Horšovský Týn (; german: Bischofteinitz) is a town in
Domažlice District
Domažlice District ( cs, okres Domažlice) is a district ('' okres'') within Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is Domažlice.
Complete list of municipalities
Babylon -
Bělá nad Radbuzou -
Blížejov -
Brnířov -
Čermná - ...
in the
Plzeň Region
Plzeň Region ( cs, Plzeňský kraj; german: Pilsner Region) is an administrative unit (''kraj'') in the western part of Bohemia in the Czech Republic. It is named after its capital Plzeň (English, german: Pilsen). In terms of area, Plzeň R ...
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 4,800 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an
urban monument reservation.
Administrative parts
The town is made up of 9 town parts (Město, Plzeňské Předměstí, Malé Předměstí, Velké Předměstí, Nová Ves, Svatá Anna, Podhájí, Valdorf and Lazce) and 12 villages (Borovice, Dolní Metelsko, Hašov, Horní Metelsko, Horšov, Kocourov, Oplotec,
Podražnice, Semošice, Svinná, Tasnovice and
Věvrov).
Etymology
The Old Czech word ''týn'' is related to English "
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
". It was a term for a fortified settlement. The settlement was administered from Horšov (today a part of Horšovský Týn), hence the name which means "Horšov's Týn".
Geography
Horšovský Týn is located about north of
Domažlice
Domažlice (; german: Taus) is a town in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 11,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument reservation.
Administrative parts
The tow ...
and southwest of
Plzeň
Plzeň (; German and English: Pilsen, in German ) is a city in the Czech Republic. About west of Prague in western Bohemia, it is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 169,000 inhabita ...
. It lies on the
Radbuza
The Radbuza (; ) is a river in the Czech Republic, the right source river of the Berounka. Its source is situated at the foot of Lysá mountain (869 metres) near the village of Závist, near Domažlice. It passes through the villages and towns of ...
River. It is situated on the border between the
Plasy Uplands
Plasy (; german: Plass) is a town in Plzeň-North District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,800 inhabitants. It is known for its former monastery.
Administrative parts
Villages of Babina, Horní Hradiště, Lomnička, Neb ...
and the
Upper Palatine Forest Foothills
Upper may refer to:
* Shoe upper or ''vamp'', the part of a shoe on the top of the foot
* Stimulant, drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both
* ''Upper'', the original film title for the 2013 found f ...
.
History
A merchant village on a trade route from
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 ...
to
Regensburg
Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...
probably existed here in the 10th century. In 973, the area was donated by Duke
Boleslaus II to the newly established
bishopric of Prague. The first written mention of Horšovský Týn is from 1184.
A settlement was established on the right bank of the Radbuza river and administered from nearby Horšov. In the mid-13th century, it became more important than Horšov, a castle was built here, and it became the seat of the estate. King
Charles IV, promoted the village to a town and allowed to build fortification walls. The walls were not built around the entire perimeter of the town, and so the town was besieged and conquered during the
Hussite Wars
The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the Cat ...
between 1422 and 1431.
[
In 1542, the ]House of Lobkowicz
The House of Lobkowicz (''Lobkovicové'' in modern Czech, sg. ''z Lobkovic''; ''Lobkowitz'' in German) is a Czech noble family that dates back to the 14th century and is one of the oldest Bohemian noble families. The family also belong to the G ...
bought the Horšovský Týn estate. Thanks to the business activities of the family, the estate became one of the ten largest estates in Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. After the fire in 1547, the town was rebuilt in the Renaissance style. Horšovský Týn was confiscated from the Lobkowicz family after the Bohemian Revolt
The Bohemian Revolt (german: Böhmischer Aufstand; cs, České stavovské povstání; 1618–1620) was an uprising of the Bohemian estates against the rule of the Habsburg dynasty that began the Thirty Years' War. It was caused by both relig ...
in 1620.[
After the ]Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...
, Horšovský Týn passed to the counts on Trauttmansdorff
Trauttmansdorff Castle is a castle located south of the city of Meran, South Tyrol, northern Italy. It is home to the Touriseum, a museum of tourism and since 2001 the surrounding grounds have been open as the Trauttmansdorff Castle Gardens, a ...
, in whose possession the castle remained until 1945. In the second half of the 17th century and in the 18th century, the town was germanised
Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, people and culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationalism went hand in hand. In ling ...
. The improving economic situation was reflected in the character of the town. The buildings were given a baroque and rococo appearance, which has been preserved in the historical centre to this day.[
In 1900, the railroad to the town was built.][ During the late 19th century and especially after 1918 ]Czechs
The Czechs ( cs, Češi, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, c ...
began moving into the district in large numbers. From 1938 to 1945, the town and the region were annexed into 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 ...
and administered as part of the 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 the area was populated by ethnic Germans
, native_name_lang = de
, region1 =
, pop1 = 72,650,269
, region2 =
, pop2 = 534,000
, region3 =
, pop3 = 157,000
3,322,405
, region4 =
, pop4 = ...
. These people were expelled by the 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 ...
following 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 ...
.
Demographics
Sights
The main landmark is the Horšovský Týn Castle. It was originally an early Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
castle. After it was damaged by a fire in 1547, it was rebuilt into a modern Renaissance residence in 1550. The castle is valuable because it was not rebuilt after that. Much of the original Gothic castle, the palace portals and some rooms have also been preserved.
The castle includes an almost large castle park. The Italian-style Renaissance gardens from 1550 were rebuilt into an English park in 1880. In 1905, it was converted into a landscaped park. The park contain a gloriet, a summer house and a Loreto chapel.
The Church of All Saints in Horšov is as old as the town and belongs to the most valuable sacral buildings of West Bohemia. The Romanesque church was rebuilt in the Gothic style in the 1360 and retained such a character to this day. The interior was baroque remodelled in 1745.
The Church of Saints Peter and Paul dates from the 15th century. In the early 18th century, it was baroque reconstructed and extended. The high bell tower was rebuilt in 1852 and today is open to the public as a lookout tower.
Other notable buildings in the town are a former Capuchin monastery and the Gothic Church of Saint Apollinaris.
Notable people
* Raphael Sobiehrd-Mnishovsky (1580–1644), lawyer and writer
* Felix Kadlinský (1613–1675), writer and translator
* Joseph Johann von Littrow (1781–1840), Austrian astronomer
* Josef Steinbach (1879–1937), Austrian weightlifter
Twin towns – sister cities
Horšovský Týn is twinned with:
* Maarkedal
Maarkedal () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = Province of Belgium
, image_flag = Flag of Oost-Vlaanderen.svg
, f ...
, Belgium
* Nabburg
Nabburg is a municipality in the district of Schwandorf, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the river Naab, 23 km east of Amberg.
Town division
28 districts belong to Nabburg.:
Climate
Climate in this area has mild differences betwee ...
, Germany
Gallery
Horsovsky Tyn Palace 1868 Chalupa.png, Horšovský Týn Castle (1868)
Horsovskytyn husovonamesti.jpg, Church of Saint Apollinaris and main road
Horšovský Týn, bridge over Radbuza river.jpg, Bridge over the Radbuza river and Horšovský Týn Castle
Horsovskytyn radnice.jpg, Town hall
References
External links
*
Týn Castle on travel.cz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horsovsky Tyn
Cities and towns in the Czech Republic
Populated places in Domažlice District