Hradec Králové (German Königgrätz) is a statutory city in eastern
Bohemia in the Hradec Králové district, the capital of the Hradec
Králové Region. It lies at the confluence of the Elbe and Orlica and
is part of the Hradec-Pardubic agglomeration. Approximately 91
thousand inhabitants live here.
Due to its favorable
characteristics, the territory of Hradec was already inhabited in
prehistoric times. In the Middle Ages, it was the dowry city of
Czech queens, and it is to this period that the Gothic cathedral of
St. Ducha on its Great Square, which today, alongside the White
Tower and the Old Town Hall, is one of the city's landmarks. In the
years 1766 to 1857, the city served as a military fortress, due to
the lack of interest of the city, it was restored and abolished only
in 1884. The city administration made full use of the possibility of
complete management of urban development. This literally freed up
space for the golden era of Hradec Králové architecture at the
beginning of the 20th century.
Hradec Králové is a university
town, the University of Hradec Králové, some faculties of Charles
University and the University of Defense teach here. For example,
the regional court or the bishops of the Royal Hradec Catholic and
Czechoslovak Hussite dioceses are based here. Klicper's theater is a
well-known venue that has won the "Theatre of the Year" award four
times, artkino Central is proud of the award "Best European cinema
for young audiences" from 2008. Královéhradecky Park 360, which is
located on the site of a former military airport, provides space
for, among other things, a summer festival Rock for People.
By plane
There is an airport in the city.
By rail
There
is a railway station here. Travel by passenger train from Prague (Praha
hl. n.) takes 1 hour 45 minutes and costs 89 CZK.
By car
Hradec Králové is an important road junction.
By bus
It is
much cheaper and faster to go by bus, especially. if you are traveling
from Prague's Cerny Most station, when the journey time is only 1 hour
and 15 minutes and costs around CZK 100.
Worth seeing
Katedrála svatého Ducha (Cathedral of the Holy
Spirit). Mon-Fri 9:00 - 12:00 and 13:00 - 15:00; Sat from 09:00 to 12:00
and Sun from 13:00 to 15:00. Founded in 1303 by Queen Elizabeth Richez,
wife of King Wenceslaus II, the cathedral is a late Gothic stone church
with two towers. (April 2016)
East Bohemian Museum, Eliščino nábřeží
465. Tue. Sun., 9.00-17.00. 50 CZK. (April 2016)
Church of St. Jana,
built in 1710, stands on the ruins of an old castle (April 2016)
Galerie moderního umění (Modern Art Gallery), Velké nám. Tuesday -
Sunday, 10:00 - 18:00. Contemporary art from the late 19th century in an
Art Nouveau building, built as a bank in 1912. 20 CZK. (Mar 2018)
The main shopping center is Futurum outside the center. Buses 1 and 2 will take you to it. But don't expect any local brands, the usual international brands are found there. There are only a few shops in the Old Town, close to the train station and the surrounding area.
Since 2004, Hip Hop Kemp, one of Europe's largest hip-hop festivals, has been held annually in August. "Jazz goes to town", an international jazz festival, takes place in Hradec Králové in October.
The landscape at the confluence of the Elbe and Orlica, dominated by
the city of Hradec Králové, was already inhabited in prehistoric times.
The archaeological site on the outskirts of the city in Plotiště nad
Labem shows multiple settlements both from prehistoric times and from
Roman times. The accumulation of prehistoric cultures in one place near
the Elbe ford and the nature of the finds prove that this important
location had the character of a trade center throughout the long
stretches of its settlement. Already in the 10th century, a Slavic
fortress with a busy marketplace was established here, controlling the
old trade route from Kraków via Náchod to Prague.
At the end of
the tenth century, Hradec became one of the centers of the castle
system, from which the territory of northeastern Bohemia on both sides
of the Elbe was administered along its course from Dvor Králové to
Pardubice. In the 12th century, Hradecky already occupied several
administrative districts, connected throughout the province with four
castles, the burgrave's court and the archdeaconry. The exact founding
of the city is not known. As a result of considerable construction
activity, landscaping, fires and war damage over the centuries, the
oldest archaeological traces were lost on the city hill.
The 13th
century was of crucial importance for the development of urban
settlement, when Hradec became a royal city with a market forecourt. In
1225, the city (civitas) of Hradec is mentioned for the first time in a
written document (agreement), not with the epithet Králové, which
appears only from the 14th century. The founding document of Hradec as a
city has not been preserved, so it is not known exactly when the city
was founded. A written document from 1225 is the first indisputable
source document about the existence of the city. As early as the 13th
century, a new Gothic royal castle was built, where Přemysl Otakar I,
Václav I, and Přemysl Otakar II often stayed. and Wenceslas II. Hradec
was founded by Václav II. for part of the dowry of the Czech queens who
lived in the castle as widows. The founding of the city was initially an
economic and legal act, the urbanistic reach of the city's founding came
later, only at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. German colonists
and a large class of merchants and artisans participated in the
development of the city, who populated the promontory in its entirety.
It was then that the ground plan outline of the original city
fortifications was created, running at the foot of the hill around its
entire perimeter.
In the 14th century, the prestige of the city
grew, the head of which was the royal magistrate, the city council and
the village elders. They administered the city seal with the Czech lion,
which we have known since 1362. The city's economic base was
strengthened by benefits and gifts that were confirmed to the city by
the Czech monarchs John of Luxembourg, Charles IV. and Wenceslas IV.
There was a codification of the municipal polity; the monopoly position
of the town's crafts and thus the privileged position of the Hradec
guilds was guaranteed by the right of the mile, while the income of the
townspeople was guaranteed by the right of the batch. At that time,
Hradec Králové was the most significant Czech city after Prague in terms
of its importance, area and population. The church of St. Ghost from the
beginning of the 14th century on the Great Square. A large construction
industry also developed in both suburbs, in western Pražské u Labe and
in eastern Mýtské u Orlice. Their territory consisted of a rich tangle
of fifteen islands between the branches of the two rivers, which were
connected by sixteen bridges. In the suburbs there were seven parish
churches, two monasteries and three hospitals for the poor and sick,
which also had churches.
The outbreak of the Hussite revolution,
during which the city took the side of Jan Žižka, enriched the city, but
at the same time deprived it of numerous artistic and architectural
monuments. Žižka was buried in the church of St. Spirit. The
consolidation of economic and cultural life took place only during the
reign of George of Poděbrady and Vladislav Jagiellonian. King George
wished the city. During his reign, the church of St. Spirit, a new
church was bought and a magnificent fountain was built in the square,
which was, however, torn down in 1782. The letter "G" in the city coat
of arms is explained by tradition as the monogram of King George of
Poděbrady. He and his successor Vladislav Jagiellon confirmed the city's
old privileges and thus Hradec Králové could once again rank among the
richest cities.
Democratization, manifesting itself in the
increased use of urban status, was a breeding ground for the resistance
of the Czech nobility and royal cities against Emperor Ferdinand I, who
sought the power politics of his family. The answer was the confiscation
of the city's property in 1547 and the loss of political rights by the
installation of a royal magistrate, impoverishment by loans, taxes and
fines. Part of the property was returned to the town in 1562, but the
town lost its leading position in the region.
