Svitavy
| Svitavy | |||||
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| Basic data | |||||
| State : |
 Czech Republic
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| Historical part of the country : | Moravia | ||||
| Region : | Pardubický kraj | ||||
| District : | Svitavy | ||||
| Area : | 3133 ha | ||||
| Geographic location : | 49 ° 45 ' N , 16 ° 28' E | ||||
| Height: | 435 m nm | ||||
| Residents : | 16,838 (Jan 1, 2019) | ||||
| Postal code : | 568 02-570 01 | ||||
| traffic | |||||
| Railway connection: |
Brno – Česká Třebová Svitavy – Žďárec u Skutče |
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| structure | |||||
| Status: | city | ||||
| Districts: | 4th | ||||
| administration | |||||
| Mayor : | David Šimek (as of 2010) | ||||
| Address: | TG Masaryka 25/35 568 02 Svitavy |
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| Municipality number: | 577731 | ||||
| Website : | www.svitavy.cz | ||||
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Svitavy (German: Zwittau ) is a town in the Pardubice region in the Czech Republic with 17,040 inhabitants (2014).
The most famous person in the city is the Sudeten German entrepreneur Oskar Schindler , who saved the lives of around 1,200 Jews during the Second World War . He was awarded the honorary title Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel and his life was portrayed in the Oscar-winning film Schindler's List .
Geographical location
The former Moravian and now East Bohemian industrial city lies at 434 m. ü. M. on the river Svitava (German Zwitta , also Zwittawa ), about 15 km southeast of Litomyšl ( Leitomischl ). Zwittau had the most inhabitants among the cities within the German-speaking island of Schönhengstgau .
history
The place Zwittau was first mentioned in 1256 when Bruno von Schaumburg , the Bishop of Olomouc , set up a parish here. From 1330 Zwittau is called a city. After the temporary occupation by the Hussites , the town belonged again to the bishops of Olomouc, but the Reformation took hold here in the middle of the 16th century. In the 16th century the city flourished economically and confronted the bishops with self-confidence, during the Thirty Years War the city suffered greatly from the acts of war. In the first half of the 19th century Zwittau became a center of the textile industry, in 1847/48 there was great social unrest here.
Zwittau belonged to the German linguistic island Schönhengstgau and was largely German-populated until 1945 (1930: 88.4% of the population), from here also came the entrepreneur Oskar Schindler , who was an active National Socialist in Zwittau, but later rescued himself in Poland earned great merit from more than 1200 Jews.
After the Munich Agreement , the town was added to the German Reich and until 1945 belonged to the district of Zwittau , district of Troppau , in the Reichsgau Sudetenland. On December 1, 1930, the city of Zwittau had 10,446 inhabitants (1,176 Czechs), on May 17, 1939 there were 10,413 Residents and on May 22, 1947 8963 residents.
- Expulsion of the Germans
Due to the Beneš decrees , the German population was largely expropriated and expelled in 1945 .
Due to an administrative reform of 1960, the border of the Czech regions was moved eastwards beyond the historical border of the old crown lands of Bohemia and Moravia , so that Svitavy is now in Kraj Pardubice.
Demographics
| year | Residents | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| 1857 | 5,095 | |
| 1900 | 9,029 | German residents |
| 1930 | 10,446 | thereof 1,176 Czechs |
| 1939 | 10,405 | 197 Evangelicals, 9,946 Catholics, 13 other Christians and four Jews |
Local division
In addition to the suburb (Předměstí), the towns of Lačnov ( Moravian Lotschnau ) and Lány ( Vierzighuben ) belong to the town of Svitavy .
Attractions
Svitavy has a remarkable historical town center. The elongated old ring square (today Náměstí Míru - German: Peace Square ) with its arcades is outstanding . Also worth seeing are a number of town houses and churches, as well as some baroque statues and the remains of the historic city fortifications.
The old town hall and the neighboring “Zum Mohren” stand out below the buildings. In addition, the city museum and the Ottendorfer house deserve special attention. The oldest church in Svitavy is the cemetery church sv. Jiljí (St. Aegidius) from the 12th century. Among the sculptures in public space, the one for Oskar Schindler is probably the best known.
Town houses
- Náměstí Míru ( Peace Square , formerly the Ring Square .): The long market square in the old town center is lined on both sides by Baroque and Classicist town houses with arcades - the second longest row of arcades in the whole of the Czech Republic. At the beginning of the 21st century, the ensemble underwent extensive, loving renovation.
- Stará radnice ( Old Town Hall ): The Renaissance building with the eye-catching tower was rebuilt in the same style in 1781 after severe fire damage. Another renovation took place in 1849. It served as the town hall until 1933, and it also served as a municipal savings bank, court and police station with prison cells. Today it houses various shops. The facade shows the city arms, a bull's head between two towers. The top of the town hall tower is adorned by a Turkish crescent moon.
