Kladruby nad Labem is a municipality and village in Pardubice District in the

Pardubice Region Pardubice Region ( cs, Pardubický kraj; , ; pl, Kraj pardubicki) is an administrative unit ( cs, kraj) of the Czech Republic, located mainly in the eastern part of its historical region of Bohemia, with a small part in northwestern Moravia. It ...

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 600 inhabitants. It is known as the home of the

Kladruber The Kladruber (Czech ''Starokladrubský kůň'') is the oldest Czech horse breed and one of the world's oldest horse breeds. It is considered very rare. The chief breeder and the keeper of the studbook is the National Stud at Kladruby nad ...

horse breed. The village with the surrounding landscape is a UNESCO

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

Administrative parts

Villages of Bílé Vchynice, Kolesa and Komárov are administrative parts of Kladruby nad Labem.

Geography

Kladruby nad Labem is located about west of Pardubice. It lies in the

East Elbe Table East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

, in the Polabí region. The river

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...

forms the southern municipal border. The Strašovský Stream flows through the municipality.

History

Kladruby nad Labem was first mentioned in 1295 as the property of the Premonstratensian monastery at

Litomyšl Litomyšl (; german: Leitomischl) is a town in Svitavy District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 9,900 inhabitants. It is former bishopric and Latin Catholic titular see. Litomyšl is known for the château-type castle ...

. During the second half of the 14th century, it came into the possession of the Cistercian Sedlec Abbey near Kutná Hora. In 1500, the village was acquired by

Vilém II of Pernštejn Vilém II of Pernštejn (german: Wilhelm II. von Pernstein or ''Wilhelm II. von Bernstein'', cs, Vilém II. z Pernštejna or ''Vilém z Pernštejna a na Helfštejně''; 1438 – 8 April 1521) was a Czech nobleman. He held the office of High Tre ...

, who already owned large parts of the Pardubice region. Kladruby remained in possession of the Pernštejn family until 1560, when it was purchased by Emperor Ferdinand I from his master of the horse, Jaroslav of Pernštejn. In 1579, Emperor

Rudolf II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the Hous ...

established the Imperial Stud at Kladruby, from which Spanish-blood horses were bred for ceremonial purposes. Following the fall of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy in 1918, the stud farm at Kladruby came under state administration.

Sights

On 6 July 2019, the Landscape for Breeding and Training of Ceremonial Carriage Horses at Kladruby nad Labem was inscribed as a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

. The site includes the villages of Kladruby nad Labem and Selmice, the Imperial Stud Farm, and the surrounding farmsteads, gardens, pastures, and watercourses. The landscape was uniquely designed in the 16th and 17th centuries to effectively breed and train the Kladruber horses. In addition, the area demonstrates an outstanding example of the ferme ornée style of landscape architecture made popular in the 18th century.

Notable people

* Gottlieb Polak (1883–1942), horse rider

References

External links

*
Landscape for Breeding and Training of Ceremonial Carriage Horses at Kladruby nad Labem
{{authority control Villages in Pardubice District World Heritage Sites in the Czech Republic