CZ, Lanškroun – A Trip to the Orlické Mountains

Lanškroun is located in eastern Bohemia at the foothills of the Orlické Mountains, in the valley of the River Moravské Sázavy. The town is a center of the Region of Lanškroun consists of 22 towns (25 thousand people). Lanškroun itself has around 10 thousand inhabitants.

The history of Lanškroun

In the second-half of the 13th century Ottokar II of Bohemia ordered to colonize Czech land. During that time many new settlements emergend, among them Landsekrone, today Lanškroun. The first historical note Is from 1285 A.D. from a document written by Vratislav Pernštejn. Later, during a rule of Wenceslaus II of Bohemia, the town belonged to Cistercian monastery in Zbraslav (a district in present Prague). In 1358 the town became a property of Litomyšl domain. In 15th century Lanškroun got many privileges, such as a right to hold fairs or collect toll at its gates.

As other Bohemian town, Litomyšl also was hit by the Thirty Years’ War and, furthermore, German settlers came here and successfully established German administration. However, the war years was the most productive period for Lanškroun’s native – Jan Marcus Marci (1595 – 1667). He got famous thanks to his discoveries of mechanics of bodies and refraction. For this he was appointed a member of the Royal Society in London and in 1662 he became a chancellor of the Charles University in Prague.

At the turn of 17th and 18th century a prince’s brewery was built in Lanškroun and in 1885 the town was crossed by a railroad. In the second half of the 19th century new enterprises emerged – a tobacco factory, a freezing plant etc. The town also got its high school or a vocational school. A future problem represented a raise of German nationalism. Germans living in Bohemia didn’t recognize Czechoslovakian independence in 1918. Eventually, this problem was solved and the Czech influence there had been consolidated. After the Munich Agreement of 1938 Lanškroun was a part of Germany. This caused more than 1000 Czechs to run away. Germans started to use industry in Lanškroun for war purposes. After the liberation in 1945 Germans were expulsed and Lanškroun became a whole Czech city.

Present Lanškroun is an industrial town with particular focus on electronic industry, mechanical engineering or paper industry.

Sights

Nový zámek u Lanškrouna

There is little known about its history. In 1684 Lanškroun belonged to Jan Adam Ondřej of Lichtenštejn who ordered construction of a baroque castle on the way between Lanškroun and Rudoltice. The castle was built under the plan of Domonico Martinelli and Antonio Salla. At the three-storey castle decorated with baroque stucco and wall paintings the architects also recreated its vast park. However, not long after the castle was finished it burned down and in 1756 Josef Václav of Lichtenštejn demolished it. Nevertheless, a part of the castle preserved and in 1802 was rebuilt to an inn. At the beginning of the 21st century the building had been reconstructed and in 2007 opened to public.

The church of St Anna

The construction of the church begun at the beginning of the 18th century under the project of G. P. Tencala. Also a cemetery where mostly important and wealthy citizens were buried and today we can see some unique grave stones. The cemetery was canceled in 1893.

The Lanškroun Castle

The oldest part of the castle was built in 1393. Originally it was an eastern wing of Augustinian monastery burned the Hussite Wars during the first half of the 15th century. . In the time of the rule of Kostkové of Postupice the castle was renewed so their family could live there. In 1588 the building became a property of Adam Hrzán of Harasov who made a renaissance reconstruction and placed there the administration of the Dominion of Lanšperk. During the Thirty Years’ War the castle was damaged and in 1645 burned down. However, in 1650s Lichtenštejns renewed it and added a one-storey building to the end of castle’s southern wing. Today the castle serves to public as a museum and a cultural center.

Text: Maxim Kucer

Foto: Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons - Martin Vavřík, Straková Jiřina, Josef Hron, Aeromix