- Dům U Mouřenína (House of the Moors): The neighboring house is connected to the Old Town Hall by a corridor on the first floor. It was one of the city's finest houses when Emperor Joseph II visited Svitavy in 1776, and he found his home here. Today the tourist office is located here.
- Ottendorferův dům ( Ottendorfer House ): The red brick building in the historicist style is one of Svitavy's landmarks. VO Ottendorfer , who had to flee into exile in America after the unrest of 1848 , had the house built on the site of the house where he was born as the city's first public library. The house housed the most extensive and most modern library in Moravia until the Second World War , on which all later furnished ones were based. - With the expulsion of the German-speaking population due to the Beneš decrees , the library lost its users. The rest of their holdings are now in the city museum. - After that the house functioned as a cultural center. Since 2008 it has housed an Esperanto museum on the ground floor , which is supported by the city of Svitavy and the Czech Esperanto Association as a branch of the Municipal Museum.
- Langerová vila (Villa Langer): The historicist and heavily stuccoed building directly on the municipal Jan Palach Park was built in 1892 by the architect Hugo Wanderley, who also drew and realized the plans for the Ottendorfer House. The house belonged to one of Svitavy's wealthiest families, who came from entrepreneurs and city councilors. After financial crises, the family was forced to rent the house in 1933 and finally to sell it to the city in 1942. Since then, the representative building has been used as a town hall. Extensively restored in 1989.
- Budigova vila (Villa Budig) : Today used as a municipal museum and gallery.
Stará radnice with the house "U mouřenína"
Ottendorfer House
Langerová Villa: Town Hall
Churches
- Visitation of the Virgin Mary on Friedensplatz - built around 1250, probably as a Romanesque construction, later Gothic and Baroque additions, access to the viewing platform in the tower.
- Friedhofskirche St. Aegidius Romanesque basilica, second half of the 12th century, three-aisled building with galleries above the aisles. Reconstruction in the early baroque style. Valuable baroque interior decoration.
- St. Joseph - built in 1894/96 as a three-aisled neo-Romanesque basilica with two towers, also known as the “Red Church” because of the brick construction .
- Convent of the Sisters of Mercy of the Order of Saint Vincent de Paul. Built in 1871 as a hospital, especially for children, and as a home for the elderly. Today used as a “house at the crossroads” with care for mentally handicapped women.
Church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary
St. Joseph's Church
St. Aegidius with cemetery
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Museums and cultural institutions
- City museum and gallery in the Villa Budig
- Esperanto Museum housed as a branch of the City Museum on the ground floor of the Ottendorfer House. Founded in 2008, maintained by the Czech Esperanto Association. There is a permanent exhibition on the planned language Esperanto, as well as an annually changing themed exhibition. Regular educational and cultural events.
- Fabrika cultural center
- library
City museum in the Villa Budig
Museum exhibition on laundry
Esperanto Museum, exhibition
"Fabrika" cultural center
nature
- Jan Palach Park
- Rosnička fish pond
- Educational trail “Bohemian-Moravian borderland - the Svitavy microregion” , with 9 stations, starting in the city center
Personalities
- Hugo Albrecht (1862–1920), Austro-Moravian politician (German National Party) and manufacturer
- Hans-Christian Beck (* 1944), German major general in the Bundeswehr, most recently commander of the command academy of the Bundeswehr
- Johann Baptist Crystellius Zwittauer von Bochau (? –1637), he was prior of the St. Thomas Monastery in Prague from 1601 to 1637.
