Dolní Bousov is a town in

Mladá Boleslav District Mladá Boleslav District () is a district in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the city of Mladá Boleslav. Administrative division Mladá Boleslav District is divided into two administrative districts of municipal ...

in the

Central Bohemian Region The Central Bohemian Region ( ; ) is an administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the central part of its historical region of Bohemia. Its administrative centre is in the Czech capital Prague, which lies in the centre of the regio ...

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 3,000 inhabitants.

Administrative division

Dolní Bousov consists of seven municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Dolní Bousov (2,236) *Bechov (121) *Horní Bousov (173) *Ošťovice (16) *Střehom (37) *Svobodín (72) *Vlčí Pole (202) Svobodín forms an

exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

of the municipal territory.

Etymology

The name Bousov (initially written as Búsov) is derived from the personal name Bous (Bús), meaning "Bous' (court)". Originally, Dolní Bousov was called just Bousov and the nearby village of Horní Bousov was called Bousovec (diminutive form of Bousov). In the 15th century, they began to be called Dolní ('lower') and Horní ('upper') based on their location.

Geography

Dolní Bousov is located about east of

Mladá Boleslav Mladá Boleslav (; ) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 47,000 inhabitants. It lies on the left bank of the Jizera (river), Jizera River. Mladá Boleslav is the second most populated city in the region. I ...

and northeast of

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. It lies in the

Jičín Uplands The Jičín Uplands () are uplands and a geomorphological mesoregion of the Czech Republic. It is located in the Hradec Králové, Liberec and Central Bohemian regions. Geomorphology The Jičín Uplands are a mesoregion of the North Bohemian ...

. The highest point is the hill Hladoměř at above sea level, located on the southern municipal border. The Klenice River flows through the town. It supplies a system of fishponds, the largest of which is Červenský rybník with an area of .

History

The first written mention of Bousov is from 1318. The wooden church of Saint Catherine was documented in 1352. Before 1497, Dolní Bousov was promoted to a town. The town flourished during the rule of the

Lobkowicz family The House of Lobkowicz (''Lobkovicové'' in modern Czech, sg. ''z Lobkovic''; ''Lobkowitz'' in German) is an important Bohemian noble family that dates back to the 14th century and is one of the oldest noble families of the region. Over the cent ...

at the end of the 16th century. In 1600, Emperor

Rudolf II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the H ...

granted Dolní Bousov a coat of arms and several privileges. At the end of the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

, the town was burned down by the Swedish troops. After the war, the town was acquired by the

Czernin family The Czernin family (; ) is a European noble family that was one of the oldest and most prominent noble families in the Kingdom of Bohemia. The family can claim descent from many important European noble families, including the distant one fro ...

and development continued. Further economic development occurred in the 19th century, when the imperial road from Mladá Boleslav to

Sobotka Sobotka () is a town in Jičín District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,400 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, urb ...

was opened in 1842 and the railway in 1883.

Demographics

Transport

Dolní Bousov is located on the railway lines Všetaty–

Mladějov Mladějov is a municipality and village in Jičín District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The c ...

and Mladá Boleslav–

. There is an experimental railway line between Dolní Bousov and

Kopidlno Kopidlno is a town in Jičín District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,200 inhabitants. Administrative division Kopidlno consists of five municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): ...

, on which an

autonomous train Automatic train operation (ATO) is a method of operating trains automatically where the driver is not required or is required for supervision at most. Alternatively, ATO can be defined as a subsystem within the automatic train control, which pe ...

was put into operation in 2025, the first on a free track in Europe.

Sights

The most valuable building is the Church of Saint Catherine. The current Baroque church was built in 1759–1760. The landmarks of the town square are the

Empire style The Empire style (, ''style Empire'') is an early-nineteenth-century design movement in architecture, furniture, other decorative arts, and the visual arts, representing the second phase of Neoclassicism. It flourished between 1800 and 1815 duri ...

town hall from 1861, and the Marian column from the 18th century in the middle of the square. The folk architecture in the village of Střehom is well preserved. The village is protected as a village monument zone. The most valuable building in Střehom is a Renaissance mill.

Notable people

* Eugen Wratislaw von Mitrowitz (1786–1867), Austrian field marshal

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dolni Bousov Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Populated places in Mladá Boleslav District