Hejnice (; german: Haindorf) is a town in

Liberec District Liberec District ( cs, okres Liberec) is the district (''okres'') within the Liberec Region of Czech Republic. As its name implies, its administrative center is the city of Liberec. Complete list of municipalities Bílá - Bílý Kostel nad Ni ...

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 2,700 inhabitants.

Administrative parts

The village of Ferdinandov is an administrative part of Hejnice.

Etymology

The original German name of the village ''Haindorf'' is based on the German ''Dorf im Haine'', which means "village in the grove". The Czech name was derived from the German one and from ''háj'', i.e. "grove".

Geography

Hejnice is located about northeast of Liberec. It lies in the valley of the river

Smědá The Smědá (, german: Wittig, pl, Witka) is a river of the Czech Republic and Poland. A right tributary of the Neisse River with a length of 51.9 km (5.9 km within Poland) and basin area 331 km2 (60 km2 in Poland).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 northernmost part of the municipal territory lies in the

Frýdlant Hills 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 ...

. The highest peak is Jizera with an altitude of . The entire territory of Hejnice is situated in the Jizerské hory Protected Landscape Area. Half of the Czech part of the UNESCO

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

named Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe is situated in the territory.

History

According to a legend, a pilgrimage church was founded here already in 1211. The first written mention of Hejnice is from 1381. In the 16th century, iron ore mines were opened. In 1692, count František Gallas established a Franciscan monastery, which helped the visibility of the village. In the 19th century, several textile factories were established in the village and its surroundings. The village of Hejnice was promoted to a town in 1917. In 1938, Hejnice 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 ...

. From 1938 to 1945, it was 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. ...

Sights

The former Franciscan monastery and its pilgrimage Church of the Visitation are the most valuable buildings in Hejnice. Today the monastery premises are used for cultural and social purposes and provide accommodation. The Church of the Visitation was originally a small wooden church from the 14th century, which was gradually expanded. The most valuable object is a wooden Gothic sculpture of the

Black Madonna The term ''Black Madonna'' or ''Black Virgin'' tends to refer to statues or paintings in Western Christendom of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus, where both figures are depicted with dark skin. The Black Madonna can be found both ...

from 1380. In front of the church stands the Marian column from 1695.

Notable people

Oskar Romm Oskar "Ossi" Romm (18 December 1919 – 1 May 1993) was a Luftwaffe ace and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or su ...

(1919–1993), German flying ace * Katharina Matz (1935–2021), German actress *

Jürgen Kocka Professor Emeritus Jürgen Kocka (born 19 April 1941 in Haindorf, Sudetenland) is a German historian. A university professor and former president of the Social Science Research Center Berlin (2001–2007), Kocka is a major figure in the new So ...

(born 1941), German historian

Twin towns – sister cities

Hejnice is twinned with: *

Łęknica Łęknica (german: Lugknitz; hsb, Wjeska) is a border town in western Poland, one of the two gminas of Żary County in Lubusz Voivodeship. Muskau Park (''Park Mużakowski''), a Polish-German World Heritage Site, stretches north of the town ce ...

, Poland

References

External links

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