Jablonec nad Nisou (; german: Gablonz an der Neiße) is a city in the
Liberec Region
Liberec Region ( cs, Liberecký kraj, german: Reichenberger Region, pl, Kraj liberecki) is an administrative unit (Czech: ''kraj'') of the Czech Republic, located in the northernmost part of its historical region of Bohemia. It is named after i ...
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 45,000 inhabitants. It is the second-largest city in the region. It is a local centre for education, and is known for its
glass
Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...
and
jewelry
Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a western ...
production. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an
urban monument zone.
Administrative parts
Jablonec nad Nisou is made up by eight city parts: Jablonec nad Nisou, Jablonecké Paseky, Kokonín, Lukášov, Mšeno nad Nisou, Proseč nad Nisou, Rýnovice and Vrkoslavice.
Etymology
The name ''Jablonec'' is of
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
*Czech, ...
origin and means ''"little apple tree"'' (''jablonče'' was a diminutive of the old Czech ''jabloň'' – "apple tree"), for the village was founded on a place where an apple tree grew. German-speaking settlers who came to the village during the 16th century adjusted the name to ''Gablonz''. During the 19th century, the attribute "German" was often added to the name (like in the 1848 cs, Jablonec německý, german: Deutsch-Gablonz). In 1904, the official attribute in both Czech and German became "on the Neisse", which described the location of the town upon the river
Lusatian Neisse
The Lusatian Neisse (german: Lausitzer Neiße; pl, Nysa Łużycka; cs, Lužická Nisa; Upper Sorbian: ''Łužiska Nysa''; Lower Sorbian: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern Central Europe.[Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...]
and called in remembrance of their hometown ''Neugablonz'' ("New Jablonec"). Today, it is one of the districts of the city of
Kaufbeuren
Kaufbeuren (; Bavarian: ''Kaufbeiren'') is an independent town in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Swabia, Bavaria. The town is an enclave within the district of Ostallgäu.
Districts
Kaufbeuren consists of nine districts:
* Kaufbeuren (town core ...
.
Geography
![Mseno hraz zapad](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Mseno_hraz_zapad.jpg)
Jablonec nad Nisou is located about southeast of
Liberec
Liberec (; german: Reichenberg ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants and it is the fifth-largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preser ...
and northeast of
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
. Most of the built-up area lies in the eastern tip of the
Zittau Basin
Zittau ( hsb, Žitawa, dsb, Žytawa, pl, Żytawa, cs, Žitava, :de:Oberlausitzer Mundart, Upper Lusatian Dialect: ''Sitte''; from Slavic languages, Slavic "''rye''" (Upper Sorbian and Czech: ''žito'', Lower Sorbian: ''žyto'', Polish: ''żyto' ...
, and it is surrounded with the
Jizera Mountains
Jizera Mountains ( cz, Jizerské hory), or Izera Mountains ( pl, Góry Izerskie; german: Isergebirge), are part of the Western Sudetes on the border between the Czech Republic and Poland. The range got its name from the Jizera River, which rises a ...
in the north, east and south. The northern part of the municipal territory also belongs into the Jizera Mountains Protected Landscape Area. The highest point of Jablonec nad Nisou is located on the slopes in the southeastern part of the territory, with an altitude of .
Jablonec nad Nisou is situated at the confluence of the rivers
Lusatian Neisse
The Lusatian Neisse (german: Lausitzer Neiße; pl, Nysa Łużycka; cs, Lužická Nisa; Upper Sorbian: ''Łužiska Nysa''; Lower Sorbian: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern Central Europe.[Lusatia
Lusatia (german: Lausitz, pl, Łużyce, hsb, Łužica, dsb, Łužyca, cs, Lužice, la, Lusatia, rarely also referred to as Sorbia) is a historical region in Central Europe, split between Germany and Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr ...]
ns in the war between them and King
George of Poděbrady
George of Kunštát and Poděbrady (23 April 1420 – 22 March 1471), also known as Poděbrad or Podiebrad ( cs, Jiří z Poděbrad; german: Georg von Podiebrad), was the sixteenth King of Bohemia, who ruled in 1458–1471. He was a leader of the ...