Primate Martin Cejp from Peclinovce brought the city out of difficult
economic conditions. The result of his more than thirty years of work at
the town hall was a generous Renaissance rebuilding of the town, new
paving, modifications to the town hall, fortifications, construction of
a school, the construction of the Prague Gate and the White Tower, which
has been the most typical and unsurpassed landmark of Hradec Králové
ever since. Cejp also took care of the level of Latin education in
Hradec Králové. During his time, the excellent rectors Valentin Kochan
from Prachová and Jan Kampanus Vodňanský were at the head of the school
in Hradec Králové. Important natives of the 16th century were Cyprian
Lvovický from Lvovice and Václav Plácel from Elbink. The period of the
Thirty Years' War was a disaster for the city. The placement of the
imperial garrison, the Swedish occupation, the arrival of the Jesuits,
the forced conversion to the Catholic faith - all this afflicted the
city materially and spiritually. The Swedish incursions affected Hradec
not only with heavy damage, but also with heavy losses on residential
houses in the suburbs and on artistic and architectural monuments. The
vast and populous suburbs were turned into a desert by fortifications,
military actions and fires.
In 1567, an inventory of houses was
carried out in the royal cities. There were 780 of them in Hradec
Králové at the time. In 1664, a bishopric was established in Hradec
Králové. Parish Church of St. Ducha became a cathedral temple, during
which a six-member canon chapter was established. The city took on a
baroque appearance due to the construction activity of the bishop and
the Jesuits. They invited the outstanding architects of the time (Carlo
Lurago, Jan Blažej Santini-Aichel) to build it. And so the monumental
building of the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary with the
adjacent Jesuit dormitory, the bishop's residence, the lofty chapel of
St. Kliment, the new plague column and the seminary church of St. John
of Nepomuck.
There was no further construction development due to
the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War. The sad
fate of the city was completed by a fire in 1762, when almost half of
the city succumbed to the fire, which was started simultaneously in
several places by Prussian invaders. Prussian incursions into the
country forced Joseph II, as co-ruler of Maria Theresa, to decide to
build a fortress from Hradec Králové. The suburbs had to give way to the
construction of the fortress, carried out in two stages between 1766 and
1789. The population was moved far beyond the outer edge of the
inundation and demolition area of the fortress, to the newly founded
villages of Nové Hradec, Kuklen and Pouchov. The system of walls was
complemented by purpose-built buildings, some of which have been
preserved to this day.
The Germanization brought about by the
reign of Joseph II gave the city an external German character. However,
the patriotic tradition has lived in the city since the time of the
Jesuit Bohuslav Balbín and the mathematician Stanislav Vydra, who were
both born in Hradec Králové. In the first half of the 19th century,
during the Czech national revival, the city entered history. At that
time, the cultural and social life of Obrozenec Hradec was centered
around four institutions: a theater, a gymnasium, a seminary and a
publishing house with Jan Hostivít Pospíšil's bookshop. This important
patriotic publisher was at the head of an enthusiastic group, which
consisted of playwright Václav Kliment Klicpera, professor Josef Chmela,
priest Josef Liboslav Ziegler and their friends who lived in the region
and with whom the Hradec revivalists were connected. However, Pospíšil's
house also hosted patriots from all over the country (e.g. Hanka,
Rettigová), among whom were also Ľudovít Štúr and Jozef Miloslav Hurban
from Slovakia. At the time, Václav Hanka, Josef Jaroslav Langer, Josef
Kajetán Tyl, Karel Jaromír Erben, František Škroup and others studied at
the Hradec Gymnasium. Czech performances organized by Václav Kliment
Klicpera were performed in the "U zlatého orlo" theater. In 1848, the
National Guard was formed in Hradec Králové, whose banner was painted by
Josef Mánes. Although Bach's absolutism temporarily broke the national
flourishing, the 1960s was again a period of development of the Czech
element in the city. František Cyril Kampelík, a doctor in Kukleny,
Kristian Stefan, a friend of Božena Němcová and a correspondent of Česká
včela, and businessman Václav František Červený, the founder of a
musical instrument factory in Hradec Kralove, were responsible for this.
