Smržovka (german: Morchenstern) is a town in

Jablonec nad Nisou District Jablonec nad Nisou District ( cs, okres Jablonec nad Nisou) is a district (''okres'') within the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the city of Jablonec nad Nisou. List of municipalities Albrechtice v Jizerských horách – Bed� ...

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 3,800 inhabitants.

Etymology

The name Smržovka was given to town by overgrown mountain forest, where there was a large amount of

morels ''Morchella'', the true morels, is a genus of edible sac fungi closely related to anatomically simpler cup fungi in the order Pezizales (division Ascomycota). These distinctive fungi have a honeycomb appearance due to the network of ridges ...

( cs, smrž, german: Morcheln).

Geography

Smržovka is located about east 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 ...

. It lies in 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 ...

. The highest point is the mountain Černá studnice at above sea level. The Kamenice River flows along the northeastern municipal border.

History

Smržovka was founded in the first half of the 16th century during the colonization of the

, the first written mention of the village is from 1568. In the 19th century,

glassmaking Glass production involves two main methods – the float glass process that produces sheet glass, and glassblowing that produces bottles and other containers. It has been done in a variety of ways during the history of glass. Glass container ...

developed in the town, which helped the rapid growth of the town. In 1868, Smržovka was promoted to a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

, and in 1905, it became a town. Smržovka was part of the

, one of the 94 districts in

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 ...

. With the development of industry in and around Smržovka, it develops mainly glassworks, grinding shops and weaving and Smržovka in 1849 became the

market place A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a ''souk'' (from the Arabic), '' ...

. In 1905 Smržovka was promoted to

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 ...

. 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 February and March 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 300 women.

Demographics

Economy

In 1991, the

Kaipan Kaipan is a small Czech vehicle manufacturer in Smržovka focused on producing roadsters. History The company was founded in 1992, but the first car, Kaipan 47 based on Lotus Seven (1957-1972), has been manufactured since 1997. Later it was r ...

company, a Czech car manufacturer with a focus on sports roadsters, was founded here.

Transport

Koleje Dolnośląskie Koleje Dolnośląskie (Polish for ''Lower Silesian Railways''; KD) is a regional rail operator in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship of Poland. The company was founded on 28 December 2007 by a decision of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship Sejmik and i ...

D21 line runs from

Liberec Liberec (; german: Reichenberg ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants and it is the fifth-largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preser ...

Szklarska Poręba Szklarska Poręba (german: Schreiberhau) is a town in Jelenia Góra County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. The town has a population of around 6,500. It is a popular ski resort. An important regional and national centre fo ...

via the town.

Sights

The landmark of the town is the Church of Saint Michael the Archangel. It was built in the Baroque style in 1767–1781. On Černá studnice mountain there is an eponymous observation tower. It is a high stone tower, built in 1885–1886. It belongs to the highest stone observation towers in the Jizera Mountains.

Twin towns – sister cities

Smržovka is twinned with: *

Rammenau Rammenau (German) or Ramnow (Upper Sorbian) is a municipality in the district of Bautzen, in Saxony, Germany. It is known as the birthplace of the well-known German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte. Rammenau Castle was built between 1721 and 1 ...

, Germany * Weidenberg, Germany

Partner towns

Smržovka also cooperates with: * Juchnowiec Kościelny, Poland * Plouhinec, France *

Unsere Liebe Frau im Walde-St. Felix Unsere Liebe Frau im Walde-St. Felix (; it, Senale-San Felice ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about west of the city of Bolzano. Geography As of November 30, 2010, it had a population of 775 and an area ...

, Italy

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smrzovka Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Populated places in Jablonec nad Nisou District 16th-century establishments in Bohemia Populated places established in the 16th century