City in the Czech Republic
Statutory city in Moravian-Silesian, Czech Republic
Opava
(
Czech pronunciation:
[?opava]
ⓘ
;
German
:
Troppau
,
Polish
:
Opawa
) is a city in the
Moravian-Silesian Region
of the
Czech Republic
. It has about 56,000 inhabitants. It lies on the
Opava
River. Opava is one of the historical centres of
Silesia
. It was a historical capital of
Czech Silesia
.
Administrative division
[
edit
]
Opava is made up of eight self-governing boroughs in the suburbs and the central part that is directly administered.
[2]
The city is further divided into 14 administrative parts (in brackets):
[3]
- Opava
(M?sto, P?edm?sti (larger part), Kate?inky, Kyle?ovice and Jakta? (larger part))
- Komarov
- Male Ho?tice
- Milostovice
- Podvihov (Komarovske Chaloupky and Podvihov)
- Suche Lazce
- Vavrovice (Vavrovice, P?edm?sti (smaller part) and Jakta? (smaller part))
- Vla?tovi?ky
- Zlatniky
Geography
[
edit
]
Opava is located about 27 km (17 mi) northwest of
Ostrava
. Most of its territory lies in the
Opava Hilly Land
within the
Silesian Lowlands
, but it also extends to the
Nizky Jesenik
range in the southeast and northwest. The highest point of the municipal territory is H?rka at 530 m (1,740 ft) above sea level.
Opava is situated at the confluence of the
Opava
and
Moravice
rivers. The Opava River flows through the city centre.
St?ibrne Lake is an artificial lake on the outskirts of the city created by the flooding of the former
gypsum
quarry. It is used for recreational purposes.
[4]
History
[
edit
]
The first written mention of Opava is from 1195. In 1224, Opava received
town privileges
. After the
Duchy of Troppau
was established, Opava became its capital.
[5]
In 1427?1431, the duchy was ruled by the
Hussites
. In 1485, it was acquired by
Matthias Corvinus
and ruled by the Hungarians until 1526. In 1613,
Karl I of Liechtenstein
became Duke of Opava and merged the duchy with the
Duchy of Krnov
.
[5]
After the majority of Silesia was annexed by the
Kingdom of Prussia
during the
War of the Austrian Succession
after 1740, the remaining Silesian territory still under the control of the
Habsburg monarchy
became known as
Austrian Silesia
, with its capital in Opava (1742?1918). The
Congress of Troppau
took place here from 24 October to 23 December 1820.
[5]
According to the
Austrian
census of 1910, the town had 30,762 inhabitants, 29,587 of whom had permanent residence there. The census asked people for their native language, which showed that 27,240 (92%) were German-speaking, 2,039 (6.9%) were Czech-speaking and 274 (0.9%) were Polish-speaking.
Jews
were not allowed to declare
Yiddish
, and most of them thus declared German as their native language. The main religious group was
Roman Catholics
with 28,379 (92.2%), followed by
Protestants
with 1,155 (3.7%) and
Jews
with 1,112 (3.6%).
[6]
After the defeat of
Austria-Hungary
in
World War I
, Opava became part of
Czechoslovakia
in 1919.
In 1938, Opava was ceded to
Nazi Germany
as a result of the
Munich agreement
. It was administered as a part of
Reichsgau Sudetenland
. On 22 April 1945, Opava was liberated by the Soviet
Red Army
at the cost of enormous war damage. In 1945?1946, the German population was
expelled
under terms of
Bene? decrees
and the city was resettled with Czechs. On 1 January 1946, the municipalities of Jakta?, Kate?inky and Kyle?ovice were joined to Opava. After the war, entire new residential areas and industrial plants were built.
[5]
While the Duchy of Opava has ceased to exist, the title of Duke of Troppau continues, with
Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein
being the current incumbent.
