Horní Jelení is a town in
Pardubice District in the
Pardubice Region
Pardubice Region () is an administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located mainly in the eastern part of its historical region of Bohemia, with a small part in northwestern Moravia. It is named after its capital Pardubice. As an administrat ...
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 2,100 inhabitants.
Administrative division
Horní Jelení consists of three municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census):
*Horní Jelení (1,898)
*Dolní Jelení (124)
*Rousínov (15)
Geography
Horní Jelení is located about east of
Pardubice
Pardubice (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 92,000 inhabitants. It is the capital city of the Pardubice Region and lies on the Elbe River. The historic centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Repub ...
. It lies in a flat landscape of the
Orlice Table. The stream of Ředický potok flows through the town. The area is rich in brooks and small fishponds.
History
The first written mention of Horní Jelení is from 1472. It is a document that describes the division of property after the death of
George of Poděbrady
George of Kunštát and Poděbrady (23 April 1420 – 22 March 1471), also known as Poděbrad or Podiebrad (; ), was the sixteenth King of Bohemia, who ruled in 1458–1471. He was a leader of the Hussites, but moderate and tolerant toward the ...
between his sons, and according to which Horní Jelení was part of the
Litice estate, which fell to
Boček IV of Poděbrady. In 1483, he gave the Litice estate to his brother
Henry the Younger of Poděbrady. He fell into debt and sold the estate to the
Pernštejn family
The House of Pernštejn () was one of the oldest and most important (uradel) families originating from Moravian nobility, along with the House of Rosenberg,
that played an important role in the medieval history of Bohemian nobility from the 13th ...
in 1495.
Vilém II of Pernštejn founded several fishponds around Horní Jelení. In 1555, Horní Jelení was promoted to a
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 rura ...
.
The Pernštejns sold Horní Jelení in 1556 to
Ernest of Bavaria, but he immediately began to sell off the estate piece by piece. In 1573, Horní Jelení was acquired by the
Bubna of Litice family, which owned it until 1790. In 1912, Emperor
Franz Joseph I
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...
promoted Horní Jelení to a town.
[
]
Demographics
Transport
The I/36 road, which connects Pradubice with Rychnov nad Kněžnou District, runs along the northwestern municipal border.
Sights
The main landmark of Horní Jelení is the Church of the Holy Trinity. It is a valuable neo-Gothic church, built in 1864–1866. There are several Baroque statues in front of the church. Next to the church is a Baroque rectory from the 18th century.
Notable people
* Karel Kaplan (1928–2023), historian
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horni Jeleni
Cities and towns in the Czech Republic
Populated places in Pardubice District