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Boskovice (; german: Boskowitz) is a town in
Blansko District Blansko District ( cs, okres Blansko) is one of seven districts ('' okres'') within South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Blansko. List of municipalities Adamov - Bedřichov - Benešov - Blansko - Borotín - B ...
in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 12,000 inhabitants. The area of the historic town centre, Jewish quarter, château complex and castle ruin is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone.


Administrative parts

Villages of Bačov, Hrádkov, Mladkov and Vratíkov are administrative parts of Boskovice.


Geography

Boskovice is located about north of
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 ...
. It lies on the border of the
Boskovice Furrow Boskovice (; german: Boskowitz) is a town in Blansko District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 12,000 inhabitants. The area of the historic town centre, Jewish quarter, château complex and castle ruin is well preser ...
and
Drahany Highlands Drahany is a market town in Prostějov District in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 500 inhabitants. Drahany lies approximately west of Prostějov, south-west of Olomouc, and east of Prague. Notable people *Wilhelm Kosch ...
. The Boskovice Reservoir is largely located in the municipal territory. The reservoir lies on the river Bělá which flows through the eastern part of the town and the southern part of the territory.


History

Boskovice was probably founded in the 13th century as a market village. The first written mention of Boskovice is from 1222, when the lord Jimram of Boskovice was listed as a witness in a deed of the King Ottokar I of Bohemia. The Boskovice Castle was first mentioned in 1313. During the reign of
Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...
(1740–1780), Boskovice was promoted to a town. Boskovice used to have one of the largest Jewish communities in Moravia. The first mention of Jews in Boskovice is from 1343. After 1454, many Jews expelled from Brno came to Boskovice. In the first half of the 16th century, the Jewish community was established. A closed ghetto separated from the town with two gates was established in 1727. After 1848, The Jewish community of Boskovice has become a politically independent town with its own mayor. At its peak in 1857, more than 1,800 Jews lived here. Until 1918, ''Boskowitz – Boskovice'' was part of the Austrian monarchy (Austria side after the
compromise of 1867 The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 (german: Ausgleich, hu, Kiegyezés) established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The Compromise only partially re-established the former pre-1848 sovereignty and status of the Kingdom of Hungary ...
), head of the district with the same name, one of the 34 ''Bezirkshauptmannschaften'' in Moravia. In 1918, Boskovice became part of independent Czechoslovakia. The period of
German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...
lasted from March 1939 until May 1945. During this time, Boskovice was administered as a part of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. From 1848 until 1960, Boskovice was a district town. Since 1960, it has been part of the Blansko District.


Demographics


Economy

Boskovice is known for the Minerva Boskovice company, manufacturer of
sewing machine A sewing machine is a machine used to sew fabric and materials together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution to decrease the amount of manual sewing work performed in clothing companies. Since the inv ...
s. It was founded in 1881. In 1997, the German company
Dürkopp Adler Dürkopp Adler is a German manufacturer of material handling systems and industrial sewing machines that are used in the manufacture of garment and upholstery. It is headquartered in Bielefeld, Germany. The firm is a result of a merger in 1990 betw ...
became the majority shareholder.


Transport

Boskovice is located on the
Velké Opatovice Velké Opatovice (german: Groß Opatowitz) is a town in Blansko District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,600 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Bezďečí, Brťov, Korbelova Lhota, Svárov and Velká R ...
Skalice nad Svitavou Skalice nad Svitavou is a municipality and village in Blansko District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 600 inhabitants. Skalice nad Svitavou lies approximately north of Blansko, north of Brno, and south-east of ...
railway of local importance.


Culture

Since 1993, the town has hosted the Boskovice Festival, subtitled ''Festival for the Jewish Quarter''. It is a music festival that aims to draw the public's attention to the existence of this monument and to help save it. From 2001 to 2010, the town hosted the largest festival of dance music in Moravia,
Hradhouse Festival Festival Hradhouse was an annual festival of electronic dance music that took place in Boskovice, near Brno, Czech Republic. The festival was a fixture on the Czech music scene and in the process has grown from a small summer underground party to a ...
.


Sights

The Jewish ghetto is located next to the historic centre on an area of around . There is 79 preserved houses of Baroque and Neoclassical origin and one of the original gates. The Baroque synagogue was built in 1639 and later modified in Empire and neo-Gothic styles. It contains an exhibition on the history and monuments of the local Jewish community. The Jewish cemetery was founded not later than in the 16th century. The cemetery has about 2,400 tombs on of area. The oldest preserved readable tomb is from 1670. The
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
castle in Boskovice was founded in the 13th century. In the mid-16th century, it was reconstructed in the Renaissance style. In the early 18th century, several outbuildings were added, but it was soon abandoned, and in the 1830s the castle was dismantled for the construction of buildings in the town. The torso of the castle palace has been preserved from the large building. A technical monument is a deep well powered by a wooden pedal wheel, the only functional in the country. The Boskovice Château was originally a Dominican monastery, rebuilt in 1819–1826 into an Empire style residence. It is surrounded by an English park. The château complex includes a large Neoclassical greenhouse from 1826–1829, a unique building of its type, and a neo-Gothic riding hall. The nearby manor residence was built in 1729–1733 as the seat of the Dietrichstein family. It served its purpose until the family had the château built. After 1826, it served as an administrative building of the manor. Today this simple Baroque building houses the Boskovice Region Museum. Next to the manor residence is the original manor house. It was built in the 17th century as a complex of farm buildings. The Church of Saint James the Great on the town square is from 1346. It was rebuilt in 1493–1527 and repaired many times, however, several parts of the original structure are preserved. The second landmark of the square is the town hall. Its current form is from the late Renaissance reconstruction in 1567. It has a high tower.


