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'Ostrava' (IPA:, , ) is the third largest city in the Czech Republic and the administrative center of the Moravian-Silesian Region and of the Municipality with Extended Competence. It is located at the confluence of the Ostravice, Oder and Opava rivers. Its history and growth have been largely affected by exploitation and further usage of the high quality black coal deposits discovered in the locality, giving the town a look of an industrial city and a nickname of the “steel heart of the republic” () during the communist era of Czechoslovakia. Many of the heavy industry companies are being closed down or transformed nowadays.

Contents

History of Ostrava

Geography and climate

People and demographics

Industry and coal mines

Karolina

Culture

Universities

Tourist attractions

Transport

Sport in Ostrava

Other information

People

Notes

External links

History of Ostrava

Ostrava was an important crossroads of prehistoric trading routes, namely the Amber Road. Archaeological finds have proved that the area around Ostrava has been permanently inhabited for 25,000 years. The town itself was founded in 1267. Until the late 18th century, Ostrava was a small provincial town with a population around one thousand inhabitants engaged in handicraft.
In 1763, large deposits of black coal were discovered, leading to an industrial boom and a flood of new immigrants in the following centuries. During the 19th century, several mine towers were raised in and around the city and the first steel works were established. Industrial growth was made possible by the completion of Kaiser-Ferdinands-Nordbahn from Vienna in 1847. The 20th century saw further industrial expansion of the city accompanied by an increase in population and the quality of civic services and culture. However, during World War II, Ostrava - as an important source of steel for the army industry - suffered several massive bombing campaigns bringing large amounts of damage to the city.
Since the Velvet revolution in 1989 the city is going through big changes. A thorough restructuring of industry is taking place - coal mining in the area of the city was stopped in 1994 and a large part of the Vítkovice ironworks near the city center was closed down in 1998, both improving the environment dramatically, although the Mittal Steel plant (ex-Nová Huť) continues to heavily pollute the Radvanice district.

'Mayors of Ostrava'[1]

Period	Name
1861–1864	Hermann Zwierzina
1864–1873	Alois Anderka
1873–1880	Konstantin Grünwald
1880–1888	Anton Lux
1888–1901	Dr. Adalbert Johanny
1901–1918	Dr. Gustav Fiedler
1918	Johann Ulrich (until 17th December 1918)
1918–1935	Jan Prokeš
1935–1939	Josef Chalupník
1939–1940	Dr. Josef Hinner
1940–1945	SS Sturmbannführer Emil Beier
1945	Josef Lampa (interim, for three weeks)
1945–1960	Josef Kotas
1960–1964	Jan Buchvaldek
1964–1968	Ing. Josef Kempný
1968–1971	Ing. Zdeněk Kupka
1971–1986	RSDr. Eduard Foltýn
1986–1989	Ing. Bedřich Lipina
1989–1990	Ing. Lubomír Vejr, CSc.
1990–1993	Ing. arch. Jiří Smejkal
1993–2001	Ing. Evžen Tošenovský
2001–2002	Ing. Čestmír Vlček
2002–2006	Ing. Aleš Zedník
2006–	Ing. Petr Kajnar

'See also':

★ Ostravian Feudal lords and holders in the 15th and early 16th century

Geography and climate

Ostrava is located in the north-eastern tip of the Czech Republic, very close to the Polish (15km) and Slovak (55km) borders. It spreads over the northern part of the natural north-south valley called the Moravian Gate (Moravská brána) with the average elevation of around 210m above sea level.
The local climate is temperate with warm summers and cold, cloudy, humid winters. Due to the easterly position of the city the continental climate influences are slightly more prominent compared to the rest of the country. The yearly average temperature is 8.6°C (January: -2.4°, July: 17.8°), the yearly rainfall is around 600mm.

People and demographics

As of 2003, the officially estimated population of Ostrava is 315,442 inhabitants, who are living in a total of 23 districts formed by joining together 34 original small towns and villages. Ostrava covers an area of 212 km². The population density is 1505 people per km².
Historically, among the most influencing ethnic groups besides Czechs in Ostrava were the Polish people, Germans and the Jews. However, during and after the World War II years the situation changed completely, as most Ostravian Jews were killed or transported to concentration camps (on October 17, 1939 the first transport of Jews to a lager in Nisko, General Government was held in Ostrava - the first of its kind in Europe). After World War II, Germans were expelled from Ostrava according to the Benes decrees. Thus, the population of the city, has become a mixture of Czechs, Slovaks and Poles.
Due to the recent and ongoing massive restructuring of the heavy industry in the area, the unemployment rate went well above the country average - 13 % (as of 2007).

Industry and coal mines

Some of the largest Czech industrial concerns lie in the city of Ostrava. The Vítkovice steel works, located in the suburb of the same name near the city center, concentrates on metallurgy and machine engineering. It was established in 1828 and nowadays, after nearly two hundred years of existence, it is undergoing a major transformation. The oldest part of the concern, called "Dolní oblast" (the "Bottom area"), was closed down and there is an ongoing debate whether this area should be preserved and opened up as an industrial open-air museum or torn down. Nová huť (the "New Steel Works", established in 1951), now belongs to the international concern Mittal Steel, is another key metallurgical combine in Ostrava.
Contrary to the popular belief among Czechs, Ostrava is not a mining town anymore - all its mines have been closed down a short time after the Velvet revolution, due to unfavourable geological and political conditions which caused the mining to become uneconomic in the post-communist system, and also in ex-mayor Evžen Tošenovský's drive to modernize the city's industries. The Last mine car with coal was retrieved from the mine ''Odra'' on the Oder river on June 30, 1994.