In 1851, Hradec Králové was declared an independent city, and its
first mayor, economics professor Ignác Lhotský, was elected. Its former
parts outside the walls gained independence. The city, reduced in terms
of territory and population, sought to achieve additional economic
benefits. In 1857, it was connected to the world by railways, later it
established a sugar factory, a machine shop, a gas plant, a pawnshop and
a savings bank. The fortress was abolished in 1857, but the city was
afraid of the costs of liquidation and did not buy the fortress land
even during the second offer in 1873. Erár therefore restored the
fortress, but without the demolition zone. In 1864, the world-famous
Antonín Petrof piano factory was established.
In 1866, the war between Austria and Prussia was decided not far from
the city. Blame was also sought in the inactivity of the fortress.
Acting deputy burgomaster Ladislav Jan Pospíšil was responsible for the
abolition of the fortress, the sale of military fortress buildings and
land to the city, and the demolition of the walls. Protracted
negotiations did not end until 1893 with the outline of the law on the
sale of fortification buildings and land to the city. When a happy but
exhausted Pospíšil announced this news to the municipal council, he
suffered a stroke and died shortly afterwards. The ramparts were removed
over the course of twenty years on the basis of a contract with the
erar, regardless of the preservation of the most important parts. At the
end of the century, cultural life manifested itself in rich social life.
In the 1980s, Klicper's theater was built, a museum was founded, and
there was a lively cultural activity at the Hradec Gymnasium, whose
pupil was Alois Jirásek in the 1960s, and Karel Čapek and Emil Vachek at
the beginning of the 20th century.
JUDr. was elected mayor of the
city in 1895. František Ulrich, who for 30 years of his term of office
organized the building of a modern metropolis and together with him,
Wilhelm Waldek (brother of industrialist František von Waldek) was
elected deputy mayor by all votes. In the initial, very demanding period
of development, the fortress was demolished, vacated land was modified,
new buildings and roads were built, and the first regulatory plans were
created. Already at the turn of the century, architects from Vienna and
Prague, professing the principles of modern architecture, were invited
to Hradec Králové. Evidence of their activity is, for example, the
building of the Business Academy on nám. Svobody (today the University
of Hradec Králové), District House in Palackého Street (Grandhotel
extension) and many others. The year 1909 is another milestone for the
formation of the city. A competition was launched for a new regulatory
plan, works such as the Municipal Museum (J. Kotěra), the staircase at
the Church of the Virgin Mary (J. Gočár), the Labská elektrárna (F.
Sander), the Evangelical Church in Nezvalová street (O. Liska), etc.
were created.
The developing post-war construction required new
creative impulses in spatial planning in accordance with the rapid
development of urbanism. The regulatory plan of the city of architect
Josef Gočár from 1926–1928, which is still inspiring today with its
radially circular construction principle, the author continued to
fulfill with his works - the improvement of Masaryk Square, the school
complex on the Tylova nábřeží, the Choir of Priest Ambrose, the
improvement of Ulrich Square, the District and financial authorities
(today the City Hall of Hradec Králové). On May 24, 1929, the President
of the Republic, T. G. Masaryk, visited the developing regional capital.
This stage of the city's development is often called "Gočárův Hradec".
Other important architects also participated in the successes of the
interwar construction of Hradec Králové - Oldřich Liska (e.g. Municipal
Baths), Josef Fňuk (e.g. Novákovy garage, today Palace Hradec Králové),
Otakar Novotný (Steinský-Sehnoutka Palace, today ČSOB), Jan Rejchl (e.g.
Corps Headquarters, today Faculty of Medicine, Charles University),
Václav Rejchl Jr. (e.g. dispatch building of the main railway station or
regional court), Bohumil Sláma (monumental church of the Divine Heart of
the Lord). In addition to important architects, builders and enlightened
mayors, the city's technical office, which directly managed construction
activities, had a large share in the successful construction of the
city.
The industrial development of the city continued. The
existing factories were expanded and new ones were created, as it
resulted from the considerable financial turnover of the local financial
institutions. New schools, institutes and offices, roads, new
neighborhoods were added. The state authorities in Prague regularly
brought distinguished guests to Hradec Králové, so that the relatively
small town gained fame and a well-deserved reputation as the "salon of
the republic".
The development of the city was forcibly
interrupted by the Second World War, but in the course of it, Velký
Hradec Králové was created, united by the German administration from the
municipalities established in 1851. After its end, Hradec Králové still
remained the economic and cultural center of Eastern Bohemia, but in
completely different political and social conditions . The post-war
period of socialism did not affect the noble urban environment of Hradec
Králové as negatively as in other cities, because the genius loci with
pre-war architecture and urban planning mainly influenced local
architects. Despite this, the construction of Velké Hradec Králové began
to decline in the new political and social conditions. However, the
urban planning and architecture of the Silesian Suburbs are among the
best contemporary realizations in Czechoslovakia. Especially the
monotonous mass housing construction of the Moravian Suburbs with its
large scale and panel technology began to stand out from the traditional
image of the city.
The 1990s brought the restoration of the
traditional values of a democratic society, individualism in design
and inspiration from world architecture.
The oldest documented name was originally (from the end of the 10th
century) the hillfort and residence of the Přemyslovci, from the
11th–12th centuries. century of the residential castle of the
Přemyslovcs is from 1073 (castrum Gradec), which gave rise to the German
Grätz during the 12th century (documented as Gretz in 1259, Grecz in
1352). In Czech, thanks to the phonetic change of g to h in the first
half of the 13th century, it developed into Hradec (Old Bohemian hradec
meant "smaller or secondary castle"). After the already walled royal
city became the dowry city of the Czech queens in 1373, the incongruous
epithet Králové ("king's wife, queen dowager") was added to the name.
In German, the original der Stat Khunigin Gract, (1557) eventually
became shortened to Königgrätz (Khuniggräcz, 1568), which is sometimes
mistaken for "the king's castle" (German König meaning "king"), although
it is the possessive genitive of the queen. The Latin name is Hradecz
regine (1373), Hradecz Reginae or Reginogradecium. In Romany, the city
is called Hradecis.
Location and Regional Context
The city lies approximately 95 km
(59 mi) east of Prague and forms a tight urban agglomeration with
Pardubice, just 19 km (12 mi) to the south. Its precise coordinates are
50°12′33″N 15°49′56″E. It sits in the eastern section of the Polabí
lowlands (also called the Elbe Lowland or Polabská nížina), specifically
within the East Elbe Table (Východolabská tabule), a gently undulating
part of the broader Bohemian Massif.
The wider Hradec Králové Region
(4,759 km²) stretches northward into the Krkonoše (Giant) Mountains and
Orlické hory (Eagle Mountains), but the city itself occupies the
southern lowland transition zone. This places it in one of the Czech
Republic’s most agriculturally productive areas, with the entire region
(and the city) draining into the Elbe River catchment. The lowest point
in the broader region is around 202 m along the Cidlina River, while
Hradec itself sits comfortably above flood-prone zones in most
conditions.
Topography and Elevation
The immediate landscape
around Hradec Králové is essentially flat. Within a few kilometers of
the city center, elevation changes are minimal—often less than 30 m (95
ft) in any direction. The official elevation of the city is 235 m (771
ft) above sea level. The highest point inside municipal boundaries is
the modest Slatina hill at 281 m (922 ft).
The old historic core
stands on a low sandstone outcrop that rises slightly between the two
rivers, giving it a modest defensive and visual prominence. Newer
districts spread across the western bank of the Elbe onto the
surrounding plain. The flatness is typical of the Polabí lowlands—wide,
open alluvial plains shaped by long-term river deposition. This terrain
supports easy urban expansion, extensive road and rail networks, and
large-scale agriculture.
