Liberec (; german: Reichenberg ) is a city in 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 103,000 inhabitants and it is the fifth-largest city in the country. It lies on the

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.urban monument zone. Liberec was once home to a thriving textile industry and hence nicknamed the "

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

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 ...

". For many

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 ...

, Liberec is mostly associated with the city's dominant

Ještěd Tower Ještěd Tower is a 94-meter-tall television transmitter built on the top of Mount Ještěd near Liberec in the Czech Republic. It is made of reinforced concrete shaped in a ''hyperboloid'' form. The tower's architect is Karel Hubáček who ...

. Since the end of the 19th century, the city has been a

conurbation A conurbation is a region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ca ...

with the suburb of

Vratislavice nad Nisou Vratislavice nad Nisou (german: Maffersdorf) is a district of the city of Liberec, in the north of the Czech Republic. As of 2021, it has about 8,800 inhabitants. and straddles the Nisa river between Liberec and Jablonec, around 3.5 km south- ...

and the neighbouring city of

Jablonec nad Nisou Jablonec nad Nisou (; german: Gablonz an der Neiße) is a city in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. 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 ...

. Therefore, the total area with suburbs encompasses 150,000 inhabitants.

Administrative parts

Liberec is made up of 32 city parts and one self-governing borough (Vratislavice nad Nisou). *Liberec I-Staré Město *Liberec II-Nové Město *Liberec III-Jeřáb *Liberec IV-Perštýn *Liberec V-Kristiánov *Liberec VI-Rochlice *Liberec VII-Horní Růžodol *Liberec VIII-Dolní Hanychov *Liberec IX-Janův Důl *Liberec X-Františkov *Liberec XI-Růžodol I *Liberec XII-Staré Pavlovice *Liberec XIII-Nové Pavlovice *Liberec XIV-Ruprechtice *Liberec XV-Starý Harcov *Liberec XVI-Nový Harcov *Liberec XVII-Kateřinky *Liberec XVIII-Karlinky *Liberec XIX-Horní Hanychov *Liberec XX-Ostašov *Liberec XXI-Rudolfov *Liberec XXII-Horní Suchá *Liberec XXIII-Doubí *Liberec XXIV-Pilínkov *Liberec XXV-Vesec *Liberec XXVIII-Hluboká *Liberec XXIX-Kunratice *Liberec XXX-

*Liberec XXXI-Krásná Studánka *Liberec XXXII-Radčice *Liberec XXXIII-Machnín *Liberec XXXIV-Bedřichovka *Liberec XXXV-Karlov pod Ještědem In the early 1990s, some of parts became independent municipalities:

Stráž nad Nisou Stráž nad Nisou (until 1947 Starý Habendorf; german: Althabendorf) is a municipality and village in Liberec District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Cen ...

(formerly Liberec XXVI-Stráž nad Nisou and Liberec XXVII-Svárov),

Dlouhý Most Dlouhý Most (german: Langenbruck) is a municipality and village in Liberec District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 900 inhabitants. History The first written mention of Dlouhý Most is from 1237. Notable people * Franz ...

(formerly Liberec XXXVI-Dlouhý Most),

Jeřmanice Jeřmanice (german: Hermannsthal) is a municipality and village in Liberec District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 600 inhabitants. History The first written mention of Jeřmanice is from 1543. Transport Jeřmanice lies ...

(formerly Liberec XXXVII-Jeřmanice) and

Šimonovice Šimonovice (german: Schimsdorf) is a municipality and village in Liberec District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bo ...

(formerly Liberec XXXVIII-Minkovice and Liberec XXXIX-Šimonovice).

Etymology

The oldest known names of the city are German, Reychinberch (1352) and Reychmberg (1369), meaning "rich/resourceful mountain" (''reicher Berg'' in modern German). It was also spelled Reichenberg (1385–1399) and Rychmberg (1410). The

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, ...

equivalent originated as a distortion: Rychberk (1545), Libercum (1634), Liberk (1790), and finally Liberec (1845). In Czech, words starting with "R" were often dissimilated into "L". Since then, the city was known as Liberec in Czech and as Reichenberg in German.

