Svoboda nad Úpou (german: Freiheit an der Aupa) is a town in

Trutnov District Trutnov District ( cs, okres Trutnov is a district (''okres'') within Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. Its administrative center is the town of Trutnov. Complete list of municipalities Batňovice - Bernartice - Bílá Třemešná ...

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 1,900 inhabitants. It lies in the

Giant Mountains The Giant Mountains, Krkonoše or Karkonosze (Czech: , Polish: , german: Riesengebirge) are a mountain range located in the north of the Czech Republic and the south-west of Poland, part of the Sudetes mountain system (part of the Bohemian Massif ...

in the valley of the

Úpa The Úpa (german: Aupa) is a river in the Czech Republic and a left tributary of the river Elbe. It originates in the Giant Mountains at an elevation of 1,422 metres. It enters the Elbe near Jaroměř. It is long, and its basin area is about , ...

River.

Geography

Svoboda nad Úpou is located about northwest of

Trutnov Trutnov (; german: Trautenau) is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 29,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Administrative parts Trutnov is ...

and north of

Hradec Králové Hradec Králové (; german: Königgrätz) is a city of the Czech Republic. It has about 91,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Hradec Králové Region. The historic centre of Hradec Králové is well preserved and is protected by law as an ...

. It lies in the

. The highest point is at above sea level. The town is situated in the valley of the

River.

History

Based on the chronicle of Simon Hüttel, Svoboda nad Úpou was founded in 1009, the date is however unsubstantiated. The first written trustworthy mention of Svoboda nad Úpou is from 1533. In 1546, Svoboda nad Úpou was granted the status of

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 ...

by Emperor Ferdinand I, receiving all the privileges of a mining town. In 1580, Svoboda nad Úpou 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 ...

. Later the mining stopped in the area, but in Svoboda nad Úpou became an important industrial town when

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, ...

s were built in the 19th century. In 1871 railway was brought here. From 1938 to 1945 it was annexed by

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 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. ...

. The local German population was expelled after World War II.

Transport

Svoboda nad Úpou is the starting point of the short local railway line to Trutnov.

Sights

The old Church of Saint Adalbert from 1584 was replaced by new Church of Saint John of Nepomuk in 1777 at the behest of

Joseph I Adam of Schwarzenberg Joseph I Adam Prince of Schwarzenberg (15 December 1722, Vienna – 17 February 1782, Vienna), 4th Prince of Schwarzenberg, was a German-Bohemian nobleman. Biography Joseph I was born as the son of Adam Franz Karl, 3rd Prince of Schwarzenberg an ...

. The Church of Saint Joseph in the local part of Dolní Maršov was built in 1927–1928.

Notable people

* Franz Wende (1904–1968), ski jumper and nordic combined skier

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Svoboda nad Upou Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Populated places in Trutnov District