Notable people

*
Moses Sofer Moses Schreiber (1762–1839), known to his own community and Jewish posterity in the Hebrew translation as Moshe Sofer, also known by his main work ''Chatam Sofer'', ''Chasam Sofer'', or ''Hatam Sofer'' ( trans. ''Seal of the Scribe'', and acron ...
(1762–1839), one of the leading
Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...
rabbis of European Jewry *
Hirsch Bär Fassel Hirsch Bär Fassel (21 August 1802 – 27 December 1883; also known as Hirsch Baer Fassel or Hirsch B. Fassel) was an influential rabbi and philosopher. Biography He was born in Boskovice. His book ''Mozene Zedek'', a manual for rabbis on Talmud ...
(1802–1883), rabbi and philosopher *
Hermann Wassertrilling Hermann Wassertrilling, or (Hebrew: ''Tzvi Hirsch ben Natan Wassertrilling''; born in Boskowitz, Moravia) was an Austrian Hebraist who flourished in the 19th century. He officiated as teacher in the Jewish school of Hotzenplotz, Silesia, about 18 ...
(18??–1887), Austrian
Hebraist A Hebraist is a specialist in Jewish, Hebrew and Hebraic studies. Specifically, British and German scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries who were involved in the study of Hebrew language and literature were commonly known by this designation, a ...
*
Solomon H. Sonneschein S. H. Sonneschein, Solomon H. Sonnenschein (June 24, 1839 in Szent Marton, Turocz megye, Hungary – 1908) was a Hungarian-American rabbi. He received his education at Boskowitz, Moravia, where he obtained his rabbinical diploma in 1863, and l ...
(1839–1908), Hungarian-American rabbi * Karel Absolon (1877–1960), archaeologist, paleontologist and speleologist *
Otakar Kubín Otakar Kubín (french: Othon Coubine; 22 October 1883 – 17 October 1969) was a Czech painter and sculptor. Biography Kubín was born in Boskovice, Moravia, Austria-Hungary. His works are mainly associated with Impressionism. He was influenced ...
(1883–1969), painter and sculptor *
Hermann Ungar Hermann Ungar (April 20, 1893 in Boskovice – October 28, 1929 in Prague) was a Czech-Jewish writer (in the German language) and an officer in Czechoslovakia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Biography Ungar's father, Emil, was a cider maker who s ...
(1893–1929), writer * Josef Augusta (1903–1968), paleontologist and geologist *
Tomáš Špidlík Tomáš Josef Špidlík, S.J. (17 December 1919 – 16 April 2010) was a Czech prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was a Jesuit priest and theologian. Pope John Paul II made him a cardinal in 2003. Biography Špidlík was born in 1919 ...
(1919–2010), prelate of the Catholic Church * Josef Koudelka (born 1938), photographer *
Pavel Kysilka Pavel Kysilka (born 5 September 1958 in Boskovice) is a Czech economist, who was head of the Central Bank of the Czech National Bank from 1997 to 1998. He graduated from the ''National Economic Faculty'' of the University of Economics, Prague ...
(born 1958), economist * Ladislav Maier (born 1966), footballer * Yvetta Hlaváčová (born 1975), long-distance swimmer


Twin towns – sister cities

Boskovice is twinned with: *
Frasnes-lez-Anvaing Frasnes-lez-Anvaing (; pcd, Fraine-lez-Anvégne; wa, Fraine-dilé-Anvegn) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On 1 January 2018 the municipality had 11,740 inhabitants. The total area is 112.44 km², ...
, Belgium *
Levice Levice (; hu, Léva, Hungarian pronunciation: ; german: Lewenz, literally lionesses) is a town in western Slovakia. The town lies on the left bank of the lower Hron river. The Old Slavic name of the town was ''Leva'', which means "the Left One ...
, Slovakia *
Prnjavor Prnjavor is a common South Slavic placename, meaning "village on a monastery's property". It can refer to the following places: Bosnia and Herzegovina * Prnjavor, Bosnia and Herzegovina, a town and municipality in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina * ...
, Bosnia and Herzegovina *
Rawa Mazowiecka Rawa Mazowiecka is a town in central Poland, with 17,193 inhabitants (2020). It lies in the Łódź Voivodeship and is the capital of the Rawa County. From 1562 the city hosted the ''Rawa Treasury'' for the Polish army. During an excavation in 1 ...
, Poland


Gallery

Hrad Boskovice - opevnění, okres Blansko (06).jpg, Entry gate to Boskovice Castle Boskovice, stará radnice.jpg, Town hall on the Masarykovo Square Boskovice (Boskowitz) - Residenz.jpg, Boskovice Region Museum Zámecký skleník, Boskovice, okres Blansko (02).jpg, The greenhouse in the château complex Jízdárna, Boskovice, okres Blansko.jpg, Riding hall Židovský hřbitov, Boskovice, okres Blansko (02).jpg, Jewish cemetery Židovský dům, čp. 349, U Koupadel, Boskovice, okres Blansko.jpg, Jewish house Boskovice - Židovská brána.jpg, Gate to the Jewish ghetto Pohled na východní část města z Vyhlídky pod hradem, Boskovice, okres Blansko.jpg, View of the eastern part of the town Bělá v Pilském údolí, Boskovice, okres Blansko.jpg, Bělá River in the Pilské Valley


References


External links

*
Boskovice CastleBoskovice Château
{{authority control Populated places in Blansko District Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Shtetls Castles in the South Moravian Region Margraviate of Moravia