Geography

Liberec is located about 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 municipal territory lies in 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' ...

. In the northeast, the territory extends into 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 ...

and to the eponymous protected landscape area. In the west, the territory extends into the

Ještěd–Kozákov Ridge The Ještěd–Kozákov Ridge (; cs, Ještědsko-kozákovský hřbet) is a ridge and geomorphological mesoregion of the Czech Republic. It is part of the Western Sudetes. The vast majority lies in the Liberec Region. Geomorphology Ještěd–Ko ...

and includes the highest point of Liberec and of the entire Ještěd-Kozákov Ridge, the mountain

Ještěd Ještěd (; german: Jeschken) is the highest mountain of the Ještěd–Kozákov Ridge in the north of the Czech Republic, at . It is the symbol of the city of Liberec. On the summit is the Ještěd Tower restaurant, hotel and television tower, ...

at above sea level. Liberec is situated on the

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.humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Dfb'').

History

11th–16th centuries

In the 11th or 12th century, a settlement named Habersdorf, which was the predecessor of Liberec, was established on the trade route from

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 ...

by Czech settlers and German colonizers. In the 13th century, the second settlement named Reichenberg was established near the first one. The two settlements later merged. The first written mention of Liberec under its German name Reichenberg is from 1352. From 1278, the area was owned by the noble Bieberstein family. Reichenberg suffered from the march of troops 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 ...

, then it was burned down in 1469 during the battles with the army of 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 ...

. After the Biebersteins died out, the

Frýdlant Frýdlant (; also known as Frýdlant v Čechách, german: Friedland in Böhmen) is a town in Liberec District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,400 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law a ...

estate which included Reichenberg was bought by the Redern family in 1558. The Rederns contributed significantly to the development of the settlement as they built new buildings, modernized the settlement and laid the foundation of the textile industry. In 1577, Reichenberg was promoted to a town by Emperor

Rudolf II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg), Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–160 ...

. He gave the town the coat of arms it still uses today.

17th–19th centuries

From 1600, the town was administered by Kateřina of Redern, who obtained the right to trade in salt for the town, had a chapel added to the castle and contributed to the construction of the town hall. When the Redern family was forced to leave Reichenberg after the

Battle of White Mountain ), near Prague, Bohemian Confederation(present-day Czech Republic) , coordinates = , territory = , result = Imperial-Spanish victory , status = , combatants_header = , combatant1 = Catholic L ...

(1620), it was acquired by

Albrecht von Wallenstein Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein () (24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein ( cs, Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Th ...

. After his death it belonged to the Gallas and Clam Gallas families, who didn't care much about the town. The prosperous local industry was interrupted by 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 ...

and a great plague in 1680. The crises resulted in a series of harshly suppressed serf uprisings. In the 18th century, Reichenberg flourished. The number of inhabitants tripled and the cloth industry was very successful. The Battle of Reichenberg between

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

occurred nearby in 1757 during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

, but the town continued to develop. During the 19th century, the town became the centre of textile industry in the entile

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

. In 1850, it became a self-governing city. Reichenberg became a rich industrial city without representative buildings. In the late 19th century, a spectacular collection of representative buildings was created, mostly in the neo-Renaissance style: the

city hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

, the

opera house An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets. While some venues are constructed specifically for o ...

, the North Bohemian Museum, the Old Synagogue, and others. A representative villa district and a forest with a botanical garden and a zoo were created.

20th century

Until 1918 the city was part of the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia ( cs, České království),; la, link=no, Regnum Bohemiae sometimes in English literature referred to as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czec ...

Austrian monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

(Austrian side after the

compromise of 1867 The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 (german: Ausgleich, hu, Kiegyezés) established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The Compromise only partially re-established the former pre-1848 sovereignty and status of the Kingdom of Hungary ...

