Horní Branná () is a municipality and village in

Semily District Semily District () is a Okres, district in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Semily, but the most populated town is Turnov. Administrative division Semily District is divided into three Districts of the Czech Rep ...

in the

Liberec Region Liberec Region () is an administrative unit (Czech language, Czech: ''kraj'') of the Czech Republic, located in the northernmost part of its historical region of Bohemia. It is named after its capital Liberec. The region shares international bor ...

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 1,900 inhabitants.

Administrative division

Horní Branná consists of two municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Horní Branná (1,298) *Valteřice (540)

Geography

Horní Branná is located about southeast of

Liberec Liberec (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 108,000 inhabitants, making it the fifth largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse River, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preserved and is pr ...

. It lies mostly in the

Giant Mountains Foothills In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of humanoid appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 from ...

, only the northern part of the municipal territory extends into the

Giant Mountains The Giant Mountains, Krkonoše, or Karkonosze (Czech: , , ), 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). The Czech–Polish bor ...

. The highest point is at above sea level. The built-up area is situated in the valley of the Sovinka Stream.

History

The first written mention of Horní Branná is in a document of the diocese of Prague, taken in the years 1344–1350. From 1387 to 1606, Horní Branná was owned by the

Waldstein family The House of Waldstein (Valdstejn, Valdonio, or Wallenstein) is an old, wealthy and important noble family from Central Europe (Germany and the Czech Republic). They owned many castles across Europe. Origin The House of Waldstein or House of V ...

Demographics

Transport

The I/14 road (the section from Liberec to

Trutnov Trutnov (; ) is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 30,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone. Administrative division Trutnov consists of 21 ...

) passes through the municipality. Horní Branná is located on the railway line from Trutnov to

Kolín Kolín (; ) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 33,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument reservations, urban monume ...

Sights

The Church of Saint Nicholas is the oldest church in the Giant Mountains Foothills area. It was built in 1557, when it replaced an old wooden church. The tower was added in 1700. The Horní Branná Castle was built as a Renaissance aristocratic residence in the second half of the 16th century. The

sgraffito (; ) is an artistic or decorative technique of scratching through a coating on a hard surface to reveal parts of another underlying coating which is in a contrasting colour. It is produced on walls by applying layers of plaster tinted in con ...

decoration dates from 1582. In 1627–1628, Kristina Poniatowská lived on the castle and was visited by

John Amos Comenius John Amos Comenius (; ; ; ; Latinized: ''Ioannes Amos Comenius''; 28 March 1592 – 15 November 1670) was a Czech philosopher, pedagogue and theologian who is considered the father of modern education. He served as the last bishop of the Unit ...

. Today the building is used for commercial purposes. The baroque hospital was built in 1709 by Count Harrach for the count's elderly servants. In 1987, the hospital was demolished and replaced by its copy. Only the original Chapel of Saint Aloysius has been preserved.

Notable people

Jan Slavomír Tomíček Jan Slavomír Tomíček (15 or 16 July 1806 in Horní Branná – 28 April 1866 in Prague) was a Czech writer, journalist, historian and ethnologist. Biography Tomíček graduated from a gymnasium in Jičín and studied philosophy in Prague. He ...

(1806–1866), writer and journalist * František Hák (1903–?), cross-country skier * Václav Jón (1905–1966), cross-country skier *

Zdeněk Remsa Zdeněk Remsa (29 December 1928 – 22 June 2019) was a Czech ski jumper.Ilja Matouš (1931–2018), cross-country skier

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Horni Branna Villages in Semily District