. The village was then resettled during the 16th century by mostly German-speaking colonists.
[
In the 18th century, the first artificial jewellery was produced and the first exporter, J. F. Schwan, spread the town's name throughout Europe. The village of Gablonz was declared a ]market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...
by Emperor Francis II on 21 April 1808 and was given town status by Emperor Franz Joseph I
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...
on 28 March 1866.
In the 19th century, the town became prosperous and wealthy, as Gablonz traders seized the foreign markets. A steady supply of a wide range of glass and artificial jewellery products flowed out of the town. This industrial advancement also improved the quality of life, and Jablonec's appearance changed dramatically.
Historian Peter Hinks, writing about the various types of Late Victorian jewellery sold by British and American companies at the turn of the 20th century, noted that "The Bohemian garnet
Garnets () are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives.
All species of garnets possess similar physical properties and crystal forms, but differ in chemical composition. The different s ...
jewellery sold by Moore and Evans n Chicago
N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''.
History
...
was the product of an industry based in the town of Gablonz, now Jablonec. These very effective jewels were set with locally mined garnets, rose cut and set in gold mounts of very formal design.".
However, the worldwide economic crisis resulting from the Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...
damaged the glass and jewellery industry and the crisis of the 1930s with its unemployment and hunger led to great support of Nazis. In October 1938, Gablonz was occupied by Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
after the Munich Agreement
The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, Germany, the United Kingdom, French Third Republic, France, and Fa ...
, and was administed as a part of Reichsgau Sudetenland
The Reichsgau Sudetenland was an administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1939 to 1945. It comprised the northern part of the ''Sudetenland'' territory, which was annexed from Czechoslovakia according to the 30 September 1938 Munich Agreement. ...
until 1945. Before 1938, the population of Gablonz was composed of 86% German inhabitants, and the rest Czechs, Jews and many other groups. In autumn 1938, most of the Jews, Czechs and anti-Nazi Germans escaped to other parts of Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
and the Jewish synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish language, Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino language, Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word ...
was burned down. In May 1945, the town was liberated by the underground anti-Nazi groups together with some 700 French and Italian soldiers who were captives in Gablonz's camps.
Between 1945 and 1949, most of the Germans were expelled under the terms of Beneš decrees
The Beneš decrees, sk, Dekréty prezidenta republiky) and the Constitutional Decrees of the President of the Republic ( cz, Ústavní dekrety presidenta republiky, sk, Ústavné dekréty prezidenta republiky) were a series of laws drafted by t ...
. However, a few thousand Germans who were active in struggle against the Nazi rule, Germans who had married Czechs, and Germans with special permits were allowed to stay home in Gablonz. Despite assimilation and emigration to Germany in 1968, the German minority in Gablonz still exists (there are some 1,000–2,000 in the town). Except for original Czech and Jewish Gablonz residents who returned to the area, many of the new Czech inhabitants of Gablonz came from nearby Czech towns and villages. Gablonz has also an important Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
minority, founded by communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
refugees of the Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...
in 1949, and a minority of Roma
Roma or ROMA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Roma, Queensland, a town
** Roma Airport
** Roma Courthouse
** Electoral district of Roma, defunct
** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council
*Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
. Some Germans expelled from Gablonz and its surroundings founded the quarter of Neugablonz near Kaufbeuren
Kaufbeuren (; Bavarian: ''Kaufbeiren'') is an independent town in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Swabia, Bavaria. The town is an enclave within the district of Ostallgäu.
Districts
Kaufbeuren consists of nine districts:
* Kaufbeuren (town core ...
in Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
and a group in Enns in Upper Austria
Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, a ...
after 1950.
Demographics
Economy
Jablonec nad Nisou holds the Czech Mint
The Czech Mint (Česká mincovna) is a mint located in the Czech Republic which is responsible for producing coins of the Czech koruna. The mint was established in 1992 following the country's dissolution from Czechoslovakia where coins of the Cze ...
after Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
(the Czechoslovakian mint, also known as the Kremnica Mint, is now in Slovakia).