), seat of the Reichenberg district, one of the 94 ''Bezirkshauptmannschaften'' in

. After the end of World War I,

fell apart and the Czechs of Bohemia joined newly established

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

on 29 October 1918 whilst the Germans wanted to stay with Austria to form reduced

German Austria The Republic of German-Austria (german: Republik Deutschösterreich or ) was an unrecognised state that was created following World War I as an initial rump state for areas with a predominantly German-speaking and ethnic German population wit ...

on 12 November 1918, both citing

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

Fourteen Points U.S. President Woodrow Wilson The Fourteen Points was a statement of principles for peace that was to be used for peace negotiations in order to end World War I. The principles were outlined in a January 8, 1918 speech on war aims and peace terms ...

and the doctrine of

self-determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...

. Liberec was declared the capital of the German-Austrian province of

German Bohemia The Province of German Bohemia (german: Provinz Deutschböhmen ; cs, Německé Čechy) was a province in Bohemia, now the Czech Republic, established for a short period of time after the First World War, as part of the Republic of German-Austria ...

. Czechs however argued that these lands, though German-settled since the Middle Ages, were historically an integral part of the Duchy and Kingdom of Bohemia. On 16 December 1918 the Czechoslovak Army entered Liberec and the whole province remained part of Bohemia. In the 1920s and the 1930s, Liberec became the unofficial capital of Germans in Czechoslovakia, a position was underlined by the foundation of important institutions such as Bücherei der Deutschen, a central German library in Czechoslovakia, and by failed efforts to relocate the German section of the Charles University there from

. The

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

devastated the economy of the area with its textile, carpet, glass and other light industry. The high number of unemployed people, hunger, fear of the future and dissatisfaction with the Prague government led to the flash rise of the populist

Sudeten German Party The Sudeten German Party (german: Sudetendeutsche Partei, SdP, cs, Sudetoněmecká strana) was created by Konrad Henlein under the name ''Sudetendeutsche Heimatfront'' ("Front of the Sudeten German Homeland") on 1 October 1933, some months afte ...

(SdP), founded by

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 ...

, born in the suburbs of Liberec. Whilst he declared fidelity to the Republic, he secretly negotiated with

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 1937 he radicalized his views and became Hitler's puppet in order to incorporate the

Sudetenland The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and sk, Sudety) is the historical German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the ...

into Germany and destabilize Czechoslovakia, which was an ally of France and one of the leading arms producers in Europe. The city became the centre of

Pan-German Pan-Germanism (german: Pangermanismus or '), also occasionally known as Pan-Germanicism, is a pan-nationalist political idea. Pan-Germanists originally sought to unify all the German-speaking people – and possibly also Germanic-speaking ...

movements and later of the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

, especially after the 1935 election, despite its important democratic mayor, Karl Kostka ( German Democratic Freedom Party). The final change came in Summer 1938, after the radicalization of the terror of the SdP, whose death threats forced Kostka and his family to flee to Prague. In September 1938, after two unsuccessful attempts by the SdP to stage a pro-Nazi coup in Czechoslovakia, which were stopped by police and the army, 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 ...

awarded the city to

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 it became the capital 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, the city was administered as a part of the ''Regierungsbezirk Aussig'' of Reichsgau Sudetenland. Most of the city's Jewish and Czech population fled to the rest of Czechoslovakia or were expelled. The important synagogue was burned down. Henlein himself confiscated a villa in Liberec that had belonged to a Jewish businessman, which remained Henlein's home until 1945. During a rally in December 1938, Hitler laid out the future of the ''Hitler Youth''. After World War II the city again became a part of Czechoslovakia and nearly all of the city's German population was expelled following 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 ...

. The region was then resettled with Czechs, completely altering the traditional language and culture of the city and its region. The city continues to have an important

German 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 **Ger ...

minority, consisting of descendants of anti-Nazi Germans who were active in the struggle against Hitler, as well as Germans from Czech–German families and their descendants. Liberec also has a Jewish minority with a newly built synagogue and a

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, originating from Communist refugees who settled there after 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.