- Martin Zwittauer von Bochau (? –1602), from 1568 to 1601 prior of the monastery of St. Thomas and St. Katharine in Prague
- Joseph Kristelli von Bochau (1658–1740), prior from 1702 to 1739 in the Gaming Charterhouse
- Paul Wenzelius von Bochau (? –1663), councilor of appeal in Prague, from 1623 to 1663 landlord of Třebušín
- Johann Budig (1832–1915), entrepreneur, mayor of Zwittau and member of the Austrian Parliament
- Maximilian Felzmann (1894–1962), German and Austro-Hungarian officer, most recently general of the artillery in World War II
- Father Karl Fritscher (1875–1945), also called "Apostle Zwittau"
- Wilhelm Gerlich (1915–2001), philosopher
- Maurus Haberhauer (1746–1799), subprior of Raigern Abbey, theologian, music educator and composer
- Heinrich Hackenberg (1898–1951), Austrian politician (SPÖ)
- Emil Hantl (1902–1984), member of the Auschwitz concentration camp crew
- Hermann Franz Haupt (* 1926), astronomer, President of the Austrian Astronomical Society
- Maximilian Haupt (1887–1959), judge in Sterzing and Meran, Councilor at the Higher Regional Court in Innsbruck, grandfather of Herbert Ernst Haupt
- Norbert Heger (* 1939), Austrian archaeologist
- Georg Anton Heintz (1698–1759), Baroque sculptor
- Julius Hönig (1902–1945), politician (NSDAP)
- Josef Horntrich (1930–2017), born in Ketzelsdorf, surgeon in Cottbus
- Franz Jesser (1869–1954), Sudeten German publicist and politician (DNSAP)
- Erich Klimek (* 1936), German painter, draftsman and illustrator
- Carl Lick (1859–1935), Sparkasse director, mayor (1919–1935), historian
- Heidi Lück (* 1943), German politician (SPD), member of the Bavarian state parliament
- Adolf Luser (1886–1941), Austrian publisher
- Alexander Makowsky (1833–1908), geologist
- Jan Moravec (* 1987), Czech football player
- Otto Neudert (1906–1975), Austrian painter, graphic artist and teacher
- Valentin Oswald Ottendorfer (1826–1900), revolutionary from 1848, emigrant, publisher in New York, patron of his hometown
- Jiří Pernes (* 1948), Czech historian
- Eibe Riedel (* 1943), German lawyer
- Oskar Schindler (1908–1974), entrepreneur and philanthropist
- Karl Schmied (1933–2006), Buddhist religion teacher
- Harald Schwarz (1921–1995), puppeteer and stage manager of the Hohnsteiner , died during a tour in Svitavy
- Ruth von Truchseß (* 1941), German politician (SPD)
- Konrad Trummler (1864–1936), German admiral, naval attaché
- Walter Tuschla (1938–2011), German conductor and composer
- Hans Tyderle (* 1926), painter and draftsman
- Gustav Witlatschil , called "Gustl" (1935–2018), German football player
- Hermann von Zeissl (1817–1884), Austrian dermatologist
literature
- Josef Čermák, Miloš Vaněk, Jiří Tesař, Blanka Čuhelová, Radoslav Fikejz: Svitavy včera a dnes. / Zwittau yesterday and today. Two volumes. Městské muzeum a galerie / DTP centrum, Svitavy 2002, ISBN 80-254-9347-4 ( Czech and German ).
- Heimatkreis Zwittau in the Schönhengster Heimatbund eV (Hrsg.): Heimatbuch Zwittau. 2nd Edition. Home district Zwittau, Göppingen 1976, DNB 790502194 .
- Carl Lick. On the history of the city of Zwittau and its surroundings. Im Selbstverlage, Zwittau 1910, DNB 361513976 , (also: 1937).
- Friedrich Linhart: A man from Zwittau. Life between Slavic peoples in peace and war. Context, Obertshausen 1995, ISBN 3-924072-21-3 .
- Joachim Rogall: Germans and Czechs : History, Culture, Politics Verlag CH Beck, 2003. ISBN 3 406 45954 4 . Preface by Václav Havel. Chapter: The Přemyslids and the German Colonization S33 f.
- Detlef Brandes : The way to expulsion 1938-1945 . Plans and decisions to “transfer” Germans from Czechoslovakia and Poland. 2nd edition, Verlag Oldenbourg, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-486-56731-4 .
- Roland Hoffmann, Alois Harasko: Odsun . The expulsion of the Sudeten Germans: Documentation on the causes, planning and implementation of an "ethnic cleansing" in Central Europe 1848 / 49-1945 / 46. Munich 2000, ISBN 3-933161-01-0 .
Web links
- Homepage of the city of Svitavy
- Homepage of the Svitavy Region (Czech)
- History of the city of Zwittau and its surroundings
- City tour (German)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Český statistický úřad - The population of the Czech municipalities as of January 1, 2019 (PDF; 7.4 MiB)
- ^ Rudolf Hemmerle : Sudetenland Lexikon Volume 4, page 501. Adam Kraft Verlag, 1985. ISBN 3-8083-1163-0 .
- ^ Carl Kořistka : The Margraviate of Moravia and the Duchy of Silesia in their geographical relationships . Vienna and Olmüz 1861, pp. 268–269 .
- ^ Meyer's Large Conversational Lexicon . 6th edition, Volume 20, Leipzig and Vienna 1909, p. 1049.
- ^ A b Michael Rademacher: German administrative history from the unification of the empire in 1871 to the reunification in 1990. District of Zwittau. (Online material for the dissertation, Osnabrück 2006).
- ↑ During the occupation also "Adolf Hitler-Platz"
- ↑ Long Villa