová. After the creation of Czechoslovakia, the city
became the center of national unrest, the meeting place of 25,000
followers of Henlein's Sudeton German Party in 1934. The modern
appearance and development was influenced by industrial production
and the proximity of uranium mining, in the 1970s and 1980s, a
number of large panel buildings were built in the city housing
estates. The city center was preserved and declared a city monument
zone.
Church monuments
Augustinian monastery, it was established in 1627
by Albrecht from Valdštejn, the completion took 150 years. There used to
be a school and a printing house here, and now there is, among other
things, the National History Museum and Gallery in Česká Lípa. Address:
náměstí Osvobození, center of the city.
Loretánská chapel, built in
1698 in the cloister of the monastery
The Basilica of All Saints, a
building directly connected to the monastery, was completed in 1710
Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, built in 1706–1710 by Josef
Abondie instead of the original Gothic church. Address: Palackého
náměstí, upper part of the city center.
Church of St. Máří Magdalena
was built in the middle of the 13th century originally in Gothic style,
it was damaged by Hussite troops and from Lusatia. It was repaired and
rebuilt around 1460 by Jindřich Berka of Dubé (brother-in-law of King
Jiří of Poděbrady), and 30 years later it became part of the seat of the
provostship. In the 16th century, it was rebuilt in its present-day late
Gothic form. Address: corner of the B. Smetana embankment and Hrnčířské
street in the center of the city
The Cistercian provostship, today
the deanery - Roman Catholic parish, is in the neighborhood of the
church and dates from 1756, Hrnčířská 721
Church of the Exaltation of
the Holy Cross (Česká Lípa), built in the second half of the 14th
century, later repaired and rebuilt. It stands in Moskevská street.
The Evangelical church was built in 1927-1928 by local German
Protestants, in 1945 it was taken over by the Czechoslovak Hussite
Church. Address: ul. Roháče z Dubé
Plague column of the Holy Trinity
on T. G. Masaryk square. Built in parts after 1681 after the plague
epidemic that affected the city and its surroundings in 1680. The work
was created by the sculptors Baltazar Gürtler and Christian Ulrich
together with the master mason Cäsar. On the pedestal are statues of St.
Václav, Vojtěch, Jan Nepomucký, Florián, Roch, Šebestián and Rozálie
were created until 1781.
The place where the synagogue from the 3rd
quarter of the 19th century stood, destroyed in 1938 by the Nazis, today
serves as a parking lot, marked by a historical memorial stone
ceremoniously installed in October 2008. and a commemorative plaque made
in 1948 but installed only in 1998
Near the railway station and the
Střelnice area is the locked, well-maintained Old Jewish Cemetery,
dating from the second half of the 16th century, one of the oldest and
most valuable Jewish cemeteries in northern Bohemia.
90% of the
preserved Jewish quarter of Českolip, whose axis is Jiráskova Street.
Other monuments
The water castle Lipý (also Lipý) was founded in
the 13th century by members of the Ronov family, then called Lords of
Lipé. Originally, the wooden castle lay between the branches of the
Ploučnice, whose flow was diverted in 1915. A stone defensive tower was
built in the 14th century. It was conquered by the Hussites and the
Swedes and gradually emptied. It housed a sugar refinery in the 19th and
early 20th centuries, fell into disrepair after 1945, and was largely
blown up on February 6, 1957. After 1990, its gradual reconstruction and
use for the city's cultural events began. To manage it, the city created
its contribution organization Lipý, Česká Lípa, which from February 2011
also took over the newly built neighboring historical exposition of the
Textile Printing Center.
The summer residence Červený dům is in the
neighborhood of Lipý Castle. It was built as a hunting lodge by Jetřich
Berka from Dubá in 1583. The building in the style of the Italian
Renaissance is still beautifully decorated with sgraffito decoration on
the outside. It was used for many purposes, for example there was a dye
house, a pub and in 1933 a branch of the city museum.
The
neo-Renaissance town hall from 1823, rebuilt in 1884, serves its purpose
in the center of the city, nám. T. G. Masaryk. The cellars are Gothic
because the town hall stood here before, before several devastating
fires. The building was partly used as a savings bank, a court, and in
1900 there was also a branch of the museum.
Kounic's house - a
burgher's house from 1771, the former residence of noble officials.
After the fire in 2015, only a decaying torso remained of the building.
Cafe Union, a three-storey Art Nouveau building on the corner of
Sokolská and Jindřicha z Lipé streets, built in 1906–1907
Šatlava in
Vězeňská alley in the city center, since 2011 Archaeological Museum of
Českolipska
Bust of T. G. Masaryk on the town hall building
Fountain (Empire style, with dolphins) on T. G. Masaryk Square from
1837, still functional today in summer
Lookout tower at Špičák –
Špičák on the northern edge of the city is 459 m above sea level, the
highest point in the surrounding area. The 14-meter-high observation
tower on it was built in 1885, and two years later it partially burned
down for the first time. It was soon restored and in 1906 alone, 2,500
tourists entered its memorial book. During the 2nd World War it was used
for anti-aircraft patrols and after the war it began to fall into
disrepair. In 1997, it was renovated and adapted as a radio transmitter
and for the operation of mobile phones, inaccessible to the public. A
blue tourist sign leads here from the city.