Demographics

Transport

Liberec city transport provides

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

and

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

lines. The first tram was used in Liberec in 1897. Liberec shares the tramway line which connects it to its neighbouring city,

which is 12 km away. There are also two city lines with : The first connects Horní Hanychov (next to the cable car to

) and Lidové Sady via Fügnerova. The second connects Dolní Hanychov and Lidové Sady via Fügnerova (only during workdays). There are also four historical trams. In the city centre there are two tracks as a memorial, in the past trams were used also on the central place in front of the city hall. The

European route E442 European route E 442 is part of the international E-road network. Route * ** E48, E49 Karlovy Vary ** E55 Teplice ** E65 Turnov ** E67 Hradec Králové ** E462 Olomouc * ** E50, E75 Žilina External links Map of E-road {{E-road ...

passes through Liberec. A private international

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

is located in the Liberec part of Ostašov.

Education and science

Technical University of Liberec The Technical University of Liberec is a university in the city of Liberec, Czech Republic. The university has undergone great transformation in its over sixty-year history. When it was founded, it was called the Institute of Mechanical Engineering ...

was founded in 1953 as " University of Mechanical Engineering in Liberec". After the number of fields has grown, in 1995, the university was renamed. It is known especially for its research in the field of textile engineering. It has about 9,000 students in 6 faculties (Mechanical Engineering, Textile Engineering, Arts and Architecture, Mechatronics Informatics and Inter-Disciplinary Studies, Science-Humanities and Education, and Economics), and it also comprises Institute for Nanomaterials, Advanced Technologies and Innovation. Regional Research Library in Liberec is a general public science library, aiming at general education in the region. Founded in 1900, based on the decision of the municipal council to establish a municipal library. It has an exceptional collection of Germano-Slavica and Sudetica (periodicals and books in German language from Bohemia). New building was completed in 2000 on the site of the Old Synagogue, which was burnt down by the Nazis in November 1938. Its building comprises also a modern New Synagogue.

Culture

Mateřinka Mateřinka (a special Czech term, which means a play for children at the pre-school age) is a biennial festival of professional puppet theatre for children of the pre-school age organized by the '' Naivní divadlo'' theatre in Liberec, Czech Repu ...

is a theatre festival biennially held in June.

Sport

The city is home to

FC Slovan Liberec FC Slovan Liberec (), commonly referred to as Slovan Liberec or simply Slovan, is a Czech football club based in the city of Liberec. The club is one of the most successful in the Czech Republic, having won three league titles and the domestic ...

, a

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 ...

club founded in Liberec which plays 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 ...

, the top tier. Slovan Liberec is one of the most successful clubs in the Czech Republic, having won three league titles. There is also SK VTJ Rapid Liberec. It is playing one of the lowest division. The

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 ...

team

HC Bílí Tygři Liberec Bílí Tygři Liberec (English: ''Liberec White Tigers'') are a professional ice hockey club based in Liberec, Czech Republic. The team competes in the Czech Extraliga, the highest level of play in professional Czech ice hockey. History The firs ...

play in the

Czech Extraliga The Czech Extraliga ( cs, Extraliga ledního hokeje, ELH) is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. It was created by the 1993 split of the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League following the breakup of Czechoslovakia. The leag ...

, the national top tier. It plays in

Home Credit Arena The Home Credit Arena (formerly known as Tipsport Arena) is an indoor sporting arena located in Liberec, Czech Republic, sponsored by gambling firm Tipsport. The capacity of the arena is 9,000 people and it was built in 2005. It is currently ho ...

. Liberec has hosted two

European Luge Championships The FIL European Luge Championships, part of the International Luge Federation (FIL) have taken place since 1914. From 1914 to 1934, these championships were part of the Internationaler Schlittensportsverband (ISSV - International Sled Sport Federat ...

, having done so in

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

and

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

. In

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, it hosted the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships is a biennial nordic skiing event organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). The World Championships was started in 1925 for men and opened for women's participation in 1954. World Championship e ...