Hydrology: Rivers and Water Features
The defining geographical feature is the confluence of the Elbe (Labe)
and Orlice rivers right in the heart of the city. The Elbe is one of
Central Europe’s major arteries (flowing eventually to the North Sea),
while the Orlice (formed upstream by the Tichá Orlice and Divoká Orlice)
joins it here. This junction has shaped the city’s layout, economy, and
history for centuries.
The rivers create natural boundaries and
recreational corridors. The municipal territory also contains dozens of
small fishponds (rybníky), scattered across the lowlands. These
artificial water bodies, typical of Czech rural landscapes, support
local fisheries, biodiversity, and flood regulation. The riverbanks and
floodplains feature riparian forests, wetlands, and meadows that are
prone to seasonal flooding but also provide valuable green corridors
through the urban area.
Geology and Natural Landscape
Hradec
Králové lies on the Bohemian Massif, an ancient geological block. The
lowlands are blanketed in Quaternary alluvial sediments (sands, gravels,
and silts) deposited by the Elbe and its tributaries. The sandstone
outcrop beneath the old town is a small remnant of older sedimentary
layers that stand out against the otherwise flat, sedimentary plain.
Soils are fertile chernozems and fluvisols, ideal for crops such as
wheat, barley, sugar beets, and vegetables. The natural vegetation of
the lowlands has largely been replaced by farmland, but pockets of
floodplain forests, meadows, and the fishpond ecosystems remain. Unlike
the dramatic sandstone rock cities or mountains farther north in the
region (e.g., Adršpach-Teplice Rocks or Krkonoše National Park), the
city’s immediate surroundings are gentle and open—classic Central
European riverine plain.
Climate
Hradec Králové has a humid
continental climate (Köppen Dfb). Key averages include:
Annual mean
temperature: 9.4–9.6 °C
Warmest month (July): average ~19.8 °C (daily
highs often 23–25 °C)
Coldest month (January): average ~-0.6 °C
(nighttime lows frequently below freezing)
Annual precipitation:
588–696 mm, with a summer maximum (July is wettest at ~85 mm / 2.9–3.4
inches) and a dry winter (February driest at ~29 mm).
The flat,
open landscape allows for temperature extremes: record high 38.0 °C
(1934) and record low −28.4 °C (1956). River proximity and fishponds can
produce morning fog or higher humidity, especially in autumn and winter.
Snow cover is common but variable in depth, and the growing season is
reasonably long thanks to the lowland position.
Hradec Králové was one of the Czech "cities of a hundred thousand":
it became one in 1987 and reached its maximum at the end of 1990, when
it had 101,272 inhabitants. But then, mainly due to moving out of the
city (suburbanization), the number of inhabitants began to decrease, in
1997 it fell below the hundred thousand mark and, for example, according
to the 2011 census, it had just over 94,000 inhabitants. However, the
entire Hradec-Pardubic agglomeration had a total of 340,423 inhabitants
as of 2019. Over 20,000 people commute to their own city for work and
study.
According to the 1921 census, 13,115 inhabitants lived in
547 houses, of which 6,159 were women. 12,472 inhabitants claimed
Czechoslovak nationality, 342 German and 7 Jewish. 9,149 Roman
Catholics, 686 Evangelicals, 527 members of the Czechoslovak Hussite
Church and 314 Jews lived here. According to the 1930 census, 17,819
inhabitants lived here in 861 houses. 16,854 inhabitants claimed
Czechoslovak nationality and 359 German. 10,991 Roman Catholics, 1,219
Evangelicals, 2,082 members of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church and 425
Jews lived here. At that time, however, Hradec Králové consisted only of
today's center, and from 1923 also the cadastral territory of Věkoš,
together with the then separate suburbs, which were, however, closely
linked to the city itself (Prague suburbs, Silesian suburbs, Kukleny,
Malšovice and Pouchov), lived to In 1930, the agglomeration defined in
this way had a total of 34,517 inhabitants (after including Plotiště nad
Labem and Svobodné Dvorů, already 40,928).