Strážný (until 1955 Kunžvart; ) is a market town in

Prachatice District Prachatice District () is a district in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Prachatice. Administrative division Prachatice District is divided into two administrative districts of municipalities with extend ...

in the

South Bohemian Region The South Bohemian Region () is an administrative unit (''Regions of the Czech Republic, 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 ...

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 400 inhabitants.

Administrative division

Strážný consists of four municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Strážný (327) *Hliniště (18) *Kořenný (8) *Řasnice (32)

Geography

Strážný is located about southwest of

Prachatice Prachatice (; ) is a town in the South Bohemian 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 reservations, urban monumen ...

and west of

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 ...

, on the border with Germany. It lies in 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 ...

; most of the territory lies in the

Šumava National Park The Šumava National Park (, usually shortened as NP Šumava), or Bohemian Forest National Park, is a national park in the South Bohemian regions of the Czech Republic along the border with Germany (where the smaller adjacent Bavarian Forest Na ...

and a smaller part lies in the Šumava Protected Landscape Area. The highest point is the Strážný mountain at above sea level, but there are also several other mountains above 1,000 m. Two tributaries of the

Vltava The Vltava ( , ; ) is the longest river in the Czech Republic, a left tributary of the Elbe River. It runs southeast along the Bohemian Forest and then north across Bohemia, through Český Krumlov, České Budějovice, and Prague. It is com ...

river, Řasnice and Častá, flow through the territory. The built-up area is located in the valley of the Častá, below the Strážný mountain.

History

The first written mention of Strážný, then named Kunžvart, is from 1359, when existence of a castle on the Strážný mountain is documented. For 200 years it served to protect an important trade route and border of the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia (), sometimes referenced in English literature as the Czech Kingdom, was a History of the Czech lands in the High Middle Ages, medieval and History of the Czech lands, early modern monarchy in Central Europe. It was the pr ...

. Since 1547, the castle was uninhabited, and during the 16th century, it became a ruin. In 1689, a settlement was founded near the castle and named Kunžvart after the castle. The new village grew rapidly and already in 1833, the international road from

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 ...

Passau Passau (; ) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the ("City of Three Rivers"), as the river Danube is joined by the Inn (river), Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's population is about 50,000, of whom ...

passed through here and one of the first bus lines in the country was in operation. In 1844, the village 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 ...

. After World War II, the German population was expelled.

Demographics

Transport

On the Czech-German border is the ''Strážný /

Philippsreut Philippsreut is a municipality in the district of Freyung-Grafenau in Bavaria, Germany. It lies on the border with the Czech Republic. The village was founded in 1692 by Johann Philipp von Lamberg, Bishop of Passau, originally under the name Kle ...

'' road border crossing.

Sport

In Strážný is the Ski Resort Strážný.

Sights

The ruin of Kunžvart Castle in open to the public. It is located below the top of the Strážný mountain in an altitude of , which makes it one of the highest placed castles in the country. The Chapel of the Virgin Mary was built in 1834. It is accessible only once a year during Mass. The most valuable building was the Church of the Holy Trinity from 1780. In 1965, it was demolished and the cemetery was moved. Today there is a place of reverence with a stone ground plan of the church on the site of the cemetery and a model of the church.

Notable people

Karl Hoschna Karl Hoschna (1876–1911) was a Tin Pan Alley-era composer most noted for his songs "Cuddle up a Little Closer, Lovey Mine", "Every Little Movement (Has a Meaning All Its Own), Every Little Movement" and "Yama Yama Man", and for a string of succ ...

(1876–1911), Austrian-American musician and composer

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Strazny Market towns in the Czech Republic Populated places in Prachatice District Bohemian Forest