. The

Ski Jumping World Cup The FIS Ski Jumping World Cup is the world's highest level of ski jumping and the FIS Ski Flying World Cup as the subdivisional part of the competition. It was founded by Torbjørn Yggeseth for the 1979/80 season and organized by the Internation ...

always comes to Liberec in January. The World

Karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

Championships took place in May 2011. In 2015, from 15 to 23 August, Liberec plays host to th
2015 World Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships
(WMTBOC).

Sights

Liberec's prominent buildings are the

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

(1893), the Liberec Castle (Liberecký zámek), built in the 16th century, and the

(1968) upon the Ještěd Mountain, build by architect Karel Hubáček, which became a symbol of the city.

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and former dissident. Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992 and then as ...

held a broadcast from the site of the tower in 1968; a plaque beside the tower marks this event. Contemporary buildings of note are also to be found, primarily the work of the firm SIAL, and include the new Regional Research Library (2000) and the Česká Pojišťovna office building (1997).

Neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

F. X. Šalda theatre was built in 1871–1872. Centrum Babylon Liberec include a large

water park A water park (or waterpark, water world) is an amusement park that features water play areas such as swimming pools, water slides, splash pads, water playgrounds, and lazy rivers, as well as areas for floating, bathing, swimming, and other baref ...

, an amusement park, a casino, shopping court and hotel. The North Bohemian Museum was built in 1873. It ranks among the oldest and most significant museums of nature sciences, arts and crafts in the Czech Republic. There is the sculpture of

T. G. Masaryk T is the twentieth letter of the Latin alphabet. (For the same letterform in the Cyrillic and Greek alphabets, see Te and Tau respectively). T may also refer to: Codes and units * T, Tera- as in one trillion * T, the symbol for "True" in lo ...

from 2010 standing in front of the Museum.

Zoo and botanical garden

The Liberec Zoo was the first to be opened in Czechoslovakia in 1904. The zoo contains a wide variety of

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

(about 143 species on 13 ha), including large

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

s like

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...

giraffe The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa''. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, ''Giraffa camelopardalis ...

sea lion Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

s and

white tiger The white tiger or bleached tiger is a leucistic pigmentation variant of the Mainland tiger. It is reported in the wild from time to time in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, in the Sunderbans region and ...

s, which are a genetic anomaly and hence very rare. It participates in breeding activities of endangered species to help preserve the

gene pool The gene pool is the set of all genes, or genetic information, in any population, usually of a particular species. Description A large gene pool indicates extensive genetic diversity, which is associated with robust populations that can surv ...

. The Botanical Garden in Liberec (completely rebuilt from Kučera 1995 to 2000) comprises nine glasshouses for visitors (with a total area of and 13 exhibition themes), nine plantation glasshouses and a large exterior terrain. It continues the legacy of a botanical garden established in 1876 by the ''Verein der Naturfreunde'' ("Society of Friends of Nature") on a nearby site and it is therefore considered the oldest one in the Czech Republic.

Notable people

Christoph Demantius Johann Christoph Demantius (15 December 1567 – 20 April 1643) was a German composer, music theorist, writer and poet. He was an exact contemporary of Monteverdi, and represented a transitional phase in German Lutheran music from the polypho ...

(1567–1643), German composer and poet * Joachim Johann Nepomuk Spalowsky (1752–1797), Austrian naturalist *

Josef Proksch Josef Proksch or Joseph Proksch (4 August 1794, Liberec, Reichenberg (now Liberec) – 20 December 1864, Prague) was a Bohemian-Germans, German pianist and composer. His daughter, Marie Proksch, was also a well-known pianist and composer. Biograph ...

(1794–1864), composer and teacher of

Bedřich Smetana Bedřich Smetana ( , ; 2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style that became closely identified with his people's aspirations to a cultural and political "revival." He has been regarded i ...

