Loučovice () is a municipality and village in

Český Krumlov District Český Krumlov District () is a Okres, district in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Český Krumlov. Administrative division Český Krumlov District is divided into two Districts of the Czech Republic#M ...

in the

South Bohemian Region The South Bohemian Region () is an administrative unit (''Regions of the Czech Republic, kraj'') of the Czech Republic, located mostly in the southern part of its historical land of Bohemia, with a small part in southwestern Moravia. The western ...

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 1,500 inhabitants.

Administrative division

Loučovice consists of two municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Loučovice (1,442) *Nové Domky (3)

Geography

Loučovice is located about south of

Český Krumlov Český Krumlov (; , ''Böhmisch Krumau'') is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 13,000 inhabitants. It is known as a tourist centre, which is among the most visited places in the country. The historic centre ...

and southwest of

České Budějovice České Budějovice (; ) is a city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 97,000 inhabitants. The city is located in the valley of the Vltava River, at its confluence with the Malše. České Budějovice is the largest ...

. The municipality borders

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

in the south. It lies in the

Bohemian Forest The Bohemian Forest, known in Czech as () and in German as , is a low mountain range in Central Europe. Geographically, the mountains extend from Plzeň Region and the South Bohemian Region in the Czech Republic to Austria and Bavaria in Germ ...

mountains. The highest point is the Hvězdná mountain at above sea level. The

Vltava The Vltava ( , ; ) is the longest river in the Czech Republic, a left tributary of the Elbe River. It runs southeast along the Bohemian Forest and then north across Bohemia, through Český Krumlov, České Budějovice, and Prague. It is com ...

River flows through the municipality. Most of the municipal territory lies in the Vyšebrodsko Nature Park. There are several small-scale protected areas; the most valuable is Čertova stěna-Luč National Nature Reserve with giant stones.

History

The first written mention of Loučovice is from 1361, when the village was owned by

Vyšší Brod Monastery Vyšší Brod Monastery (; ) or Hohenfurth Abbey () is a Catholic monastery in the Czech Republic. Description As one of the most important historical landmarks of South Bohemia, the monastery is recognized as a cultural monument by the Minis ...

. The village was burned down in 1420 together with the monastery by

Taborites The Taborites (, ), were a faction within the Hussite movement in the medieval Lands of the Bohemian Crown. The Taborites were sometimes referred to as the Picards, a term used for groups which were seen as extreme in their rejection of traditi ...

, and renewed after 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 ...

. In the 1880s, entrepreneur Arnošt Porák founded a large

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt ...

in Loučovice, which employed more than 1,000 workers at its peak. Electrified railway built in 1909–1911 reached Loučovice. Between 1938 and 1945, the area was annexed by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

and administered as 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. ...

. After expulsion of German population in 1945, many smaller hamlets in the area disappeared but Loučovice grew up. In 1950, several villages were merged with Loučovice and created a standalone municipality.

Demographics

Transport

In the southwestern tip of the municipal territory is a road border crossing with Austria named '' Přední Výtoň / Guglwald''. Loučovice is located on the railway line of local importance heading from

Lipno nad Vltavou Lipno nad Vltavou () is a municipality and village in Český Krumlov District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 700 inhabitants. It is a popular summer resort. Administrative division Lipno nad Vltavou consists of t ...

to Rybník.

Sights

The Church of Saint Ulrich was built as a late Gothic chapel at the end of the 15th century. After it was destroyed by fire, it was completely rebuilt in the 16th century, and then baroque modified in the 17th century.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Loucovice Villages in Český Krumlov District Bohemian Forest