Mšecké Žehrovice
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Mšecké Žehrovice () is a municipality and village in
Rakovník District Rakovník District () is a district in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Rakovník. Administrative division Rakovník District is formed by only one administrative district of municipality with extended ...
in the
Central Bohemian Region The Central Bohemian Region ( ; ) is an administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the central part of its historical region of Bohemia. Its administrative centre is in the Czech capital Prague, which lies in the centre of the regio ...
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 700 inhabitants.


Administrative division

Mšecké Žehrovice consists of two municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Mšecké Žehrovice (494) *Lodenice (132)


Etymology

The name Žehrovice is derived from the personal name Žehra, meaning "the village of Žehra's people". The attribute ''Mšecké'' is derived from
Mšec Mšec (; ) is a market town in Rakovník District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 900 inhabitants. Etymology The name is derived from the Czech word ''mšec'' (diminutive from ''mech''), meaning "small moss". Ge ...
, to which Žehrovice belonged for some time.


Geography

Mšecké Žehrovice is located about northeast of
Rakovník Rakovník (, ) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 16,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone. Administrative division Rakovník consists o ...
and northwest of
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
. It lies in the Džbán range. The highest point is the Kopanina hill at above sea level. The Loděnice River flows through the village of Lodenice and supplies the fishpond Loděnický. The village of Mšecké Žehrovice is surrounded by many small fishponds that are fed by the brooks Žehrovický potok and Novodvorský potok. Mšecké Žehrovice is located in the Džbán Nature Park. The ''Louky v oboře Libeň'' Nature Reserve is situated within the Libeň deer park in the southern part of the municipality. It has an area of and is protected because of its rich flora.


History

The location of today's Mšecké Žehrovice has been inhabited since the period of the
Knovíz culture The Knovíz culture () was an upper Danubian subgroup of the Late Bronze Age Urnfield culture, located mainly in Bohemia, Thuringia, and Bavaria. The eponymous type site for this culture, in the Czech village of Knovíz, is located near Prague. ...
in the Late Bronze Age, 13–10 centuries BC. Archaeological findings also confirmed the settlement from the late
Hallstatt Hallstatt () is a small town in the district of Gmunden District, Gmunden, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Situated between the southwestern shore of Hallstätter See and the steep slopes of the Dachstein massif, the town lies in the Sa ...
period. The most important finds come from the
La Tène culture The La Tène culture (; ) was a Iron Age Europe, European Iron Age culture. It developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from about 450 BC to the Roman Republic, Roman conquest in the 1st century BC), succeeding the early Iron Age ...
, including the
Mšecké Žehrovice Head The Mšecké Žehrovice Head is a male sculpted head from c. 150–50 BC found at the double Viereckschanze site in Mšecké Žehrovice, about 65 km northwest of Prague, Czech Republic. It is one of the best known works of Celtic art from ...
, which is a stone head from the 2nd–3rd century BC discovered in 1943. The first written mention of Žehrovice was in 1045, when Duke
Bretislav I Bretislav I (; 1002/1005 – 10 January 1055), known as the "Bohemian Achilles", of the Přemyslid dynasty, was Duke of Bohemia from 1034 until his death in 1055. Youth Bretislav was the son of Duke Oldřich and his low-born concubine Božena. ...
left part of the village to the
Břevnov Monastery Břevnov Monastery (, ) is a Benedictine archabbey in the Břevnov district of Prague, Czech Republic. It was founded by Saint Adalbert, the second Bishop of Prague, in AD 993 with the support of Bohemian Duke Boleslaus II. The first Bened ...
. At the beginning of the 13th century, the administrator of the royal portion tried to subdue the subjects of the monastic portion, but they left Žehrovice. In 1224, King
Ottokar I of Bohemia Ottokar I (; 1155 – 1230) was Duke of Bohemia periodically beginning in 1192, then acquired the title of King of Bohemia, first in 1198 from Philip of Swabia, later in 1203 from Otto IV of Brunswick and in 1212 (as hereditary) from ...
granted the monastery a protective privilege for the monastic part of Žehrovice. The deed from 1224 is also the first written mention of the newly established village of Lodenice, founded be the people who left Žehrovice. In 1361, the
Kolowrat family The House of Kolowrat is a Czech noble familyHouse of Kolowrat history
kolowrat.cz/en. Citation: " < ...
acquired Žehrovice and a branch of the family that called itself Žehrovický of Kolowrat arose here. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the Žehrov Fortress stood here, which was the seat of the family. In 1506, Mikuláš Žehrovický of Kolowrat annexed Žehrovice to the
Mšec Mšec (; ) is a market town in Rakovník District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 900 inhabitants. Etymology The name is derived from the Czech word ''mšec'' (diminutive from ''mech''), meaning "small moss". Ge ...
estate and it was renamed Mšecké Žehrovice. Since then, the fortress fell into disrepair, and in 1549 it was described as abandoned. The Kolowrat family owned Žehrovice until the second half of the 16th century. Until 1622, Mšecké Žehrovice and Lodenice were owned by the Knights of Štampach. After the
Battle of White Mountain The Battle of White Mountain (; ) was an important battle in the early stages of the Thirty Years' War. It led to the defeat of the Bohemian Revolt and ensured Habsburg control for the next three hundred years. It was fought on 8 November 16 ...
, their properties were confiscated and Mšecké Žehrovice was bought by the House of Fürstenberg. 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 ...
, Lodenice was completely destroyed, but was later restored. In 1662, the Fürstenbergs sold the estate to the
Schwarzenberg family The House of Schwarzenberg () is a German (Franconian Circle, Franconian) and Czech (Kingdom of Bohemia, Bohemian) aristocratic family, formerly one of the most prominent European noble houses. The Schwarzenbergs are members of the German nobili ...
, who owned it until the establishment of a sovereign municipalities of Mšecké Žehrovice and Lodenice in 1850. In 1976, Lodenice was incorporated into Mšecké Žehrovice.


Demographics


Economy

Mšecké Žehrovice is known for growing hops.


Transport

There are no railways or major roads passing through the municipality. The D6 motorway (part of the
European route E48 European route E48 is a road that is part of the International E-road network. It runs between Schweinfurt, Germany and Prague, Czech Republic. The road follows the route: * Germany ** : Schweinfurt, Bayreuth ** : Marktredwitz * Czech Republic ...
) runs just beyond the southern municipal border.


Sights

The main landmark of Mšecké Žehrovice is the Church of Saint Martin. It is a small rural Baroque building from 1774. The municipality is known for its archaeological site. The life of the Celts in the area is covered by an educational trail that passes near the site. The area of the ''
Viereckschanze A Viereckschanze (from German "four-corner-rampart"; plural -en) is a rectangular ditched enclosure that was constructed during the Iron Age in parts of Celtic Western Europe. They are widespread in Germany, parts of northern France and also in so ...
'' is protected as a cultural monument. A landmark is the 400-year-old
European beech ''Fagus sylvatica'', the European beech or common beech, is a large, graceful deciduous tree in the beech family with smooth silvery-gray bark, large leaf area, and a short trunk with low branches. Description ''Fagus sylvatica'' is a large ...
tree. It is the oldest tree in Rakovník District. It has a trunk circumference of and a height of . It has been protected since 1978. Its crown reaches a diameter of .


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Msecke Zehrovice Villages in Rakovník District