Friedrich Karl Ginzel Friedrich Karl Ginzel (26 February 1850 – 29 June 1926) was an Austrian astronomer. From 1877 Ginzel worked at the observatory in Vienna. In 1886, he became a member of the Königlichen Astronomischen Recheninstituts in Berlin, where he was of ...

(1850–1926), Austrian astronomer * Heinrich Herkner (1863–1932), German economist *

Ferdinand Porsche Ferdinand Porsche (3 September 1875 – 30 January 1951) was an Austrian-German automotive engineer and founder of the Porsche AG. He is best known for creating the first gasoline–electric hybrid vehicle (Lohner–Porsche), the Volkswag ...

(1875–1951), Austrian-Czech car designer *

Vlasta Burian Josef Vlastimil Burian, better known as Vlasta Burian, (9 April 1891, in Liberec – 31 January 1962, in Prague) was an internationally renowned Czechoslovak film and stage actor, singer, comedian, footballer and film director. In the Czech Repu ...

(1891–1962), actor *

Edmund Nick Edmund Nick (, Reichenberg – , Geretsried) was a German composer, conductor, and music writer. Biography The son of a merchant, Nick studied law from 1910 to 1915 in Vienna and Graz. At the same time, he studied music at the Vienna Music Acade ...

(1891–1973), German composer *

Jaroslav Řídký Jaroslav Řídký (25 August 1897 – 14 August 1956) was a Czech composer, conductor, harpist, and music teacher. Life Řídký was born at Reichenberg, now Liberec. From 1919 to 1923 he studied at the Prague Conservatory with Josef Bohus ...

(1897–1956), composer *

(1898–1945), German Nazi politician *

Arthur Beer Arthur Beer (28 June 1900 – 20 October 1980) was a German astronomer who worked at Cambridge UniversityObituary: Dr Arthur Beer The Times, Thursday, Oct 23, 1980; pg. 18; Issue 60757; col G Biography He was born in Reichenberg, Bohemia, the ...

(1900–1980), German astronomer *

Harald Kreutzberg Harald Kreutzberg (December 11, 1902 – April 25, 1968) was a German dancer and choreographer associated with the Ausdruckstanz movement, a form in which the individual, artistic expression of feelings or emotions is essential. Though largely fo ...

(1902–1968), German dancer and choreographer *

Herbert Feigl Herbert Feigl (; ; December 14, 1902 – June 1, 1988) was an Austrian-American philosopher and an early member of the Vienna Circle. He coined the term "nomological danglers". Biography The son of a trained weaver who became a textile designer, ...

(1902–1988), Austrian-American philosopher *

Guido Beck Guido Beck (29 August 1903 in Liberec – 21 October 1988 in Rio de Janeiro) was an Argentinian physicist of German Bohemian origin. Biography Beck studied physics in Vienna and received his doctorate in 1925, under Hans Thirring. He worked in ...

(1903–1989), Argentinian physicist * Augustin Schramm (1907–1948), communist politician and officer *

Roderich Menzel Roderich Ferdinand Ottomar Menzel (; 13 April 1907 – 17 October 1987) was a Czech-German amateur tennis player and, after his active career, a writer. Birth Roderich Menzel was born in Reichenberg in Bohemia (today Liberec in the Czech Republi ...

(1907–1987), Czech-German tennis player * Fritz Preissler (1908–1948), German luger *

Egon Hartmann Egon Hartmann (24 August 1919 – 6 December 2009) was a German architect and city planner who won prizes for his city planning concepts for both East and West Berlin. Early life and education Egon Hartmann was born on 24 August 1919 in Reiche ...

(1919–2009), German architect *

Otfried Preußler Otfried Preußler (sometimes spelled as Otfried Preussler; both ; born Otfried Syrowatka; 20 October 1923 – 18 February 2013) was a German literature, German Children's literature, children's books author. More than 50 million copies of his books ...

(1923–2013), German writer *

Roland Bulirsch Roland Zdeněk Bulirsch (10 November 1932 – 21 September 2022) was a German mathematician specialising in numerical analysis. He studied and taught at the Technical University of Munich, and taught internationally as visiting professor. He was ...

