Boží Dar () is a town in
Karlovy Vary District in the
Karlovy Vary Region of the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
. It has about 300 inhabitants. Situated in the
Ore Mountains
The Ore Mountains (, or ; ) lie along the Czech–German border, separating the historical regions of Bohemia in the Czech Republic and Saxony in Germany. The highest peaks are the Klínovec in the Czech Republic (German: ''Keilberg'') at ab ...
at above sea level, it is considered the highest town in the Czech Republic. The town is part of the Abertamy – Boží Dar Mining Landscape, which is a
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
as part of
Ore Mountain Mining Region.
Administrative division
Boží Dar consists of three municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census):
*Boží Dar (199)
*Ryžovna (1)
*Zlatý Kopec (1)
Etymology
The original German name ''Gottesgab'' and the Czech name Boží Dar both literally means 'Gift of God'. The name is said to have come from the statement of the founder of the village,
John Frederick I, in which he described the local silver in this way.
Geography

Boží Dar is located about north of
Karlovy Vary
Karlovy Vary (; , formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa town, spa city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 49,000 inhabitants. It is located at the confluence of the Ohře and Teplá (river), Teplá ri ...
, on the border with Germany. It lies in the
Ore Mountains
The Ore Mountains (, or ; ) lie along the Czech–German border, separating the historical regions of Bohemia in the Czech Republic and Saxony in Germany. The highest peaks are the Klínovec in the Czech Republic (German: ''Keilberg'') at ab ...
. The highest point is the
Božídarský Špičák
The Božídarský Špičák () is the third highest mountain of the Ore Mountains. It lies in the Czech Republic near the highest town in Central Europe, Boží Dar.
Location and surrounding area
The Božídarský Špičák lies two kilometres sou ...
mountain at above sea level. The area around Božídarský Špičák with peat bogs is protected as the Božídarské rašeliniště National Nature Reserve.
The
Černá creek flows across the municipal territory. The
Myslivny Reservoir is supplied by the creek.
History
The remote area in the Saxon
Barony of Schwarzenberg was settled after
silver
Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...
and
tin mining began about 1517. Boží Dar was founded as a
mining town by decree of
John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony, who acquired the lordship in 1533. Together with neighbouring
Horní Blatná, John Frederick had to cede the town to the
Habsburg lands of the
Bohemian Crown in 1547 after the
Schmalkaldic War
The Schmalkaldic War (; July 1546May 1547) was fought within the territories of the Holy Roman Empire between the allied forces of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Maurice, Duke of Saxony against the Lutheran Schmalkaldic League, with the forc ...
and his defeat in the
Battle of Mühlberg.
The peak of mining dates back to the 1550s and 1560s, when the town had over 2,000 inhabitants. In 1580, Emperor
Rudolf II
Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the H ...
promoted Boží Dar to the royal mining town. During the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...
, the town was looted several times. In 1643, it was plundered by the
Swedish army
The Swedish Army () is the army, land force of the Swedish Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. Beginning with its service in 1521, the Swedish Army has been active for more than 500 years.
History
Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1 ...
. After the decline of mining in the 17th and 18th centuries, the original important mining town gradually turned into a mountain town, whose inhabitants subsisted on various domestic productions.
[
After ]World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, Boží Dar became part of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
. It was mainly settled by Sudeten Germans. In 1938, the municipality was annexed by Nazi Germany and administered as part of the Reichsgau Sudetenland. After World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the German population was expelled.[ The historic town privileges were lost in the 1950s, but restored in 2006.
]
Demographics
Transport
The I/25 road connects Boží Dar with Ostrov. Boží Dar is the site of a road border crossing to Oberwiesenthal in Germany.
Sport
Boží Dar lies in one of the most important winter sport regions in the Czech Republic.The town is known for two ski resorts with several downhill runs and four ski lifts.
Sights
The town belongs to the so-called Abertamy – Boží Dar – Horní Blatná Mining Landscape, which is a UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
as part of Ore Mountain Mining Region. The most valuable remnant of former mining in the area is the Blatenský water ditch. It is a technical monument, protected as a national cultural monument. It was built in 1540–1544 and was used for mining tin ore and for transporting wood. It is long and runs across the municipal territory. An educational trail runs along the ditch.
The main landmark of the town is the Church of Saint Anne. It was built in the Baroque style in 1771, when it replaced an older Renaissance church.
The late Empire
An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...
town hall was built in 1844–1845 and together with the church belongs to the landmarks of the town square.
Notable people
* Kaspar Eberhard (1523–1575), Lutheran theologian; local pastor in 1554
* Nikos Kazantzakis (1883–1957), Greek writer; spent several months in Myslivny in 1929–1932
* Lukáš Bauer (born 1977), cross country skier; lives here
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bozi Dar
Populated places in Karlovy Vary District
Cities and towns in the Czech Republic
Towns in the Ore Mountains