The story
Founded by Hirzo z Klingenbergu and Ottokar II of Bohemia on Jul 1265.1
13th–18th centuries
The first written mention of Budějovice is from 1251, when it was only a village. The royal city was founded on its site by King Ottokar II in 1265. The siting and planning of the city was carried out by the king's knight Hirzo. The city was fortified and had three gates. It immediately became the political and economic capital of south Bohemia. The city quickly became rich thanks to the development of trade and crafts and thanks to silver mining in the nearby area. The German-speaking settlers were coming from the Bohemian Forest and Upper Austria.
In 1341, King John of Bohemia allowed Jewish families to reside within the city walls. The first synagogue was built in 1380. At the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, the Jewish community had about 100 inhabitants. In 1505–1506, a pogrom occurred and the Jews were expelled from the city. During the 16th century, the number of German craftsmen in the city increased. In the 18th century, Germans became the majority.
The city's fortifications were able to resist the Hussites during the Hussite Wars, but the city's development was disrupted by the Thirty Years' War and an extensive fire in 1641, during which two-thirds of the city was destroyed. Reconstructions in the Baroque style, which took place in the following decades, changed the architectural character of the city. In 1785, Pope Pius VI founded the Diocese of České Budějovice and the Church of Saint Nicholas was promoted to a cathedral.
19th–20th centuries
In the 19th century, the city was industrialised. During his time, České Budějovice became a major trade hub. The Budweis–Linz Horse-Drawn Railway was built in 1825–1832 and became the second oldest public line in continental Europe (after the Saint-Étienne-Andrézieux line in France). The production of Koh-i-Noor Hardtmuth pencils was relocated from Vienna to České Budějovice in 1847. Aside from Hardtmuth brothers, Adalbert Lanna the Elder belonged among the city's most prominent industrialists of the 19th century. In 1895, Český akciový pivovar (later known as Budweiser Budvar Brewery) was founded.
From 1848 until World War II, there was again a Jewish community here, which in 1925 numbered over 1,400 people. The city remained a predominantly German-speaking enclave until 1880, after which Czechs became the majority again. Until the end of World War II, the city contained a significant German minority (about 15.5% in 1930). The ratios between the Germans and the Czechs were in 1880: 11,829 Germans to 11,812 Czechs, in 1890: 11,642 to 16,585, in 1900: 15,436 to 23,427, in 1910: 16,903 to 27,309 and in 1921: 7,415 to 35,800. The reason for the change in the ratio was the high increase in the city's population, mainly caused by newly immigrated Czechs. The share of Germans fell below the legal limit of 20% and thus the Czech language became the only official language.
The coexistence of Czechs and Germans was mostly peaceful, which changed only in the 1930s, when many of the Germans in the city tended to Nazism. During the Occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939–1945, the city was part of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. There was said to be established then a Gestapo prison and a forced labour camp in the city. During the final stages of World War II, in March 1945, České Budějovice was significantly damaged by United States Army Air Forces raids on strategic locations. At the end of the war, on 9 or 10 May 1945, Soviet troops occupied the city. The almost entire German population, which numbered 6,000 people, was then expelled under the Beneš decrees.
From Wikipedia’s article on České Budějovice, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5