Rychnov nad Kněžnou (; german: Reichenau an der Knieschna) is a town 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. It has about 11,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone.

Administrative parts

Villages of Dlouhá Ves, Jámy, Lipovka, Litohrady, Lokot, Panská Habrová and Roveň are administrative parts of Rychnov nad Kněžnou.

Geography

Rychnov nad Kněžnou is located about east 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 ...

. The western part of the municipal territory lies in the

Orlice Table Orlice (german: Adler) is a river in the Czech Republic. It is tributary of the Labe (''Elbe'') river, which it enters in the city of Hradec Králové. Its main tributaries are Divoká Orlice and Tichá Orlice. Part of the Divoká Orlice acts as t ...

and includes most of the built-up area. The eastern part lies in the Podorlická Uplands and includes the highest point of Rychnov nad Kněžnou at . The town is situated on the Kněžna River. The streams Liberský and Javornický joins Kněžna in the municipal territory. Near the town there is the Les Včelný Nature Park.

History

The first written mention of Rychnov nad Kněžnou is from 1 February 1258 in a deed of

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 deat ...

, where Heřman of Rychnov was mentioned. In 1561, Rychnov was promoted to a royal town by Ferdinand I. The town hall in Rychnov was first documented in 1596. In 1640, the Rychnov estate was bought by the

Kolowrat family The House of Kolowrat is a Czech noble familyHouse of Kolowrat history
kolowrat.cz/en. Citation: " < ...

. During 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 ...

, the town was badly damaged. In 1676, František Karel I Kolowrat had a new castle built here. The castle was gradually expanded by other family members. Until 1918, the town was part of the

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 ...

, and head of the ''Reichenau'' District, one of the 94 ''Bezirkshauptmannschaften'' in Bohemia. In 1950, several municipalities were joined to Rychnov nad Kněžnou. On 1 January 1990, four parts of Rychnov nad Kněžnou became three separate municipalities ( Jahodov, Lukavice and Synkov-Slemeno).

Demographics

Sights

Rychnov nad Kněžnou is known for the Baroque Kolowrat's castle. It contains rich collection of arts and books, and it includes the Museum and Gallery of

Orlické Mountains The Orlické Mountains ( cs, Orlické hory, pl, Góry Orlickie, german: Adlergebirge) or Eagle Mountains are a mountain range located mainly in northeastern Bohemia in the Czech Republic. It is a mesoregion of the Central Sudetes. They follow ...

and a castle park. The church next to the castle is Church of the Holy Trinity, which is known for the third largest bell in the country. The church is used for religious and cultural purposes. The historic town centre is formed by Staré Square. It comprises preserved burgher houses and Neoclassical former town hall from 1802–1804, which serves today as a tourist information centre. Near the square there is the Church of Saint Gall. It was built in the late 13th century and repaired in pseudo-Gothic style in 1893. The bell tower was built in 1870–1871 in pseudo-Romanesque style. The former synagogue contains Memorial of

Karel Poláček Karel Poláček (22 March 1892 – 21 January 1945) was a Czech writer, humorist and journalist of Jewish descent. Life He was born in Rychnov nad Kněžnou into the family of a Jewish merchant. He attended the gymnasium there, but did poor ...

, the most notable local native, and a Jewish museum.

Notable people

* Jan Antonín Vocásek (1706–1757), painter *

(1892–1945), writer and humourist *

Jaroslav Weigel Jaroslav Weigel (2 January 1931 Rychnov nad Kněžnou – 5 September 2019 Prague) was a Czech actor, writer, playwright, comics writer and painter. From 1970, he was a member of the ''Jára Cimrman Theatre''. Biography Weigel studied at the Facu ...

(1931–2019), painter, actor and writer * Remigius Machura (born 1960), shot putter * Petr Stančík (born 1968), writer and poet * Dan Vávra (born 1975), video game writer, director and designer

Twin towns – sister cities

Rychnov nad Kněžnou is twinned with: *

Kłodzko Kłodzko (; cz, Kladsko; german: Glatz; la, Glacio) is a historic town in south-western Poland, in the region of Lower Silesia. It is situated in the centre of the Kłodzko Valley, on the Eastern Neisse river. Kłodzko is the seat of Kłodzko Co ...

, Poland

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rychnov Nad Kneznou Cities and towns in the Czech Republic