České Velenice (, german: Unterwielands, Gmünd-Wielands, Gmünd-Bahnhof, 1938–45: Gmünd III)) is a town in

Jindřichův Hradec District Jindřichův Hradec District ( cs, okres Jindřichův Hradec) is a district (''okres'') within South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is Jindřichův Hradec. To the east, about a fifth of the region, including the historical tow ...

in the

South Bohemian Region The South Bohemian Region ( cs, Jihočeský kraj; , ) 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

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. It has about 3,500 inhabitants. It lies on the border with

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and shares the railway and pedestrian border crossing with Gmünd.

History

Until 1870, there were only small settlements of Česká Cejle, Josefsko and Dolní Velenice in the area constituting current České Velenice, and it was part of the Austrian town of Gmünd. In 1868 the main railway station and the factory for repairing rolling stock and locomotives were established. The development of this border area was decisively increased by the inauguration of the Emperor Franz Joseph Railway connecting

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

in 1869. Due to the construction, housing estates were built and the population grew, especially of Czech nationality. At the end of World War I, the

Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919) The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (french: Traité de Saint-Germain-en-Laye) was signed on 10 September 1919 by the victorious Allies of World War I on the one hand and by the Republic of German-Austria on the other. Like the Treaty of Tri ...

awarded the territory to

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. On 31 July it was officially attached to Czechoslovakia and became the new municipality, at first under the names ''Cmunt v Čechách'' and ''Český Cmunt'', and since 1922 under the name České Velenice. Until 1938, České Velenice was a prospering municipality with an important railway junction. During World War II, České Velenice changed to a town with 95% of population being of German nationality. On 23 March 1945, the town and the railway workshops were severely damaged by American-English air strikes. This caused a mass exodus from the town of people who lost both their homes and their employment. After the war, the depopulated town was partially inhabited by the original residents.

Transport

Today, the railway line has only regional significance, as the main line runs via and

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

, along the first Czech railway corridor.

Notable people

Adolf Born Adolf Born (12 June 1930 – 22 May 2016) was a Czech painter, illustrator, filmmaker and caricaturist, "known for his murkily-tinted pictures of bizarre fauna, and Victorian gentlemen in top hats and top coats". Schmadel, L. D., ''Dictionary of M ...

(1930–2016), painter, cartoonist and illustrator

References

External links

* Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Populated places in Jindřichův Hradec District Austria–Czech Republic border crossings Divided cities {{SouthBohemia-geo-stub