The story
The first written mention of Kladno is from 1318, when it was a property of the Kladenský of Kladno noble family. After 1543, when the Kladenský of Kladno family died out, it became a property of the Žďárský of Žďár family. In 1561, the settlement was granted the town status.
In 1566, the Žďárskýs of Žďár rebuilt the local fort into a Renaissance castle. The town walls were built in the following decades. The town prospered until the Battle of White Mountain in 1620, when it was looted by Polish Cossacks. However, during the rule of Florián Jetřich Žďárský, the town began to prosper again. After the Bohemian branch of the Ždárský family died out in 1670, the town changed hands several times before it was bought by the Benedictine Břevnov Monastery in 1705.
In the 18th century, the town began to expand beyond its walls. In 19th century, the town developed into a significant agricultural and industrial centre. Bituminous coal was first discovered within the present city limits in 1775, but significant mining activity only started in 1850 and intensified over the following decades. In 1855–1856, the city was connected to the railway network. The coal reserves began attracting the iron working industry, the largest of which eventually became the Poldi steelworks, founded in 1899. The growth of industrial activity spurred a massive population growth. In 1870, Kladno was promoted to a city by Emperor Franz Joseph I, and in 1898 it was awarded the honorary title of "royal mining town".
Until 1918, Kladno was head of the Kladno district in Austria-Hungary, one of the 94 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in Bohemia. In the 20th century, the city was one of the centres of the Czech labour movement, with frequent strikes, protests and labour action.
The city's prosperity was once again interrupted by World War II, when it was ruled by the Nazis. In 1941, several surrounding municipalities (Kročehlavy, Rozdělov, Dubí, Dříň and Újezd) were annexed to Kladno. Vrapice was annexed in 1950 and the town of Švermov in 1980.
The post-war history of Kladno was influenced by the philosophy of the communist regime. The city's development was determined by migration of labour forces unrelated to the city, by the construction of unified large housing estates and by an effort to erase the original buildings of the city centre. The focus on industrial production resulted in environmental damages. On 21 August 1968, Kladno was occupied for the second time in thirty years, this time by the Soviet Army.
After the socialist regime fell in 1989, Kladno struggled to adapt to a market economy. The operations of previously prosperous companies were terminated. In 2000, Kladno became a statutory city.
From Wikipedia’s article on Kladno, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5