Olomouc (Haná Olomouc or Holomóc; German Olmütz; Polish
Ołomuniec; Hungarian Alamóc, Latin Olomucium) is a statutory and
university city in the Czech Republic, the center of the Olomouc
Region, the metropolis of Haná and the historical capital of
Moravia. The city with an area of 10,336 ha has approximately
101,000 inhabitants, making it the sixth most populous city in the
Czech Republic. Its wider agglomeration has about 450,000
inhabitants.
In the Middle Ages, Olomouc was the third
largest city in the Czech Crown (after Prague and Wroclaw) and
competed with Brno for the status of the center of Moravia. However,
this changed after the city was occupied by the army of the Swedish
Empire in the years 1642 to 1650. In the middle of the 18th century,
the city was rebuilt into a powerful fortress and Olomouc used to be
an important defensive center, the seat of a strong military
garrison. In the following years, many barracks, training grounds,
warehouses and other buildings were built here, which were used by
the army even after the abolition of the fortress in 1884, during
the Czechoslovak Republic (when a major airport in Neředín was
established), and after World War II. Since 1968, there has been a
very large occupation garrison of the Soviet Army in Olomouc. Until
2013, the headquarters of the ACR Joint Forces was located in
Olomouc, until then the city was the main center of defense of the
state.
The High Court in Olomouc is an important institution
in the field of judiciary. As the city is the seat of the region,
there is also a regional office. The importance of Olomouc as an
educational center is underlined by Palacký University, the oldest
in Moravia and the second oldest in the Czech Republic, the
Scientific Library and the Slavonic Grammar School, the oldest
continuously operating secondary school in Moravia with Czech as the
language of instruction. Today, it is not only the seat of the
archbishopric and metropolitan area of the Roman Catholic Moravian
province, but also the center of the Orthodox Church in Moravia. Due
to its atmosphere and historical sights, Olomouc is a popular venue
for international conferences and festivals. Academia Film Olomouc
(AFO), an international festival of documentary films and video
programs, has a tradition of more than 50 years. There is also an
important Czech theater festival Divadelní Flora, then Flora
Olomouc, an international exhibition focused on horticulture and
plant growing with an annual attendance of about 80,000 visitors.
The Autumn Festival of Sacred Music and the International Organ
Festival are also popular. Younger events have also found their fans
- the Beerfest in May and the Flamenco Festival in August.
Olomouc is known for its historical monuments, the Holy Trinity
Column has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000 and its
historic core is a city monument reserve, the second most important
in the Czech Republic after Prague.
Olomouc consists of several spacious squares, the main
of which, the Upper Square (Horní Náměstí), is decorated with a
reference plague column - the Column of the Holy Trinity. The sculptural
group, made in the Baroque style, is listed as a World Heritage Site.
The height of the column is 35 meters. This is the tallest of its kind
in Central Europe, was erected in 1716-1754. in honor of the deliverance
of the city from the plague epidemic.
Another dominant feature of
the main square is the City Hall, built in the 15th century. The tower
of the town hall, whose height is 75 meters, is decorated with chimes
with an astronomical clock. Gothic chapel of St. Jerome, located on the
southern facade of the town hall, has now been turned into a museum.
Currently, the town hall houses the city administration meeting room and
the Olomouc wedding hall.
Olomouc has long been the center of
religious and spiritual life in Moravia. The most significant of the
Olomouc Catholic churches, St. Wenceslas Cathedral, has a long history.
Its architectural appearance has repeatedly changed: from Romanesque,
later Gothic, to Baroque and Pseudo-Gothic. The last major
reconstruction was carried out at the end of the 19th century in
pseudo-Gothic style. However, many parts of the temple have come down to
us in their original design (Romanesque crypt, Gothic arcade, Baroque
chapel). The height of the southern tower of the cathedral is 100.65 m.
It is the second highest church tower in the Czech Republic after the
tower of St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague. The ancient Přemyslid Palace
(Přemyslids - an old Czech ruling dynasty) and the unique Archbishop's
Museum, opened on June 1, 2006, adjoin the temple. Museum visitors can
get acquainted with a rich collection of art objects belonging to the
Olomouc bishopric. This is a kind of Moravian Louvre.
The Church
of St. Moritz (Mauritius), another national cultural monument of the
Czech Republic, built in the late Gothic style, acquired a modern look
in the 15th century. In the temple you can listen to the largest organ
in Central Europe, made by the master Engler.
The Church of St.
Michael the Archangel, belonging to the Dominican order, amazes with the
richness of the interior decoration in the Baroque style. Founded in the
13th century.
The chapel of St. John Sarkander is located on the
site of the former city prison, where the Catholic priest Jan Sarkander
was martyred in 1620. At the beginning of the Thirty Years' War, he was
unjustly accused of collaborating with the Poles who invaded Moravia.
Observing the secrecy of confession, Jan Sarkander did not reveal the
details of the tragic mistake and died as a result of severe torture. In
the courtyard of the chapel there is a fountain called the Spring of
Living Water of St. Yana Sarkander, a symbol of purity and eternal life.
