Ralsko (german: Roll) is a town in

Česká Lípa District Česká Lípa District ( cs, okres Česká Lípa) is a district ('' okres'') within the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. Its district seat is Česká Lípa. List of municipalities Česká Lípa - Bezděz - Blatce - Blíževedly - Bo ...

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 ...

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 2,100 inhabitants. It comprises area of the former

military training area A military training area, training area (Australia, Ireland, UK) or training centre (Canada) is land set aside specifically to enable military forces to train and exercise for combat. Training areas are usually out of bounds to the general public, ...

with

Hradčany Air Base Hradčany Airport (in Czech ''Letiště Hradčany'', often ''Letiště Ralsko'') is a former military airport within the area of Ralsko in Liberec Region, northern Czech Republic. Built toward the end of World War II for the Luftwaffe, it was ex ...

. Because of the former military area, the town's municipal territory is the fourth largest in the country, after the cities of

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, Brno and

Ostrava Ostrava (; pl, Ostrawa; german: Ostrau ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic, and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 280,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four riv ...

Administrative parts

The town is made up of town parts and villages of Boreček, Horní Krupá, Hradčany, Hvězdov, Jabloneček, Kuřívody, Náhlov, Ploužnice and Svébořice. The municipal office is located in Kuřívody.

Geography

Ralsko is located about southeast of

Česká Lípa Česká Lípa (; german: Böhmisch Leipa) is a town in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 37,000 inhabitants and it is the most populated town of the Czech Republic without city status. The town centre is well preserved and is p ...

and southwest of Liberec. It lies in the Ralsko Uplands. The town is named after the mountain

Ralsko Ralsko (german: Roll) is a town in Česká Lípa District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,100 inhabitants. It comprises area of the former military training area with Hradčany Air Base. Because of the former military ...

, which lies on the northern municipal border and is the highest point of Ralsko and of the entire Ralsko Uplands with an altitude of . The Ploučnice River shortly crosses the municipal territory in the northeast. There are several ponds in the area, the largest of them are Hradčanský and Novodvorský.

History

The oldest part of Ralsko is Kuřívody. The first written mention of Kuřívody is from 1279, it was founded between 1264 and 1278 by

Ottokar II of Bohemia Ottokar II ( cs, Přemysl Otakar II.; , in Městec Králové, Bohemia – 26 August 1278, in Dürnkrut, Lower Austria), the Iron and Golden King, was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty who reigned as King of Bohemia from 1253 until his dea ...

as a royal town. Due to lack of water, it remained a small town throughout its existence. Before 1945, there was more than 7,000 inhabitants in today's Ralsko area. At the beginning of 1945,

was built by German army. 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 opposing ...

, the German majority was expelled. In 1950, the Ralsko military training area was established. In 1992, it was abolished and the municipality of Ralsko was established. In 2006, Ralsko became a town.

Ralsko military training area

Between 1946 and 1950, the inhabitants were relocated to establish a military training area in surroundings of the Ralsko mountain. The displacement of the population was completed on 31 October 1952. More than 3,000 inhabitants were evicted from the villages. The Ralsko Mountain and the airfield were used as a military weapons-testing area for decades. After the Prague Spring of 1968, the installation was manned by Soviet Troops. In the late 1980s the Soviet

442nd Missile Brigade The 442nd Rocket Brigade was a Tactical ballistic missile brigade of the Soviet Army from 1987 to 1991. It was originally formed and based in Czechoslovakia with the Central Group of Forces but moved to Shuya, Ivanovo Oblast in 1990. The brigade wa ...

stationed SS-21 short-range tactical missiles at Hvězdov. It 1988, there was more than 20,000 permanent Soviet inhabitants (soldiers and their families) in the area. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990–91 the missiles were withdrawn and the entire weapons-testing area was closed off.

Demographics

Sights

Many of the discarded Czech and Soviet munitions were collected and are now on display at a little museum in Kuřívody. Only recently has the former military training area been opened as a natural reserve. On the Ralsko mountain there is a ruin of a Gothic castle. It has been desolate since the 16th century. There is a Renaissance castle in Kuřívody, formerly a fortress.

References

External links

* {{authority control Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Populated places in Česká Lípa District