Karolina

'Karolina' is approximately 30 hectares large area situated 500m from City's historic square. The Karolina Area was originally used for heavy industry. After demolition of old coking plant and clearing all area, the Karolina area can now be used for an extension of Ostrava city centre.
In late June 2006 Dutch firm Multi Development has won the tender for the development of the grounds of the former Karolina. Company will thus be invited to sign the contract, which must be done within three months. Multi Development plan to invest 13 billion CZK (EUR 450 million).
In this new city district should be many new apartments, offices and shops. There should be also a new church, high-rise building, large park by the river Ostravice and campus university.

Culture

There are four theatres in Ostrava: Národní divadlo moravskoslezské (''National theatre of Moravia – Silesia''). It has two buildings: ''Divadlo Antonína Dvořáka'' (named after Antonín Dvořák) and ''Divadlo Jiřího Myrona''. Further there are Divadlo Petra Bezruče (named after Petr Bezruč), Komorní scéna Aréna (''Chamber theatre Arena'') and Divadlo loutek (''Puppet theatre'').

Universities

★ VŠB – Technical University of Ostrava – Official web

★ University of Ostrava – Official web

★ Business School Ostrava plc – Official web

Tourist attractions

While Ostrava is usually not in the top ten list of tourist attractions of the Czech Republic, there are a number of interesting places to see and things to do there. To the north of the city center there is the 'Museum of mining' (Hornické muzeum) presenting a unique collection of the coal mining machinery and equipment, a reconstruction of a mammoth hunters' settlement. Going down the shaft to see the 250m long underground corridors and an original mining gallery from the 19th century is also part of the exhibition.
Another attraction, which is becoming more and more popular mainly among young people, is the 'Stodolni street' (''Stodolní ulice''). It is actually a bunch of streets just next to the center, full of bars, pubs and clubs, bringing night-life to the city and thousands of visitors all year long. There are currently around 60 places to have a drink or dance on this street, each of its own style and atmosphere. There are a few bigger actions at this street throughout the year, the largest of which is the 'Colours of Ostrava' - a summer music festival hosting many musicians and groups from all over the world.
The 'New city hall viewing tower' provides visitors a panoramic view of the city and surroundings from about 72 meters of height. During clear sky conditions the Beskids and Jeseniky mountain ranges are visible.
The 'Silesian-Ostrava Castle' is one of the city's most historic cultural monuments. The castle was built in the eighties and nineties of the 13th century. In 1534, the gothic castle was rebuilt into a renaissance chateau. It was restored recently after many years of dilapidation, caused by coal mining under the castle. Today, the castle is one of the most important tourist attraction of the city. It will host the Colours of Ostrava 2007 music festival this year.
You can visit a zoological garden located in Stromovka park in Slezská Ostrava. On May 1 1960 it was opened to the public, although incomplete.

Transport

Railway came to Ostrava in 1847. It was Austrian Northern Railway, from Vienna – Břeclav – Přerov, and it continued in the direction of Kraków. In 1855 was built line to Opava. Nowadays there are also lines in the directions of Frýdek-Místek – Valašské Meziříčí and Havířov – Český Těšín.
Ostrava-Mošnov International Airport is about 30 minutes away from Ostrava by bus. Most visitors, though, arrive to the city by train from Prague, which takes about 3½ hours (by Pendolino trains), Brno (2 hours and 15minutes), Olomouc (75 minutes). It is also relatively close from Vienna, Bratislava, Kraków and Warsaw. Nowadays, Ostrava still lacks a modern highway, and visitors coming by car have to choose regional roads instead. The D47 highway from Lipnik nad Bečvou through Ostrava to the border with Poland is currently under construction. It is supposed to be finished in about 2009.
Getting around the city itself is easy using the public transport. Ostrava is one of the few Czech cities to have all the three types of public transport common to Czech Republic: buses, trams, as well as trolleybuses. There is also growing net of bike paths going through as well as around the city.

Sport in Ostrava

Football (soccer) teams:

★ FC Baník Ostrava

★ FC Vítkovice
Ice-hockey teams:

★ HC Vítkovice
Athletics:

★ Golden Spike

Other information

Ostrava is a sister city with these foreign towns and cities (the year the cooperation started is given in the parentheses and determines the ordering):

★ - Volgograd, Russia (1947)

★ - Coventry, United Kingdom (1957)

★ - Katowice, Poland (1960)

★ - Dresden, Germany (1971)

★ - Split, Croatia (1976)

★ - Pireus, Greece (1997)

★ - Košice, Slovakia (2001)

★ - Miskolc, Hungary (2001)

★ - Pittsburgh, USA (2001)

People

★ Ivan Lendl

★ Artur London

★ Marek Malík

★ Luděk Mikloško

★ Jaromír Nohavica

★ Dieter F. Uchtdorf

★ Filip Kuba

★ Petr Kalus

★ Milan Baroš

★ Leoš Janáček

★ Věra Chytilová

★ Vladimír Vůjtek

★ Richard Šmehlík

★ Marek Jankulovski

★ Ota Filip

Notes

External links

★ City information centre

★ Ostrava information server

★ Ostrava's companies

★ Ostrava Newspaper

★ Ostrava community website

★ City information center

★ Zoo Ostrava official website

★ Virtual tour through Ostrava

★ SC Pendolino - fast train from Praha to Ostrava ...

★ Ostrava Weather Forecast

★ Stodolni street