(1932–2022), German mathematician *

Markus Lüpertz Markus Lüpertz (born 25 April 1941) is a German painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and writer. He also publishes a magazine, and plays jazz piano. He is one of the best-known German contemporary artists. His subjects are characterized by suggest ...

(born 1941), German artist *

Barbara Bouchet Barbara Bouchet (born Bärbel Gutscher; 15 August 1943)
glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com; ...

(born 1944), German-American actress and entrepreneur *

Jirina Marton Jirina Marton (born April 19, 1946) is a Czechoslovakia, Czech-born Canadian artist and illustrator. She was born in Liberec, studied at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, School of Applied Arts in Prague and continued her stu ...

(born 1946), Canadian artist and illustrator *

Oldřich Kaiser Oldřich Kaiser (born 16 May 1955) is a Czech television, film, and stage actor known mostly for his comedic roles. Education and career Kaiser graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague in 1978. He began his acting career with the ...

(born 1955), actor * Vladimír Šlechta (born 1960), writer *

Jaroslav Nedvěd Jaroslav Nedvěd (born September 24, 1969) is a Czech former professional ice hockey defenceman. He is currently an assistant coach for HC Sparta Praha of the Czech Extraliga. He is the older brother of Petr Nedvěd. Early career Nedvěd started ...

(born 1969), ice hockey player *

Petr Nedvěd Petr Nedvěd (born December 9, 1971) is a Czech-born Canadian former professional ice hockey player who spent 15 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1990 and 2007. Early career Nedvěd was born in Liberec, Czechoslovakia to Jaro ...

(born 1971), ice hockey player *

Martin Damm Martin Damm Sr. (born 1 August 1972) is a former professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. He is best known as a doubles player (his highest ranking being No. 5 in the world in April 2007). His highest singles ranking was No. 42 in A ...

(born 1972), tennis player *

Tomáš Enge Tomáš Enge (; born 11 September 1976) is a Czech former professional racing driver who has competed in many classes of motorsport, including three races in Formula One. He has twice been sanctioned professionally for drug offences. Career Born ...

(born 1976), F1 driver * Jan Víšek (born 1981), ice hockey player * Yemi A.D. (born 1981), choreographer and artist * Lukáš Derner (born 1983), ice hockey player *

Pavla Havlíková Pavla Havlíková (born 20 April 1983) is a Czech professional racing cyclist Cycle sport is Competition, competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo- ...

(born 1983), cyclist *

Zuzana Hejnová Zuzana Hejnová (; born 19 December 1986) is a retired Czech athlete who specialised in the 400 metres hurdles. She won the silver medal in the event at the 2012 London Olympics. Hejnová is a two-time World Champion, having claimed titles at t ...

(born 1986), athlete * Martin Cikl (born 1987), ski jumper

Twin towns – sister cities

Liberec is twinned with: *

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a city and municipality in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands, about 20 km from the city of Utrecht and 40 km south east of Amsterdam. As of 1 December 2021, the municipality had a population of 158,531, making it the second- ...

, Netherlands *

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

, Germany *

Nahariya Nahariya ( he, נַהֲרִיָּה, ar, نهاريا) is the northernmost coastal city in Israel. In it had a population of . Etymology Nahariya takes its name from the stream of Ga'aton (river is ''nahar'' in Hebrew), which bisects it. Hist ...

, Israel *

Zittau 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' ...

, Germany

Gallery

Liberec z Ještědu 002.jpg, View of Liberec from Ještěd Ještěd , letecký snímek.jpg,

mountain with Ještěd TV tower and hotel Liberec divadlo F. X. Šaldy 3.jpg, The F. X. Šalda Theatre Liberec-synagoga.JPG, The Liberec New Synagogue

References

External links

*
Official tourist portalFacebook pageTramway Liberec

Oblastni galerie v Liberci (Museum of art)
{{authority control Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Populated places in Liberec District Holocaust locations in Czechoslovakia