Horní Bříza

Horní Bříza (German: Ober Birken) is a town in Plzeň-North District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 4,100 inhabitants.

Horní Bříza
Town
Aerial view
Flag
Coat of arms
Horní Bříza
Location in the Czech Republic
Coordinates: 49°50′39″N 13°21′48″E
Country Czech Republic
RegionPlzeň
DistrictPlzeň-North
First mentioned1180
Government
 • MayorDavid Kapr
Area
 • Total14.55 km2 (5.62 sq mi)
Elevation
367 m (1,204 ft)
Population
 (2021-01-01)[1]
 • Total4,136
 • Density280/km2 (740/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
330 12
Websitewww.hornibriza.eu

History

The first written mention of Horní Bříza is from 1180–1182. Around 1220, the village was donated to Plasy Monastery.[2]

The appearance of Horní Bříza changed after the great fire in 1865 and also with the construction of the railway line in the years 1871–1873. However, a significant turning point did not occur until the 1880s, when kaolin was discovered here. In 1882, Johann Fitz, a prominent businessman and mining expert from Rokycany, began with its mining. In 1886, he introduced the production of ceramic goods and founded a company which maintained dominant position in the ceramics industry for hundred years.[2]

World War II

During World War II, some death trains taking Jews, outspoken people, gypsies, intellectuals, communists and Russian prisoners travelled through Horní Bříza. It was on the route to Mauthausen concentration camp, further south on the Danube River. On 21 April 1945 a death train stopped here as the line was blocked. The station master intervened and organized the townspeople to cook food and bread for the about 1,000 women being taken to Mauthausen – this was in the dying days of the Third Reich. The station master was Antonín Pavlíček, a devout Catholic. He asked the SS to leave the people there so the town could care for them – they refused. A townswoman gave one of the women who had just given birth her own hand-sown layette planned for her baby.[3]

Demography
Historical population
YearPop.±%
1869328—    
1880349+6.4%
1890451+29.2%
1900624+38.4%
1910884+41.7%
19211,327+50.1%
19301,617+21.9%
19501,752+8.3%
YearPop.±%
19612,087+19.1%
19702,323+11.3%
19803,122+34.4%
19914,007+28.3%
20014,487+12.0%
20114,356−2.9%
20214,136−5.1%
Source: Historical lexicon of municipalities of the Czech Republic[4]

Twin towns – sister cities
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in the Czech Republic

Horní Bříza is twinned with:[5]

References
  1. "Population of Municipalities – 1 January 2021". Czech Statistical Office. 2021-04-30.
  2. "Krátce z historie" (in Czech). Město Horní Bříza. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  3. Holden, Wendy (2015). Born Survivors: Three Young Mothers and Their Extraordinary Story of Courage, Defiance, and Hope. Brown Book Group Limited. ISBN 9780751557398.
  4. "Historický lexikon obcí České republiky 1869–2011 – Okres Plzeň-sever" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. 2015-12-21. pp. 3–4.
  5. "Spolek Partnerství mezi městy Horní Bříza a Villeneuve sur Yonne" (in Czech). Město Horní Bříza. Retrieved 2019-08-25.


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