The city has a long tradition of costume jewelry
Costume or fashion jewelry includes a range of decorative items worn for personal adornment that are manufactured as less expensive ornamentation to complement a particular fashionable outfit or garmentBaker, Lillian. Fifty Years of Collectabl ...
and bead
A bead is a small, decorative object that is formed in a variety of shapes and sizes of a material such as stone, bone, shell, glass, plastic, wood, or pearl and with a small hole for threading or stringing. Beads range in size from under ...
s production.
The biggest industrial employers with headquarters in the city are Preciosa (glass products manufacturer) are TI Automotive AC (production of car air conditioners).
Transport
Jablonec shares the tramway line which connects it to its neighbouring city, Liberec
Liberec (; german: Reichenberg ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants and it is the fifth-largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preser ...
. Koleje Dolnośląskie
Koleje Dolnośląskie (Polish for ''Lower Silesian Railways''; KD) is a regional rail operator in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship of Poland.
The company was founded on 28 December 2007 by a decision of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship Sejmik and i ...
D21 line runs from Liberec
Liberec (; german: Reichenberg ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants and it is the fifth-largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preser ...
to Szklarska Poręba
Szklarska Poręba (german: Schreiberhau) is a town in Jelenia Góra County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. The town has a population of around 6,500. It is a popular ski resort.
An important regional and national centre fo ...
via the town.
Sport
Jablonec has a swimming pool, three football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
and athletic stadiums, and an ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
arena.
The city is nowadays represented by FK Jablonec
FK Jablonec () is a Czech professional football club based in Jablonec nad Nisou. The club has played in the top league of Czech football, Czech First League, since 1994.
History
Jablonec played its first season of top league football in the 197 ...
in the Czech First League
The Czech First League, known as the Fortuna liga for sponsorship reasons, is a Czech professional league for football clubs. At the top of the Czech football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Seasons typically r ...
.
Before the World War II, a number of ethnic German football clubs existed in Gablonz, ''Fortuna'', ''DSK'' and ''BSK''. These were merged into ''NSTG Gablonz'' in 1939 by the Nazis, ''NSTG'' standing for ''Nationalsozialistische Turngemeinde''. ''NSTG'' played in the Gauliga Sudetenland
The Gauliga Sudetenland, was the highest Association football, football league in the ''Sudetenland'', the predominantly German-speaking parts of Czechoslovakia that were awarded to the German Reich on 30 September 1938 through the Munich Agreemen ...
but disappeared with the end of the war. ''BSK'' however was reformed in 1950 in Bavaria, under the name of BSK Neugablonz
The BSK Olympia Neugablonz is a Football in Germany, German association football club from the Neugablonz suburb of the city of Kaufbeuren, Bavaria.
The suburb of Neugablonz in Kaufbeuren was formed after the Second World War, when Expulsion of ...
.
Sights
The historical city centre is formed by squares Dolní, Mírové, Horní, and Anenské, which lies close to each other, and their surroundings. The city hall, called New Town Hall, is located on Mírové Square and is a functionalistic building from 1931–1933. The Old Town Hall on Dolní Square is a building from 1867–1869 with a typical square tower. Today it serves as a library.
There are several churches in the city: Church of Saint Anne
According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...
(a Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
building from 1865–1867), Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (a brick building from 1930–1931), Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (an Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
style building from 1900–1902, one of the most important sacral Art Nouveau buildings in Europe), and Protestant Dr. Farský Church (a pseudo-Gothic building from 1892).[
The tradition of costume jewellery production is presented in the Museum of Glass and Costume Jewellery. It was founded in 1904 and it is located in an Art Nouveau building.][
]
Notable people
* Adolf Benda (1845–1878), historian
* Gustav Leutelt (1860–1947), writer and poet
* Reinhold Hanisch (1882–1937), business partner of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
in Vienna, 1910
*Konrad Henlein
Konrad Ernst Eduard Henlein (6 May 1898 – 10 May 1945) was a leading Sudeten Germans, Sudeten German politician in Czechoslovakia. Upon the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German occupation in October 1938 he joined the Nazi Party as well ...