Its water comes from the lake to the dungeon, where the saint ended his
life. In the chapel you can see medieval instruments of torture and the
tombstone of St. Jan Sarkander. Jan Sarkander was canonized by Pope John
Paul II while visiting Olomouc in 1995.
At the same time, John
Paul II visited the famous Pilgrimage Church of the Visitation of the
Virgin Mary (Svati-Kopecek, called the Holy Mountain) near Olomouc. This
is a monumental church built in 1669-1679 in the Baroque style. The
temple was given the title of minor basilica by the pope.
Olomouc
is also a significant student and scientific center of the Czech
Republic. Palacky University in Olomouc was founded in 1573 and is the
oldest university in the country after the famous Charles University in
Prague.
Fountain of Tritons
The pride of the city is the
collection of baroque fountains from Olomouc. In the Middle Ages, they
served as the city's water supply. While most European cities have
eliminated old fountains with the introduction of aqueducts, Olomouc
decided to keep them as additional reservoirs in case of a city fire.
The fountains are made by famous stone carvers. The sculptures are
inspired by Roman mythology. Five fountains are dedicated to the Roman
gods: Jupiter, Neptune, Triton, Mercury and Hercules. The sixth depicts
the Roman emperor Julius Caesar, who, according to legend, founded the
city of Olomouc.
There are several Catholic monasteries in the
city, the most famous of which is the Gradis Monastery, one of the first
monasteries in Moravia, founded in 1078, which is no longer active.
In the street
You can reach Olomouc from Prague via
the D1 motorway, which requires a vignette. From Vienna you drive the
autobahns via Brno, but you can take the highway 55, which does not have
a vignette in the Czech Republic (distance shorter, but travel time
longer) via Břeclav, Uherské Hradiště and Přerov. Coming from the east
(Poland, Ostrava) you drive via the D1 and the D35.
By plane
There is an airport in Olomouc-Neředín, the nearest international
airport is in Brno.
By train
There are direct train
connections from Prague to Olomouc several times a day. Currently
(beginning of 2013) three train companies (České Drahy, Leo and
RegioJet) operate on the route, the travel time is between 2 hours 15
minutes (SC Pendolino for 400 CZK) and 3 hours 30 minutes (express train
for 244 CZK).
From Kraków in Poland, the best train leaves early
in the morning and goes directly to Olomouc in four hours. Subsequent
connections involve a train change in Katowice and take an hour longer.
The best connections from Vienna (Hauptbahnhof) take under three
hours and include a train change in Břeclav or Přerov.
By bus
Traveling by bus can be cheaper for individual travelers, but is mostly
only suitable for shorter journeys within the Czech Republic. Buses are
either run by the state or by the private Student Agency. Student Agency
has competitively reduced prices on some routes; the buses are modern
and extra services such as coffee, tea and films are offered. However,
some routes are more predestined for the train. The railway line from
Prague to Olomouc is 250 km long. The bus travels 286 km because it
first uses the D1 to Brno, which is already congested during rush hour,
and only then swings north-east to Olomouc.
Local public transport is cheap and easy to use. There are ticket machines at every major bus and tram stop; tickets are also available from kiosks. A single trip costs 12 CZK.
At the end of the 2nd century there was a Roman army camp here, the
northernmost known one in Central Europe. Until the 5th century there
was a Germanic settlement.
In the late 7th century, the first
Slavic settlement arose in what is now the district of Povel. Around 830
it was destroyed. A new castle was built on Petersberg (Předhrad), which
by its size was probably one of the most important castles in the
Moravian Empire. In the 9th century three churches were built.
Olomouc was first mentioned in writing in 1017, when Moravia became
part of the Czech Přemyslid state. In 1055 it was the seat of a separate
principality. In 1063 the diocese of Olomouc was founded by Vratislav
II. Around 1070 a new castle was built. In 1077 the Hradisko monastery
was founded. In 1126 Heinrich Zdik became bishop.
At the
beginning of the 13th century the last Olomouc prince died, Moravia was
united and placed under a margrave from the Přemyslid family. Olomouc
was first mentioned as a royal town in 1248. 1306 King Wenzel III.
during a campaign to Poland in Olmütz and was murdered here, whereby the
Přemyslid dynasty in the male line died out. The city developed
economically very quickly and became the capital of Moravia.
In
the Hussite wars, Olmütz was an integral part of the Catholic side. The
Olomouc Charterhouse was founded in 1443 as a successor to the Dolein
Charterhouse, which had perished in the Hussite Wars. It existed until
it was abolished in 1782. Numerous Renaissance-style palaces were built
in the 16th century. In 1566 the Jesuits came to Olomouc. They founded a
school, which became a university in 1573. In 1588 the bishop was
promoted to imperial prince.
During the Thirty Years' War, the city was taken by the Swedes in
1642 and occupied for eight years. Several blockades of the Swedish
garrison by imperial troops and the siege of several months by Ladislav
Burian von Waldstein in 1644 were unsuccessful. After the Thirty Years'
War, the largely destroyed and depopulated city lost its status as the
Moravian capital and ceded it to Brno. Since a lot of damage had been
caused by fires, a detailed "Fire Extinguishing Ordinance" was issued in
1711, which also discussed a number of preventive measures.
