Pardubice

The first written mention of Pardubice is from 1295, when Pope Boniface VIII took over the protection of the local Church of Saint Bartholomew with the order of Canons Regular of the Penitence of the Blessed Martyrs. In the first half of the 14th century, the settlement was acquired by a noble family, later known as Lords of Pardubice. In 1340, when Pardubice was inherited by Arnošt of Pardubice, it was first referred to as a city.

In 1491, Pardubice was bought by Vilém II of Pernštejn, who continued to expand the city and made a significant impact on its prosperity. He chose Pardubice as the centre of his estate, and began to build a city that corresponded to his status. The Pernštejn family had the entire historic centre, with the Renaissance square, built. They also had rebuilt the medieval castle into a comfortable fortified residence. In 1560, the Pernštejns were forced to sell the estate to Emperor Ferdinand I because of debts.

During the Thirty Years' War, the city was besieged by the army of General Lennart Torstensson, but was not conquered.

An important milestone in the history of the city was the year 1845, when the railway from Prague to Olomouc was completed. Pardubice became an important railway junction, which led to the development of the food, engineering and chemical industries, and subsequently the development of the city's social and cultural life. In 1874, the Velká pardubická steeplechase horse race was run for the first time. In 1910, in Pardubice, Jan Kašpar made the first successful flight in the Czech lands, and a year later he made history by making the first long-haul flight from Pardubice to Prague.

Until 1918, the city was part of Austria Hungary. The seat of the Pardubice district, it was one of the 94 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in Bohemia.

Pardubice continued to develop until the start of World War II. During the war, the city was damaged by Allied air strikes, and the Fanto Werke refinery was repeatedly bombed during the oil campaign.

Administrative division

Pardubice consists of eight self-governing boroughs. In addition, Pardubice consists of 27 municipal parts, whose borders do not respect the boundaries of the boroughs (in brackets population according to the 2021 census, in italics municipal parts only partly in the boroughs):

Cooperation agreements

Pardubice also cooperates with: