Meziměstí (german: Halbstadt) is a town in

Náchod District Náchod District ( cs, okres Náchod) is a district ('' okres'') within Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. Its administrative center is the town of Náchod. Tourism In the territory of Náchod District is the ''Kladsko Borderland Tour ...

in the

Hradec Králové Region Hradec Králové Region ( cs, Královéhradecký kraj, ; pl, Kraj hradecki) is an administrative unit ( cs, kraj) of the Czech Republic located in the north-eastern part of the historical region of Bohemia. It is named after its capital Hradec K ...

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 2,300 inhabitants.

Administrative parts

Villages of Březová, Pomeznice, Ruprechtice, Starostín and Vižňov are administrative parts of Meziměstí. Březová forms an

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

of the municipal territory.

Geography

Meziměstí is located about northeast of

Náchod Náchod (; german: Nachod) is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 19,000 inhabitants. It is known both as a tourist destination and centre of industry. The town centre with the castle complex is well preserved ...

and south of the Polish city of

Wałbrzych Wałbrzych (; german: Waldenburg; szl, Wałbrzich; sli, label= Lower Silesian, Walmbrig or ''Walmbrich''; cs, Valbřich or ) is a city located in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in southwestern Poland. From 1975–1998 it was the capital of W ...

. It borders

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

in the west and north. It lies in the

Broumov Highlands Broumov (; german: Braunau) is a town in Náchod District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,100 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Administrative p ...

, in the

Broumovsko Protected Landscape Area The Broumovsko Protected Landscape Area ( cs, Chráněná krajinná oblast Broumovsko, abbreviated CHKO Broumovsko) is a protected landscape area in Hradec Králové Region in the Czech Republic, on the border with Poland. It is named after the ...

. The highest point of Meziměstí and one of two highest mountains of the whole Broumov Highlands is the mountain Ruprechtický Špičák at above sea level. The Stěnava River flows through the town.

History

The first written mention of Meziměstí is from 1408, under the name Dolní Vižňov. From 1434, it was called by its German name Halbstadt. In 1499, it became a property of Benedictine

Broumov Broumov (; german: Braunau) is a town in Náchod District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,100 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monu ...

Monastery. The abbots of the monastery set up a summer residence here. In the late 19th century, Meziměstí was industrialized. In 1918, it received its Czech name. During the

German occupation of Czechoslovakia German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

in 1944–1945, the Germans operated a

subcamp Subcamps (german: KZ-Außenlager), also translated as satellite camps, were outlying detention centres (''Haftstätten'') that came under the command of a main concentration camp run by the SS in Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe. The Nazi ...

of the

Gross-Rosen concentration camp , known for = , location = , built by = , operated by = , commandant = , original use = , construction = , in operation = Summer of 1940 – 14 February 1945 , gas cham ...

, whose prisoners were

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

women from

and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, transported from the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

. After the

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 ...

, the German population was expelled and replaced by Czech settlers. During the 1960s and 1970s, intensive housing construction took place here. In 1992, Meziměstí received the town status.

Transport

There are six border crossings with Poland in the territory. In addition to four pedestrian crossings, there is the road crossing ''Starostín / Golińsk'' and the railway crossing ''Meziměstí /

Mieroszów Mieroszów (german: Friedland in Niederschlesien) is a town in Wałbrzych County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland, near the border with the Czech Republic. It is the seat of the administrative district ( gmina) called Gmina M ...

''.

Sights

A valuable Baroque building is the Meziměstí Castle. It was built according to the plans of the architect

Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer ( cs, Kilián Ignác Dientzenhofer) (1 September 1689, Prague – 18 December 1751) was a Bohemian architect of the Baroque era. He was the fifth son of the German architect Christoph Dientzenhofer and the Bohemian-German ...

in 1750. Today the building is privately owned. The Church of Saint Anne in Vižňov was built in 1724–1728. The Church of Saint James the Great in Ruprechtice dates from 1723 and was probably also designed by K. I. Dientzenhofer.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mezimesti Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Czech Republic–Poland border crossings