Horní Benešov (; until 1926 Benešov; ) is a town in

Bruntál District Bruntál District () is a Okres, district in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Bruntál, but the most populated town is Krnov. Administrative division Bruntál District is divided into three Districts o ...

in the

Moravian-Silesian Region The Moravian-Silesian Region () is one of the 14 administrative regions of the Czech Republic. Before May 2001, it was called the Ostrava Region (). The region is located in the north-eastern part of its historical region of Moravia and in most ...

of the

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

. It has about 2,200 inhabitants. Horní Benešov had a long mining tradition, but it ended at the end of the 20th century.

Administrative division

Horní Benešov consists of two municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Horní Benešov (1,861) *Luhy (315)

Geography

Horní Benešov is located about east of

Bruntál Bruntál (; ) is a town in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 15,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, urban monument zon ...

and west of

Opava Opava (; , ) is a city in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 55,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Opava (river), Opava River. Opava is one of the historical centres of Silesia and was a historical capital of Czech Sile ...

. It lies in the

Nízký Jeseník Nízký Jeseník (, ) is a flat highland and Geomorphological division of the Czech Republic, geomorphological mesoregion of the Czech Republic. It is located in the east of the country in the Olomouc Region, Olomouc and Moravian-Silesian Region, M ...

range. The highest point is at above sea level.

History

The first written mention of Horní Benešov is from 1226, when it was a mining settlement. The silver mines were one of the oldest in

Czech lands The Czech lands or the Bohemian lands (, ) is a historical-geographical term which denotes the three historical regions of Bohemia, Moravia, and Czech Silesia out of which Czechoslovakia, and later the Czech Republic and Slovakia, were formed. ...

. The town of Benešov was founded on the site of the settlement in 1253, and the town rights were confirmed in 1271 by King Ottokar II. The town was destroyed by a Hungarian invasion in 1474 and then during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

. The mining was in decline since 17th century. During the 19th and 20th centuries, economic development of Benešov was driven mostly by textile industry. According to the

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

administration census of 1910 the town had 3,826 inhabitants, 3,800 (99.9%) were German-speaking. Most populous religious groups were

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

with 3,766 (98.4%), followed by

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

with 30 (0.8%) and the

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

with 25 (0.6%). Before

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the town was part of the

Austrian Silesia Austrian Silesia, officially the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia, was an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Habsburg monarchy (from 1804 the Austrian Empire, and from 1867 the Cisleithanian portion of Austria-Hungary). It is la ...

region. After World War I, the town was within the state of

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

and in 1926 was given its present name. From 1938 to 1945 Horní Benešov was annexed by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

and administered as a part of the

Reichsgau Sudetenland The Reichsgau Sudetenland was an administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1939 to 1945. It comprised the northern part of the ''Sudetenland'' territory, which was annexed from Czechoslovakia according to the 30 September 1938 Munich Agreement. ...

. After the war, the German population was expelled. In 1902–1914 and in 1951–1992,

baryte Baryte, barite or barytes ( or ) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate (Ba S O4). Baryte is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of the element barium. The ''baryte group'' consists of baryte, celestine (strontium sulfate), ...

was mined here.

Demographics

Transport

The I/11 road (the section from Opava to

) passes through the town.

Sights

The main landmark of Horní Benešov is the Church of Saint Catherine. It was built in the Neoclassical style in 1719. It has preserved elements from the original building from the 16th century.

Twin towns – sister cities

Horní Benešov is twinned with: *

Pszów Pszów is a town in Wodzisław County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland, with 13,896 inhabitants (2019). It is located on ''Rybnik Plateau'' (''Płaskowyż Rybnicki''), in close vicinity to such cities, as Rybnik, Wodzisław Śląski, Raci ...

, Poland

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Horni Benesov Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Populated places in Bruntál District