LIBEREC

'Liberec' (IPA: , , Romany: ''Libertsis'') is a city of the Czech Republic, in the Liberec Region. Located on the Lusatian Neisse, it is the capital and largest city of the region. It is the sixth-largest city in the Czech Republic.

Contents

History

Historical names

Science and Technology

Liberec Zoo and Botanical Garden

Architecture

Liberec Tram System

Natives from Liberec

Other famous people connected with Liberec

Sister cities

External links

History

Liberec was first mentioned in a document from 1348, and from 1622 to 1634 was among the possessions of Albrecht von Wallenstein. After his death it belonged to the Gallas and Clam Gallas families, though their jurisdiction over the town has long ceased. The cloth-making industry was introduced in 1579. The Battle of Reichenberg between Austria and Prussia occurred nearby in 1757 during the Seven Years' War.
The city developed rapidly at the end of the 19th century and as a result has a spectacular collection of late 19th century buildings; the town hall, the opera house, and the Severočeské Muzeum (North Bohemian Museum) are of significant note. The Opera House has a spectacular main curtain that was designed by famous Austrian artist Gustav Klimt. The neighborhoods on the hills above the town center have a dizzying display of beautiful homes and streets, all laid out in a picturesque Romantic style similar to some central European thermal spas.
After the First World War, the ethnic German majority in the Sudetenland refused to be incorporated into Czechoslovakia, citing Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points and the doctrine of Self Determination. An independent Sudeten German State was briefly formed with Reichenberg as the Capital.
During the 1930s the city became the centre of Pan-German movements and and later the Nazis. After the Munich Agreement of 1938, the capital of the ''Sudetengau'' within Nazi Germany. The city's German population was forcibly expelled following World War II through the Beneš decrees. The region was deliberately resettled with Czechs.

Historical names

★ 1352 Reychinberch

★ 1369 Reychmberg

★ 1385-99 Reichenberg

★ 1410 Rychmberg

★ 1790 Reichenberg (Liber, Habersdorf)

★ 1834 Reichenberg (Liberk)

★ 1945 Reichenberg, Liberec

Science and Technology

★ Technical University of Liberec (Technická Univerzita v Liberci): Founded in 1953 as a Technical College. In 1995 gained the status of a university. It has about 5000 students in 6 faculties (Mechanical Engineering, Textile Engineering, Architecture, Mechatronics, Teachers' College and Economics). Applied research in mechatronics.


★ Regional Research Library (Krajská vědecká knihovna): A general public research library, aiming at general education in the region. Built on a new site in 2000. It has an exceptional collection of germano-slavica and sudetica (periodicals and books in German language concerning Czech territory, ca. 1848-1946). This building comprises also a modern synagogue.

★ The North Bohemian Museum (Severočeské muzeum): Built in 1873. It ranks among the oldest and most significant museums of nature sciences, arts and crafts in the Czech Republic.

Liberec Zoo and Botanical Garden

The Zoo in Liberec was the first to be opened in Czechoslovakia in 1919. The zoo contains a wide variety of fauna (about 143 species on 13 ha), including large mammals like elephants, giraffes, sea lions and white tigers, which are a genetic anomaly and hence very rare. It participates in breeding activities of endangered species to help preserving the gene pool.

The Botanical Garden in Liberec (completely rebuilt in 1995–2000) comprises 9 glasshouses for visitors (with a total area of 3000 m² and 13 exhibition themes), 9 plantation glasshouses and a large exterior terrain. It continues the legacy of a botanical garden established in 1876 by "Verein der Naturfreunde" (Learned Society of Nature Friends) on a nearby site and it is therefore considered the oldest one in the Czech Republic.

Architecture

Liberec's prominent buildings are the town hall (1893), the castle of Count Clam Gallas, built in the 17th century, and the Ještěd Tower (1968) upon the Ještěd Mountain, which became a symbol of the city. Václav Havel held a broadcast from the site of the tower in 1968; a plaque beside the tower marks this event. Contemporary buildings of note are also to be found, primarily the work of the firm SIAL, and include the new Regional Research Library (2000) and the Česká Pojištovna office building (1997).
You can find more pictures of Jested here [1]. Panoramatic views from Jested you can find here [2].

Liberec Tram System

Liberec shares the tramway line which connects it to its neighboring city, Jablonec nad Nisou which is 12 km away. There is also a city line which connects Horní Hanychov and Lidové Sady via Fügnerova.

Natives from Liberec

★ Christoph Demantius (1567 - 1643), German composer and poet

★ Barbara Bouchet (b. 1943) - Actress and Entrepreneuse

★ Heinrich Herkner (1863 - 1932), economist

★ František Xaver Šalda (1867 - 1937), literary critic

★ Ferdinand Porsche (1875 - 1951), German car designer

★ Vlasta Burian (1891 - 1962), actor

★ Konrad Henlein (1898 - 1945), Nazi politician

★ Guido Beck (1903 - 1989), physicist

★ Augustin Schramm (1907 - 1948), communist politician and officer

★ Petr Nedvěd (b. 1971), professional hockey player

★ Martin Damm (b. 1972), professional tennis player

★ Tomáš Enge (b. 1976), race driver

★ Emil Artin, mathematician

★ Roland Bulirsch, German mathematic

★ Herbert Feigl, US-Austrian philosopher

★ Friedrich Karl Ginzel (b. 1850), Austrian astronomer

★ Gustav Ginzel (
★ 1931)

★ Hubert Ginzel (
★ 1874), Austrian cartographer

★ Jakob Ginzel (
★ 1792), Austrian painter

★ Joseph Augustin Ginzel (
★ 1804), Austrian theologist

★ Wolfgang Ginzel, photographer

★ Egon Hartmann, German architect

★ Walter Henn, German architect and scholar

★ Uwe-Karsten Heye (
★ 1940), German politician (SPD)

★ Harald Kreutzberg (1902 – 1968), dancer and choreographer

★ Markus Lüpertz (
★ 1941), German artist

★ Roderich Menzel, tennis player

★ Edmund Nick, German composer

★ Fritz Preissler

★ Otfried Preußler (
★ 1923), German writer

★ Josef Proksch (
★ 1794), Austrian composer, taught Bedřich Smetana

★ Jaroslav Řídký, Czech composer

★ Edwin Schwertner (
★ 1932), leading GDR politician

★ Friedrich Sieber (
★ 1925), German painter

★ Gerold Tandler (
★ 1936), German (Bavarian) politician (CSU)

★ Olga Tschörner, (1897 - 1969), singer

★ Jiří Vršťala (1920-1999), actor

★ Beate Weber, (
★ 1943), German politician

Other famous people connected with Liberec

★ Anna Steimarová (1889 - 1962), Czech actress, died there.

Sister cities

★ Amersfoort, Netherlands

★ Augsburg, Germany

★ Zittau, Germany

★ St. Gallen, Switzerland

★ Nahariya, Israel

★ Amiens, France

External links

★ Municipal website (in Czech and German)

★ Liberec portal (en, cs, pl, de)

★ Parishes in Liberec (cs)

★ Tramway Liberec (Official website)

★ Tramway Liberec (Fan website, de)

★ Botanic Garden in Liberec (Info site)

★ ZOO in Liberec (Info site)

★ History and architecture of the Ještěd Tower (en, cs, de)