Litoměřice (; ) is a town in the
Ústí nad Labem Region
Ústí nad Labem Region or Ústecký Region () is an Regions of the Czech Republic, administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the north-western part of the historical land of Bohemia, and named after the capital, Ústí nad Labem. I ...
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 23,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an
urban monument reservation.
The town is the seat of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Litoměřice.
Administrative division
Litoměřice consists of four municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census):
*Litoměřice-Město (1,503)
*Pokratice (4,436)
*Předměstí (17,483)
*Za nemocnicí (10)
Geography

Litoměřice is located about south of
Ústí nad Labem and northwest of
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
. The northwestern half of the municipal territory lies in the
Central Bohemian Uplands, the southeastern half lies in the
Lower Ohře Table, on the edge of the
Polabí lowlands. The highest point, located in the northern tip of the territory, is at above sea level. The town is situated on the right (northern) bank of the
Elbe
The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...
River, at its confluence with the
Ohře
The Ohře (), also known in English and German as Eger (), is a river in Germany and the Czech Republic, a left tributary of the Elbe River. It flows through the Bavarian district of Upper Franconia in Germany, and through the Karlovy Vary Region ...
, which flows from the south.
History
Early history
The settlement of Litoměřice has a deep history of Paleolithic cultures as well as large
Celtic settlements of the
La Tène culture
The La Tène culture (; ) was a Iron Age Europe, European Iron Age culture. It developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from about 450 BC to the Roman Republic, Roman conquest in the 1st century BC), succeeding the early Iron Age ...
, which did not survive the incoming
Germanic attacks. The area was later settled by Germanic tribes, when Litoměřice first appeared on
Ptolemy's world map in the 2nd century under the name of Nomisterium. The Germanic tribes later migrated west and those remaining mingled with the incoming Slavs. The earliest evidence of the Slavic settlement comes from the 8th century.
In the 9th and 10th century, Litoměřice fell under the control of the
Přemyslid dynasty. Přemyslids built here an early medieval fortress, one of the most important Přemyslid centres in Czech lands.
[ The area was settled by the Czech tribe of Litoměřici, after which the town was named. In 1057, the Litomeřice Chapter was founded by Duke Spytihněv II, and it is the oldest written evidence of the existence of the town.][
A royal-town status was granted in 1219 by King Ottokar I. At the beginning of the 13th century, Litoměřice was an important political, cultural and economic centre.][
]
15th–19th centuries
The population suffered during the 15th century Hussite Wars
The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, a ...
. After the Protestant tensions with the Catholics that triggered 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 ...
and the Protestants' defeat in the Battle of White Mountain, the surviving population of the town was forced to accept Catholicism
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
or face property confiscation and the obligation to leave the kingdom. In this way, the town became a Catholic bishop's residency in 1655.[ As a result, the Czech Protestant population shrank and the town became largely germanized.
In the 18th century, many Baroque building, which are today cultural monuments, were built. However the prosperity of the town suffered from the ]War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession was a European conflict fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italian Peninsula, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Related conflicts include King Ge ...
and the Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...
.[
]
20th century
In 1918, Bohemia, Moravia
Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The medieval and early ...
and Czech Silesia became constituent parts of the newly created 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 ...
), along with a large border area inhabited predominantly by Sudeten Germans
German Bohemians ( ; ), later known as Sudeten Germans ( ; ), were ethnic Germans living in the Czech lands of the Bohemian Crown, which later became an integral part of Czechoslovakia. Before 1945, over three million German Bohemians constitute ...
. Local Germans tried to join German Austria (which in turn aimed to join post-war Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...
), but Czechoslovak troops prevented this. Known under the informal name of the Sudetenland, the region became the subject of political controversy in the following years. Czechs settled there again, but remained a minority. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement
The Munich Agreement was reached in Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom, the French Third Republic, French Republic, and the Kingdom of Italy. The agreement provided for the Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–194 ...
, German troops occupied the Sudetenland (and all the rest of Czech lands a few months later). The Czech population, which had grown to about 5,000 people, had to leave again.[
Jews from Litoměřice were forced to flee to the Protectorate or were deported during the Holocaust in the Sudetenland. From March 1944 to May 1945, Leitmeritz concentration camp was located west of the town. 18,000 prisoners passed through the camp and were forced to work mostly on excavating underground factories (Richard I and II) under Radobýl. 4,500 died.
In the final stages of World War II, German troops retreated to escape the advancing ]Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
. The Czech resistance took control of the castle on 27 April 1945, and after a few days they started negotiations with the German commander about the terms of his surrender. The Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
capitulated in the night after 8 May, but German troops fled on 9 May, just before Soviet troops entered the town on 10 May 1945. Most of the German population of the town was expelled by the Beneš decrees
The Beneš decrees were a series of laws drafted by the Czechoslovak government-in-exile in the absence of the Czechoslovak parliament during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in World War II. They were issued by President Edvard Beneš fr ...
in August 1945, along with about 2.5 million other former Czechoslovak citizens of German ethnicity from the country.
Demographics
Economy
There are no large industrial enterprises located in Litoměřice. The largest employer is the hospital.
Litoměřice is known for viticulture
Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...
and wine-making. It is the centre of the Litoměřická wine sub-region. The existence of vineyards is already documented in the first written mention of Litoměřice from 1057.
Transport
The I/15 road from Most to Česká Lípa passes through the town.
Litoměřice is served by three train stations. The station Litoměřice město is located on the Ústí nad Labem–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 ...
line. The stations Litoměřice horní nádraží and Litoměřice Cihelna are located on the lines Most–Litoměřice and Česká Lípa– Postoloprty.
Religion
The town is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Litoměřice (part of Archdiocese of Prague), the 4th oldest (and 3rd still existing) Catholic diocese on present Czech territory.
Culture
Litoměřice is known for the annual event ''Zahrada Čech'' ('garden of Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
'). It is an extensive horticultural trade fair, attended by tens of thousands of people.
North Bohemian Gallery of Fine Arts is based close the main square. Extensive collection spans from 13th century to contemporary art with numerous other exhibitions during the year. On the Mírové Square is also the Gallery and Museum of Litoměřice diocese.
Education
Litoměřice is home to eight secondary schools, including two public schools: Josef Jungmann Gymnasium and Secondary School of Pedagogy, Hotel Management and Services. There are nine primary schools.
Sights
Since 1978, the historic centre of Litoměřice has been an urban monument reservation. The protected territory is delimited by remains of town walls. About of town walls is preserved to this day. Originally they had four town gates, none of them is preserved. Part of the town fortifications was Litoměřice Castle. Today it contains an exposition of Czech viticulture
Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...
.
Its core form Mírové Square, a large square with an area of about 2 hectares. Most of the houses on the square are in the Gothic style. The Old Town Hall building on the square is the oldest Renaissance building in the town. Today, the building serves as a regional museum. Other sights on the square include the "Chalice house" (new town hall with a lookout tower in the shape of chalice), ''Dům u černého orla'' ("Black Eagle House"; one of the most significant Renaissance houses), and Museum of Crystal Touch.
There are several valuable sacral buildings in Litoměřice. On the main square, there is the All Saints Church. Its existence was firstly mentioned in 1235. Originally it belonged to the town fortification. It has a high bell tower. The Baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
Saint Stephen's Cathedral at the Dómské Square was built in place of an older Romanesque basilica in the years 1664–1668. It has a high tower open to the public. The interior is almost completely authentic with main and six side altars and a lot of original paintings. Right next to the dome is a bishop's residence built in 1683–1701 by Giulio Broggio.
There is also the Jesuit Church of the Annunciation. It is a massive Baroque church built by Giulio and Octavio Broggio in 1701–1731.
There are numerous cellars connected by an extensive web of underground ways under the town. In some places, the cellars were built in three floors. The ways are about long and they belong to the longest of their kind in the county. Only of these underground ways are open to the public.
Notable people
* Master of the Litoměřice Altarpiece (–?), painter
* Antonio Rosetti (–1792), composer and double bass player
* Josef Jungmann (1773–1847), poet and linguist, lived and taught here
* Vincent Bochdalek (1801–1883), anatomist and pathologist
* Josef Emanuel Hilscher (1806–1837), Austrian soldier, poet and translator
*Karel Hynek Mácha
Karel Hynek Mácha () (16 November 1810 – 5 November 1836) was a Czechs, Czech Romanticism, romantic poet. His poem ''Máj'' is among the most important poems in the history of Czech literature.
Biography
Mácha was born on 16 November 1810 ...
(1810–1836), poet, originally buried here
* Ferdinand Blumentritt (1853–1913), Austrian teacher and ethnographer
* Alfred Kubin (1877–1959), Austrian printmaker and illustrator
* Štěpán Trochta (1905–1974), cardinal
* Kurt Honolka (1913–1988), German musicologist and music critic
* Peter Lerche (1928–2016), German jurist
* Johann Georg Reißmüller (1932–2018), German journalist
* Dietrich Mattausch (born 1940), German actor
* Rudolf Buchbinder (born 1946), Austrian classical pianist
* Zdeněk Pecka (1954–2024), rower, Olympic medalist
* Jiří Macháček (born 1966), singer and actor
* Milan Hnilička (born 1973), ice hockey player and politician
* Martin Škoula (born 1979), ice hockey player
* Oldřiška Marešová (born 1986), high jumper
Twin towns – sister cities
Litoměřice is twinned with:
* Armentières, France (2011)
* Calamba, Philippines (1974)
* Dapitan, Philippines (2006)
* Fulda
Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the city hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival.
Histor ...
, Germany (2001)
* Meissen, Germany (1996)
References
External links
*
*
Crystal Touch Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Litomerice
Cities and towns in the Czech Republic
Populated places in Litoměřice District
Populated places established in the 10th century
Populated riverside places in the Czech Republic
Populated places on the Elbe