(1898–1945), Nazi politician
*Peter Herman Adler
Peter Herman Adler (2 December 1899, Gablonz an der Neiße, Bohemia – 2 October 1990, Ridgefield, Connecticut) was an American conductor born in Austria-Hungary in Gablonz an der Neiße, which is now in the Czech Republic.
Career
While at the ...
(1899–1990), conductor
* Ute de Lange Nilsen (born 1931), Czech-Norwegian artist
* Jiří Moskal (born 1949), rally raid
Rally raid, also known as cross-country rallying, is a form of long distance off-road racing that takes place over several days. The length of the event can be as short as 2–3 days for a cross-country baja to as long as 15 days with marathon ra ...
driver
*Ivan Bartoš
Ivan Bartoš (born 20 March 1980) is a Czech civil rights activist and a Czech Pirate Party politician, serving as the Minister of Regional Development and Deputy Prime Minister for Digitalization in the governing Cabinet of Petr Fiala since D ...
(born 1980), politician
*Jakub Čutta
Jakub Čutta (born December 29, 1981) is a Czech former ice hockey defenceman. He played 8 games in the National Hockey League with the Washington Capitals from 2000 to 2004. The rest of his career, which lasted from 2000 to 2018, was mainly spen ...
(born 1981), ice hockey player
*Barbora Špotáková
Barbora Špotáková (; born 30 June 1981) is a former Czech track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. She is a two-time Olympic Champion and three-time World Champion, as well as the current world record holder with a throw of ...
(born 1981), javelin thrower
* Radka Vodičková (born 1984), triathlete
* Daniel Špaček (born 1986), ice hockey player
*Gabriela Koukalová Gabriela may refer to:
* Gabriela (given name), a Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian feminine given name
* ''Gabriela'' (1942 film), a Czech film
* ''Gabriela'' (1950 film), a German film
* ''Gabriela'' (1983 film), a Brazilian film
* ''Gabriela' ...
(born 1989), biathlete
* Jessica Jislová (born 1994), biathlete
*Markéta Davidová
Markéta Davidová (born 3 January 1997) is a Czech biathlete. She competed in the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics.
Biathlon results
All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union
The International Biathlon Union (IBU; german: ...
(born 1997), biathlete
Twin towns – sister cities
Jablonec nad Nisou is twinned with:
* Bautzen
Bautzen () or Budyšin () is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree river. In 2018 the town's population was 39,087. Until 1868, its German name was ''Budis ...
, Germany
* Beihai
Beihai (; Postal romanization: Pakhoi) is a prefecture-level city in the south of Guangxi, People's Republic of China. Its status as a seaport on the north shore of the Gulf of Tonkin has granted it historical importance as a port of internation ...
, China
* Jelenia Góra
Jelenia Góra (pron. ; Polish: ; german: Hirschberg im Riesengebirge; Exonym: ''Deer Mountain''; szl, Jelyniŏ Gōra) is a historic city in southwestern Poland, within the historical region of Lower Silesia. Jelenia Góra is situated in the Low ...
, Poland
* Kaufbeuren
Kaufbeuren (; Bavarian: ''Kaufbeiren'') is an independent town in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Swabia, Bavaria. The town is an enclave within the district of Ostallgäu.
Districts
Kaufbeuren consists of nine districts:
* Kaufbeuren (town core ...
, Germany
* Marsciano
Marsciano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Perugia in the Italian region Umbria, located about 25 km south of Perugia.
Marsciano borders the following municipalities: Collazzone, Deruta, Fratta Todina, Perugia, Piegaro, S ...
, Italy
* Ronse
Ronse (; french: Renaix, ) is a Belgian city and a municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality only encompasses the city of Ronse proper.
History
Early settlements to 14th century
The hills around Ronse show clu ...
, Belgium
* Zwickau
Zwickau (; is, with around 87,500 inhabitants (2020), the fourth-largest city of Saxony after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz and it is the seat of the Zwickau District. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ' ...
, Germany
References
External links
*
Official tourist portal
Old postcards
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jablonec Nad Nisou
Cities and towns in the Czech Republic
Populated places in Jablonec nad Nisou District