Brumoff House No. 707 in
Jirásková street
Gans House No. 629 in Nerudova Street
Defunct monuments
On Holé vrch stood a chapel dedicated to the
Holy Trinity, to which the Way of the Cross led from the city.
The
synagogue was burned down by local fanatical Sudeten Germans during the
so-called Kristallnacht on November 9, 1938
The new Jewish cemetery
was liquidated in 1970–1983 in preparation for the construction of the
Špičák housing estate
Church of St. Peter and St. Paul - disappeared
after the city fire in 1820
Wedrich Museum, building from 1849
(originally an inn), demolished in 1982
The territory of the current city was permanently uninhabited until
the middle of the 13th century. The first written mention of the
settlement here dates from 1263, it is included in the purchase deed of
the prior of Doksan. The name of the founder of the Lipý castle, Chvala
from Žitava from the Ronov family, and especially his grandson Jindřich
from Lipá (1270–1329), an important nobleman of the kingdom, is
connected with the history of the city. It is not certain which of the
Ronovci specifically founded the castle and the settlement below it, the
documents have not been preserved. By building Lipý Castle, the Ronov
family built another fortified residence in northern Bohemia on the
route of the then trade routes. Near the castle was an older Slavic
settlement of the same name, later renamed Stará Lípa (now part of the
city). There is a record of Arnold said to be from old Lipa, who was a
burgher in Kravařy in 1263, and it is from the note about old Lípa that
historians infer that the later Lipý castle and the settlement were
built a little further away. After selling the castle and its
surroundings to his cousin Hynk Berk, Jindřich of Lipá left for Moravia
in 1319. According to other reports, in 1327 the lord of Lipé and the
wider area was the aforementioned Hynek Berka from Dubé, also a member
of the Ronov family, a movable burgrave of Prague. When he died in 1348,
his son of the same name took over the estate, and after his death in
1361, the second of his sons, Jindřich. Then his nephew Hynek Berka from
Dubé reigned here. The oldest city charter issued by him dated March 23,
1381 documents the granting of rights to the city of Lipé, for the
improvement of which he has the greatest credit for the castle of the
same name.
In the first half of the 14th century, the city walls
and the parish church of St. Peter and Paul, which was demolished during
another of the city fires in 1820. It was consecrated in 1312 by the
Archbishop of Mainz, Peter of Aspelt, in the presence of the Czech King
John of Luxembourg. In 1341, the deanery of Děčín was transferred to
him.
In the second half of the 14th century, the Veitmil family
(from Weitmile) also participated in the great development of the city
even beyond the city walls. Members of this family held the position of
city magistrate and parish priest. Petr z Weitmile was listed as a
witness in the document granting city rights by Hynk Berka z Dubé from
1381. The development of the city and the greater part of Bohemia was
suspended by a great plague epidemic in 1380. At the end of the 14th
century, the castle was owned by other members of the family of the
lords of Lipá (stated e.g. capable and prominent Hynek Hlaváč). During
the Hussite Wars, the castle was captured by the Hussites led by Jan
Roháč of Dubá (in May 1426) and became their strong base until 1436. In
the years 1502–1553, the greater part of the town and the surrounding
estate belonged to the Vartenberks. Later, the castle was returned to
the lords of Dubé and Lipé and remained with them for over 100 years. In
July 1560, the then governor of the city, Zikmund Berka of Dubé, issued
"orders" for 12 Českolip guilds. The number of guilds then increased,
around 1720 there were 80 of them. Guild masters, in an effort to become
visible, devoted their money to the improvement of the local churches.
In the years 1622–1623, Albrecht of Valdštejn united the city,
fragmented between Berky into several parts. The city was strongly
affected by large fires in 1787 and 1820.
The city became a
district city governed by a governor in January 1850, just a few days
after the establishment of the Českolipský region. The Českolipský
region disappeared in 1855, it was replaced by the Litoměřice region.
In 1883 and then again on January 11, 1911, the regional committee
in Prague discussed the request of the city council in Česká Lípa to
change the name of the city from Böhmisch Leipa to Deutsch Leipa. At the
time, Czechs made up only about 15% of the city's minority, and the
Českolip city council complained that the name often confused settled
Czech Germans and German industrialists, who then considered the city to
be Czech and avoided it. The regional committee rejected the request in
both cases. As an argument, it was mentioned in the discussion, among
other things, that Německý Brod, on the other hand, is predominantly
Czech.
A large Jewish community lived in Česká Lípa (in Yiddish
לעיפן Lejpn or לייפן Lípen, Hebrew לייפא Lípa) from the beginning of the
16th century until the Second World War. In the middle of the 19th
century - if we do not count the situation in Prague - the Českolip
community was the seventh largest Jewish community in Bohemia.