Mladá Boleslav

Mladá Boleslav (; german: Jungbunzlau) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 42,000 inhabitants.

Mladá Boleslav is the second most populated city in the region and a major centre of the Czech automotive industry ( Škoda Auto) and therefore the Czech industry as a whole. The historic city centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone.

Administrative parts

Mladá Boleslav is made up of city parts and villages of Mladá Boleslav I (locally called ''Staré Město'', i.e. "Old Town"), Mladá Boleslav II (locally called ''Nové Město'', i.e. "New Town"), Mladá Boleslav III (locally called ''Podolec''), Mladá Boleslav IV (locally called ''Pták''), Bezděčín, Čejetice, Čejetičky, Chrást, Debř, Jemníky, Michalovice, Podchlumí and Podlázky.

Etymology

Mladá Boleslav was named after its founder, Duke Boleslaus II, who was called "The Young One" to distinguish him from his father. Because there already was a town known as Boleslav near Prague, this new town was called ''Město Boleslava Mladého'' ("The Town of Boleslav the Young"), later abbreviated to Mladá Boleslav ("Young Boleslav") to distinguish it from the older town of Boleslav, which became known in the 15th century as Stará Boleslav ("Old Boleslav").

Geography

Mladá Boleslav is located about northeast of Prague. The eastern part of the municipal territory lies in the Jičín Uplands, the western part lies in the Jizera Table. The highest point is located on the slopes of the Chlum hill, at above sea level. The city is situated on the left bank of the Jizera River, at its confluence with the Klenice River. The historic city centre is situated on a promontory above the confluence.

History

In the second half of the 10th century, a gord was founded by Duke Boleslaus II on a promontory, in the area of today's historic centre. The first trustworthy written mention of the gord is from 1130, when it was also called "New Boleslav" for the first time. Probably in the 11th century, a settlement was founded below the promontory, on an important site on the road from Prague to northern Bohemia, Lusatia, and Brandenburg.

A new stone royal castle was built on top of the promontory next to the gord in the half of the 13th century, and the gord was abandoned. In 1548 and after a fire in 1555, Renaissance reconstructions were made. In 1600, Mladá Boleslav was promoted to a royal city by Emperor Rudolf II.

In the 16th century, Mladá Boleslav was a leading centre of the Moravian Church, hosting the Brethren's bishop, a Renaissance church, and a printing house. In 1518, the very first map of Bohemia was printed by Mikuláš Klaudyán in Mladá Boleslav. After the Thirty Years' War in the 17th century, the city's population declined by 40% and the castle was in ruins.

At the beginning of the 18th century, the former castle was rebuilt into barracks. During the World War II, it was an internment centre of Jews. Since 1972 the castle serves as the Regional Museum and as the seat of the district archive.

In the 19th century, new prosperity came: the city became an important regional centre as new schools, theatres, museums and factories (including the automobile factory Laurin & Klement, today Škoda Auto) were founded. Since the 1990s the factory has made it one of the richest and most prosperous Czech cities.

Jewish community

The first written mention of the presence of Jewish community in Mladá Boleslav is from 1471. In 1634, Jacob Bassevi von Treuenberg, the first ennobled Jew in the Habsburg monarchy, was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Mladá Boleslav.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Mladá Boleslav (called ''Bumsla'' by Jews) was an important Jewish centre. In the 19th century (in fact, the period of decline of the Jewish community), Mladá Boleslav was dubbed "Jerusalem on Jizera".

The synagogue was demolished in 1962.

Demographics

The population rapidly increased between 1960 and 1980 because of the rapid growth of production in the Škoda Auto factory and the construction of housing estates for its employees.

Economy

Mladá Boleslav became an industrial centre already in the 19th century. The main factor of its success was its location next to the Jizera River, which was a water source for newly founded factories. The most significant was the textile industry – its largest representative, the Česana factory, had more than 2,000 employees at the end of the 19th century. Another industry in the Jizera valley included mills, breweries, distillery, soaps and perfumes factory, and production of artificial fertilizers. Most of the factories was gradually shut down during the 20th century, mainly due to World War II and politics of the socialist republic.

In 1895 the predecessor of Škoda Auto, the Laurin & Klement company, was founded, and the automotive industry became the main pillar of the city's economy. In 1925 Laurin & Klement was acquired by Škoda works. During the 20th century many car parts manufacturers were established in the city, including the producer of accumulators for motor vehicles, AKUMA (founded in 1903), now a part of FIAMM company.

Since its inception, Škoda Auto is the most important and most influential industrial company in the Czech Republic. As of 2017, the company had 32 thousand of employees worldwide, out of which 23 thousand worked in Mladá Boleslav.

Transport

The D10 motorway passes next to the city.

Mladá Boleslav lies on the railway lines Mladá Boleslav–Turnov, Kolín– Rumburk and Tanvald– Všetaty.

Sport

The football team FK Mladá Boleslav has played in the Czech First League since 2004. They were runners-up in 2005–06, have been Czech Cup winners twice (2011 and 2016) and have qualified for the European cups for multiple times.

The ice hockey team BK Mladá Boleslav has been playing in the top-tier Czech Extraliga without interruption since 2014.

The city also has one of the Czech top floorball teams, three-time national champions.

Sights

The Renaissance Castle is the main landmark of the city. It houses the Regional Museum with historical, cultural and social history collections.

The Old City Hall in the historic centre is a Renaissance building from 1554–1559. It is decorated with ornamental and figurative sgraffiti. In the second half of the 19th century and in 1939–1941, the building was reconstructed and other wings were completed. It has two towers, the higher of them was built in 1779 and is open to the public as a lookout tower. The nearby New City Hall was built in the neo-Romanesque style in 1865–1867 and still serves its original purpose.

The Gothic building of Templ Palace comes from 1488–1493. It includes a historic exhibition and serves also cultural purposes.

The history and products of Škoda Auto are exhibited is Škoda Museum. It was opened in the reconstucted premises of the old factory in 1995.

Notable people

*Mikuláš Klaudyán (died 1521/1522), scholar
* Elijah Landsofer (died 1702), rabbi
* Siegfried Kapper (1821–1879), writer
*Alfréd Meissner (1871–1950), politician
*František Gellner (1881–c.1914), poet
* Frantisek Schubert (1894–1942), chess master
* Adina Mandlová (1910–1991), actress
*Mila Rechcigl (born 1930), scientist, long-term president of the SVU
* Zdenek Sekanina (born 1936), Czech-American astronomer
* Přemysl Sobotka (born 1944), politician
*Jan Železný (born 1966), javelin thrower, three-time Olympic winner
* Jiri Vlcek (born 1978), Italian rower
* Radim Vrbata (born 1981), ice hockey player
*Martin Havlát (born 1981), ice hockey player
* Marek Schwarz (born 1986), ice hockey player
* Filip Salač (born 2001), motorcycle rider

Twin towns – sister cities

Mladá Boleslav is twinned with:
* Dieburg, Germany
* Fano, Italy
* Pezinok, Slovakia
* Vantaa, Finland

References

External links

*

Regional Museum

Youtube-channel about the history of Mladá Boleslav

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mlada Boleslav

Cities and towns in the Czech Republic
Populated places in Mladá Boleslav District