On
December 26, 1741, the city was taken by the Prussians in the First
Silesian War. After this event, the fortifications were extensively
expanded. The new fortifications withstood a second siege by the
Prussians in 1758. In 1777 the diocese was raised to an archbishopric.
From 1794 to 1797 the prominent French-American soldier and
politician Marquis Lafayette was interned in Olomouc as a political
prisoner of the Danube Monarchy after being captured by the anti-French
coalition in Flanders in 1792 and then imprisoned by Prussia for the
time being.
In 1841 the city received a railway connection. In mid-1845 the railway from Olmütz to Prague (Northern State Railway) was put into operation (Olmütz-Trübau, Trübau-Prague). In 1848, the archbishop's palace housed the imperial court who had fled here because of the revolution in Vienna. On December 2, 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I transferred the government to eighteen-year-old Franz Joseph I. On November 29, 1850, the German Confederation was restored in Olomouc under Austrian leadership by the Olomouc Punctuation (also called the "Olomouc Treaty") between Prussia, Austria and Russia. In the years 1850 to 1866 the fortifications were expanded again. In 1886 the fortress status was abolished and Olmütz received a city statute as the royal capital. In 1899 the first tram ran in the city. At the end of the 19th century, Olmütz had six Catholic churches, a Protestant church, an Israelite temple, a German and a Czech grammar school, a junior high school, a number of other educational institutions and was an industrial location and the seat of a district authority and a district court.
After the collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918 and the founding of
Czechoslovakia, the Czech citizens came into the majority, which is
mainly due to the influx of Czechs, the departure of Germans, but also
the incorporation of surrounding communities with a partly Czech
majority, such as the two towns of Hodolein (Hodolany) and Neugasse
(Nová ulice) and eleven other communities (Bělidla, Černovír, Hejčín,
Chválkovice, Lazce, Nové Sady, Nový Svět, Neředín, Pavlovičky, Povel and
Řepčín) in 1919. In 1921, 57,206 inhabitants lived in Olomouc.
On
March 15, 1939, the city, like the other areas of the Protectorate of
Bohemia and Moravia established by the German Reich on the same day, was
occupied by the Wehrmacht. In 1939 the Olomouc University was closed by
the German occupation forces. Only in 1946 could it be restored under
the name Palacký University in Olomouc.
Most of the
German-speaking population was expelled from Olmütz in 1945/1946. Their
assets were confiscated by Beneš Decree 108, the assets of the
Evangelical Church were liquidated by Beneš Decree 131, and the Catholic
Churches were expropriated.
In the 1970s and 1980s, several
prefabricated housing estates were built in the outskirts.
The
entire old town has been protected as a monument reserve since 1971. The
flood in 1997 hit the city hard, about a third of the city area was
flooded. In 2000, the Trinity Column was included in the UNESCO World
Heritage List. After the administrative reform of 2000, the previous
district seat became its administrative seat with the establishment of
the Olomouc Region.
The first Jews settled in Olomouc as early as 906. From 1060 they had
to live in a ghetto and wear a yellow badge. In 1454 all Jews from
Olomouc were expelled. This law was valid until 1848. Six Jews were
recorded in the 1857 census.
In 1865 a Jewish religious
association was founded in Olomouc, from which the independent Jewish
community Olomouc emerged in 1892, whose first rabbi was Berthold
Oppenheim. The Olomouc Synagogue was built in 1895-1897. On the night of
March 15th/16th, 1939, after the country was occupied by the Wehrmacht,
the synagogue burned down as a result of arson. At the same time, around
800 Jews were arrested and later deported to the Dachau concentration
camp. Some pews of the synagogue were removed, served for a long time as
pews in a village church near Prostějov and were finally placed in the
renovated synagogue in Krnov in 2004. Some of them are now in the
Loštice synagogue and commemorate the Jewish citizens who were murdered
in the concentration camps. The honorary seat is dedicated to Berthold
Oppenheim, the rabbi of Olomouc and Loštice.
During the National
Socialist era, 3,489 people were deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto
in four transports on June 26 and 30, 1942, July 4, 1942 and March 7,
1945. Only 285 Jews from the town's population survived. This put an end
to Jewish life in Olomouc for a long time. Only since 1989 has there
been a revival of Jewish religious life in the city, and in 1991 an
independent Jewish community in Olomouc was founded, also responsible
for Šumperk, Jeseník, Bruntál and Přerov.
In 2011 the first
stumbling blocks were laid in Olomouc by Gunter Demnig. They serve to
commemorate the murdered victims of National Socialist rule in the city.
Along with Prague and Brno, Olomouc is one of the cities with the most
stumbling blocks in the Czech Republic: at the end of 2017 there were
213 stumbling blocks and one stumbling block in Olomouc. In recent
years, the Olomouc Jewish Community, in particular, has been very
actively involved as an initiator in the laying of the stumbling blocks
- by autumn 2017 it was responsible for four layings.