Náměstí Republiky with the houses on its south side
Náměstí Republiky with the houses on its south sidePhoto: Txllxt TxllxT, 2011 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Plzeň (Pilsen) is a statutory city in West Bohemia and the capital of the Plzeň Region.[1] It lies at the confluence of the Radbuza, Úhlava, Úslava and Mže, which together form the Berounka River. The city covers 13,767 ha and is divided into ten city districts.[1] According to the Czech Statistical Office, Plzeň had 187,863 inhabitants on 1 January 2026.[3] It is the fourth largest city in the Czech Republic.[1]*

Origins

The first record of Plzeň castle, today's Starý Plzenec, dates from 976.[2] The town of Nová Plzeň was founded on the orders of King Wenceslas II around 1295. The locator Jindřich laid out an area of about 20 ha with a grid of 15 streets and a square.[2] Plzeň lay at the crossroads of routes to Nuremberg and Regensburg and soon became a trading centre. In the 14th century it had about 290 houses and 3,000 inhabitants and was the third largest town in Bohemia after Prague and Kutná Hora.[2] The oldest written reference to a brewery in Plzeň dates from 1307. In 1320 John of Luxembourg confirmed the rights the town had received from Wenceslas II.[2]

The municipal baths in Plzeň on a postcard from 1932
The municipal baths in Plzeň on a postcard from 1932Photo: unknown author, 1932 · public domain · Wikimedia Commons

History

In November 1419 the preacher Václav Koranda brought Hussites led by Jan Žižka into the town. In March 1420 the Hussites left for Tábor and Plzeň permanently sided with the Catholic party. Hussite armies then besieged it in 1421, 1427, 1431 and 1433–1434.[2] In 1434 Sigismund of Luxembourg issued a golden bull for Plzeň exempting its inhabitants from royal tax, customs and tolls.[2] In the 1470s and 1480s the first printing press in Bohemia operated in Plzeň.[2] In 1599–1600 Emperor Rudolf II stayed in the town, having fled the plague. In 1618 Plzeň was taken by military force for the first time in its history, by the troops of Ernst von Mansfeld.[2]

In 1842 the Burghers' Brewery began brewing beer. In 1859 the Waldstein engineering works was established; Emil Škoda bought it in 1869.[2] The railway reached Plzeň from Furth im Wald in 1861 and from Prague in 1862. In 1899 an electric street railway built by František Křižík began operating.[2] The incorporation of Doubravka, Doudlevce, Lobzy and Skvrňany created the so-called Greater Plzeň in 1924, with 108,023 inhabitants.[2] Eleven air raids between 1942 and 1945 killed about 926 people. After an uprising of the inhabitants on 5 May 1945, the US Army entered the city on 6 May.[2] A demonstration against the currency reform on 1 June 1953 was suppressed by the security forces and the army.[2]

Institutions and culture

The Faculty of Medicine of Charles University was established in Plzeň in 1945. The University of West Bohemia was founded in 1991 and the Diocese of Plzeň in 1993.[2] The building of today's J. K. Tyl Theatre opened on 27 September 1902 with Smetana's Libuše. In 2014 it was joined by the New Theatre, the first theatre in the Czech Republic built after 1989.[2] In 2015 Plzeň was a European Capital of Culture.[2]

Pages linking here

Sources

  1. Statutární město Plzeň (plzen.eu)
  2. Statutární město Plzeň (plzen.eu)
  3. Český statistický úřad, Krajská správa v Plzni —