Žacléř () (german: Schatzlar) is a town in

Trutnov District Trutnov District ( cs, okres Trutnov is a district (''okres'') within Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. Its administrative center is the town of Trutnov. Complete list of municipalities Batňovice - Bernartice - Bílá Třemešná ...

in the Hradec Králové Region of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. It has about 3,100 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone.

Administrative parts

Villages of Bobr and Prkenný Důl are administrative parts of Žacléř.

History

Žacléř was founded on the Silesian trail, which was a trade route from Trutnov to

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

. A guarding castle for the protection of the trail was built here probably during the reign of

Ottokar II of Bohemia Ottokar II ( cs, Přemysl Otakar II.; , in Městec Králové, Bohemia – 26 August 1278, in Dürnkrut, Lower Austria), the Iron and Golden King, was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty who reigned as King of Bohemia from 1253 until his deat ...

, around 1260. The first written mention of the castle is from 1334. From 1570,

hard coal Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the high ...

was mined here and from 1670, beer was brewed here. In the 19th century, the industrialization occurred. Paper mill, glassworks, and factories for textile, ceramics or soda were founded, but almost all operation ended during the 20th century. In 1992, the coal mining ended. During the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the German occupiers operated a women subcamp of the

Gross-Rosen concentration camp , known for = , location = , built by = , operated by = , commandant = , original use = , construction = , in operation = Summer of 1940 – 14 February 1945 , gas cham ...

in the town. The prisoners were mostly of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

women deported from German-occupied

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. The camp was liberated on 8 May 1945, coincidentally the day of the

end of World War II in Europe The final battle of the European Theatre of World War II continued after the definitive overall surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allies, signed by Field marshal Wilhelm Keitel on 8 May 1945 in Karlshorst, Berlin. After German dictator Adolf H ...

Economy

The ceramics factory was founded in 1878 and it is the only factory in Žacléř which has survived to this day. Since 1994, the company operates under the name Keramtech, s.r.o.

Sights

The Church of the Holy Trinity was built in 1677 by

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

and baroquely rebuilt in 1732. The rectory next to the church is a late Baroque building from 1793. The Renaissance Žacléř Castle was originally a Gothic castle, which burned down in 1523 and was rebuilt in the 16th century. It is inaccessible to the public. In the former Jan Šverma Mine there is the Mining Open-air museum Žacléř. It focuses on the mining equipment and history of mining in Žacléř, and on paleontological findings uncovered during mining. The history of the town and a porcelain collection are shown in the Town Museum.

Twin towns – sister cities

Žacléř is twinned with: *

Goldkronach Goldkronach (East Franconian: ''Gronich'') is a town in the district of Bayreuth, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated near the Fichtelgebirge, 12 km northeast of Bayreuth. History On 25 June 1836, at 22:15, residents awoke to a man yell ...

, Germany * Kowary, Poland *

Lubawka Lubawka (german: Liebau) is a town in Poland, in Lower Silesia Voivodship, in Kamienna Góra County. It is the administrative seat of Gmina Lubawka. It lies in the Sudetes near to the border with the Czech Republic on the way across the Luba ...

, Poland * Lwówek Śląski County, Poland

Gallery

Žacléř... - panoramio.jpg, Panorama of Žacléř Zamek Zacler.jpg, Žacléř Castle Zaclerz,Słup Mariański na Placu Rychorskim -22.08.2009 r..JPG, Marian column Socha sv. Floriána, Žacléř.JPG, Sculpture of Saint Florian

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zacler Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Populated places in Trutnov District