Svoboda nad Úpou () is a town in

Trutnov District Trutnov District () is a Okres, district in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Trutnov. Administrative division Trutnov District is divided into three Districts of the Czech Republic#Municipalities with e ...

in the

Hradec Králové Region Hradec Králové Region (, ) is an administrative unit () of the Czech Republic located in the north-eastern part of the historical region of Bohemia. It is named after its capital Hradec Králové. The region neighbours the Pardubice Region in t ...

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 2,000 inhabitants. It lies in the

Giant Mountains The Giant Mountains, Krkonoše, or Karkonosze (Czech: , , ), are a mountain range located in the north of the Czech Republic and the south-west of Poland, part of the Sudetes mountain system (part of the Bohemian Massif). The Czech–Polish bor ...

in the valley of the

Úpa The Úpa () is a river in the Czech Republic, a left tributary of the Elbe River. It flows through the Hradec Králové Region. It is long. Etymology The name is of the Illyrian language, Illyrian or Celtic languages, Celtic origin, from the wor ...

River.

Etymology

Both the Czech name Svoboda and the German name Freiheit literally means 'freedom'. The name refers to the "freedom to mine" (the privilege of a mining town).

Geography

Svoboda nad Úpou is located about northwest of

Trutnov Trutnov (; ) is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 30,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone. Administrative division Trutnov consists of 21 ...

and north of

Hradec Králové Hradec Králové (; ) is a city of the Czech Republic. It has about 94,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Hradec Králové Region. The historic centre of Hradec Králové is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech R ...

. It lies in the

. The highest point is at above sea level. The town is situated in the valley of the

River.

History

Based on the chronicle of Simon Hüttel, Svoboda nad Úpou was founded in 1009; the date is however unsubstantiated. The first written trustworthy mention of Svoboda nad Úpou is from 1546, when the settlement was granted the status of

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

by Emperor Ferdinand I, receiving all the privileges of a mining town. In 1580, Svoboda nad Úpou was promoted to a town by 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 H ...

. Later the mining stopped in the area, but in Svoboda nad Úpou became an important industrial town when

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt ...

s were built in the 19th century. The railway was brought here in 1871. From 1938 to 1945, it 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 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. ...

. The local German population was expelled after World War II.

Demographics

Transport

Svoboda nad Úpou is the start of a short railway line to Trutnov, further continuing to

Sights

The main landmark is the Church of Saint John of Nepomuk. The old Church of Saint Adalbert from 1584 was replaced by the new Church of Saint John of Nepomuk in 1777 at the behest of Prince Joseph I Adam of Schwarzenberg. The Church of Saint Joseph in the local part of Dolní Maršov was built in 1927–1928.

Notable people

* Franz Wende (1904–1968), ski jumper and nordic combined skier

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Svoboda nad Upou Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Populated places in Trutnov District