Železný Brod (; ) is a town in Jablonec nad Nisou District in the

Liberec Region Liberec Region () is an administrative unit (Czech language, Czech: ''kraj'') of the Czech Republic, located in the northernmost part of its historical region of Bohemia. It is named after its capital Liberec. The region shares international bor ...

of the

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

. It has about 6,000 inhabitants. The Trávníky district of the town has well preserved folk architecture and is protected as a village monument reservation.

Administrative division

Železný Brod consists of 12 municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Železný Brod (4,197) *Bzí (283) *Chlístov (147) *Horská Kamenice (113) *Hrubá Horka (267) *Jirkov (208) *Malá Horka (58) *Pelechov (134) *Splzov (45) * Střevelná (42) *Těpeře (203) *Veselí (37)

Geography

Železný Brod is located about southeast of

Jablonec nad Nisou Jablonec nad Nisou (; ) is a city in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 46,000 inhabitants. It is the second-largest city in the region. It is a local centre for education, and is known for its glass and jewelry production, espe ...

. It lies in the

Giant Mountains Foothills In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of humanoid appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 from ...

. The highest point is at above sea level. The Jizera River flows through the town. The Žernovník Stream flows into the Jizera through the northern part of the town. The Kamenice River flows along the eastern municipal border before it joins the Jizera just outside the limits of Železný Brod.

History

Železný Brod was founded in the 11th or 12th century as a settlement named as ''Brod'' (" ford") or ''Brodek'' ("little ford"). In the 13th century, King Ottokar II promoted the village to a town. In 1468, the town was burned down, however in 1501, King Vladislaus II restored the town's rights and gave the town its

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

. Most likely at the same time ''Železný'' ("

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

") was added to its name, alluding to the town's steelworks. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the glassmaking industry boomed with the development of

glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...

production and grinding mills. In 1920, the first Czech professional glassmaking school was opened.

Demographics

Economy

The town's industry is represented by jewellers, as well as producers of blow-moulded glass, thermometers, and small glass commodities.

Transport

Železný Brod lies on the railway line

Pardubice Pardubice (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 92,000 inhabitants. It is the capital city of the Pardubice Region and lies on the Elbe River. The historic centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Repub ...

–

Liberec Liberec (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 108,000 inhabitants, making it the fifth largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse River, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preserved and is pr ...

Sights

The Neo-Renaissance town hall was built in 1890. The Town Theatre and the Town Gallery of Vlastimil Rada are both located within the town hall building. The town's coat-of-arms is displayed on the ground floor. A timbered house called Běliště is the location of the ethnographic exposition of the Town Museum, focusing on the history of Železný Brod and its close surroundings. Klemencovsko is a former burgher timbered house from 1792 located on the town square. Since 1936, the house served as a part of the savings bank building. Today the house serves as a part of the town museum and holds an exposition of the Železný Brod glass-making, and the gallery of

Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová Stanislav Libenský (27 March 1921 – 24 February 2002) and Jaroslava Brychtová (18 July 1924 – 8 April 2020) were Czech contemporary artists. Their works are included in many major modern art collections, such as the Metropolitan Museum of ...

. The Trávníky district is situated at the confluence of the Jizera and Žernovka. It is remarkable for a set of folk architecture monuments, formed by old Neoclassical and timbered houses from the 18th and 19th centuries. Among the most valuable houses are the

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

houses called Grosovsko and Knopovsko. The Church of Saint James the Great in Trávníky was built at the end of the 17th century, the wooden belfry next to the church dates from 1761. There is also the Mini-museum of glass

nativity scene In the Christian tradition, a nativity scene (also known as a manger scene, crib, crèche ( or ), or in Italian ''presepio'' or ''presepe'', or Bethlehem) is the special exhibition, particularly during the Christmastide, Christmas season, of ar ...

s. The Church of the Holy Trinity in Bzí is a Baroque rural church. It was built in 1692–1697 and replaced an older wooden building.

Notable people

Marie Fabianová Marie Fabianová (also written as Marie Fabiánová; 11 February 1872 – 7 April 1943) was a Czech mathematician, teacher and school principal, suffragette and feminist. She was one of the first Czech women to obtain a university education, the s ...

(1872–1943), mathematician and teacher * Pravoslav Rada (1923–2011), artist *

Jaroslava Brychtová Jaroslava may refer to: *Jaroslava Bajerová (1910–1995), Czech gymnast *Jaroslava Brychtová (1924–2020), Czech glass artist and sculptor *Jaroslava Bukvajová (born 1975), Slovak cross country skier *Jarka Lutz, Jaroslava Krčálová, Czecho ...

(1924–2020), contemporary artist

Twin towns – sister cities

Železný Brod is twinned with: *

Lauscha Lauscha is a town in the district of Sonneberg, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 13 km north of Sonneberg, and 24 km southwest of Saalfeld. Lauscha is known for its glassblowing, especially for Christmas tree decorations like ba ...

, Germany *

Olszyna Olszyna () is a town in Lubań County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. Its name means "alder wood" in Polish. It is the seat of the administrative district (gmina) called Gmina Olszyna. A settlement dating back to the Middl ...

, Poland

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zelezny Brod Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Populated places in Jablonec nad Nisou District