Prácheňsko (; ) is a historical and cultural region in 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 ...

, covering roughly the Otava River basin, mostly in the northwest part of

South Bohemia The South Bohemian Region () is an administrative unit (''kraj'') of the Czech Republic, located mostly in the southern part of its historical land of Bohemia, with a small part in southwestern Moravia. The western part of the South Bohemian Reg ...

. It was an administrative

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

in southwestern

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 ...

, created in the late 13th century and abolished by the Austrian Empire's regional reform of 1848.

Description

Its boundaries extended through the

Bohemian Forest The Bohemian Forest, known in Czech as () and in German as , is a low mountain range in Central Europe. Geographically, the mountains extend from Plzeň Region and the South Bohemian Region in the Czech Republic to Austria and Bavaria in Germ ...

in the south, towards

České Budějovice České Budějovice (; ) is a city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 97,000 inhabitants. The city is located in the valley of the Vltava River, at its confluence with the Malše. České Budějovice is the largest ...

to the north, close to the town of Příbram, and southwest to Železná Ruda. Ethnic groups of the region included

Czechs The Czechs (, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavs, West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common Bohemia ...

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

s and Romani, and by religion were Roman Catholics, Protestants ( Utraquists) and Jews. Today this area is divided among three current regions, namely South Bohemian (vast majority),

Plzeň Plzeň (), also known in English and German as Pilsen (), is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 188,000 inhabitants. It is located about west of P ...

and Central Bohemian. Its capital was

Písek Písek (; ) is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 31,000 inhabitants. The town is known for the oldest bridge in the country. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument z ...

, now a major town of approximately 30,000 inhabitants. The first region's centre, Prácheň gord (which gave its name to the whole region), is now overtaken by forest. Its remains lie in the territory of Velké Hydčice close to the town of Horažďovice. The local dialect of the western part is still extant as is the use of the

bagpipe Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...

in the music of the region. The main geographical feature of the Prácheňsko region is the river Otava. Principal towns of the former Prácheňsko were Písek (or ''Pisek'' in German), Strakonice (''Strakonitz''),

Sušice Sušice (; ) is a town in Klatovy District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 11,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, urban mon ...

(''Schüttenhofen''), Rožmitál (''Rosenthal''), Vimperk (''Winterberg''), Horní Planá (''Ober Plan''), Železná Ruda (''Markt Eisenstein''), Kasejovice (''Kassejowitz''), Protivín (''Protiwin'') and Horažďovice (''Horaschdowitz'').

History

Prácheňsko existed as an administrative unit (region) from the 13th century (at the beginning of the 15th century it was also called the Sušice Region due to the existence of the court in Sušice) until the reform of the regional organization in 1849–1850, when it was divided between the Budějovice and Plzeň Regions. In 1855, it was briefly restored as the Písek Region, but in 1862, with the abolition of the regions, it ceased to exist as an administrative unit permanentl Later administrative reforms in 1920, 1949, 1960 and 2000 confirmed the division of the historic Prácheň region between the Budějovice (or South Bohemian) and Plzeň (or West Bohemian) regions.

Demographics

The current population of the region is approximately 200,000–250,000 inhabitants. The area suffered serious population losses because of the

expulsion of Germans after World War II Expulsion or expelled may refer to: General * Deportation * Ejection (sports) * Eviction * Exile * Expeller pressing * Expulsion (education) * Expulsion from the United States Congress * Extradition * Forced migration * Ostracism * Pers ...

(about 25% of the population, mostly in the southern part) and because of

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. Today the Jewish population is negligible and there is no active

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

. A unique dialect of the Czech language with a large number of German loan words is spoken in the western part of the region.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prachensko Bohemia Historical regions in the Czech Republic