Demographics
[
edit
]
Historical population
Year
| Pop.
| ±%
|
---|
1869
| 27,011
| ?
|
---|
1880
| 32,105
| +18.9%
|
---|
1890
| 35,698
| +11.2%
|
---|
1900
| 42,043
| +17.8%
|
---|
1910
| 47,361
| +12.6%
|
---|
| Year
| Pop.
| ±%
|
---|
1921
| 49,366
| +4.2%
|
---|
1930
| 54,263
| +9.9%
|
---|
1950
| 40,663
| ?25.1%
|
---|
1961
| 48,091
| +18.3%
|
---|
1970
| 53,269
| +10.8%
|
---|
| Year
| Pop.
| ±%
|
---|
1980
| 58,778
| +10.3%
|
---|
1991
| 62,815
| +6.9%
|
---|
2001
| 61,382
| ?2.3%
|
---|
2011
| 58,351
| ?4.9%
|
---|
2021
| 55,146
| ?5.5%
|
---|
|
Source: Censuses
[7]
[8]
|
Economy
[
edit
]
Opava is home especially to the engineering, food, paper and pharmaceutical industries.
[5]
The largest company is
Teva Czech Industries
, a manufacturer of medicinal products, whose predecessor was founded in Opava in 1883. It employs about 1,600 people.
[9]
The largest non-industrial employers are the hospital and the psychiatric hospital.
Culture
[
edit
]
Opava is an important cultural centre of
Opavian Silesia
. The Silesian Theatre in Opava was founded in 1805.
[10]
Education
[
edit
]
Opava is home to the
Silesian University
, the only
public university
in the country not situated in a regional capital. It was established in 1991.
[5]
Sport
[
edit
]
The city's football club
SFC Opava
currently plays in the
Czech National Football League
, the second tier of the Czech football league system.
Sights
[
edit
]
One of the two main landmarks of Opava is the city hall on the Horni Square and its white tower, known as Hlaska.
[11]
A one-storey city hall and the tower were built in 1614?1618. However, the less representative town hall building around the tower was demolished in 1902 and replaced with a new one in the Neo-Renaissance style.
[12]
The second main landmark is the
Co-Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary
. It is the largest building in the Czech Republic built in the so-called Silesian Brick Gothic style. A solid prismatic tower was built in the late 13th century and a higher south tower was built in the early 14th century, both towers were originally intended as part of a city hall. The church building between the towers dates from the mid-14th century. In 1996, the church became the second Episcopal church of the Ostrava-Opava diocese, and therefore a co-cathedral. With 102 metres (335 ft), the southern church tower is the highest tower in Silesia.
[11]
[13]
There are three monuments, protected as
national cultural monuments of the Czech Republic
. Besides the co-cathedral, there is the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which dates from 1394, and the Petr Bezru? City House of Culture; a Neo-Renaissance house, built in 1908?1910 according to the design by
Leopold Bauer
.
[14]
The
Silesian Museum
, founded in 1814, is the oldest public museum in the Czech Republic. It has about 2,400,000 exhibition items and is the third largest museum in the country.
[15]
Notable people
[
edit
]
- Martin of Opava
(??1278) historian and cleric
- Johann Palisa
(1848?1925), Austrian astronomer
- Eduard von Bohm-Ermolli
(1856?1941), Austrian field marshal
- Felix Woyrsch
(1860?1944), German composer
- Joseph Maria Olbrich
(1867?1908), Austrian architect
- Petr Bezru?
(1867?1958), poet
- Max Eschig
(1872?1927), French music publisher
- Franz Bardon
(1909?1958), occultist
- Joy Adamson
(1910?1980), naturalist and author
- Helmut Niedermeyer
(1926?2014), Austrian businessman
- Josef Gebauer
(1942?2004), historian
- Boris Rosner
(1951?2006), actor
- Pavel Slo?il
(born 1955), tennis player
- Bohdan Slama
(born 1967), film director
- Kamil Mr?zek
(born 1977), kayaker
- Nata?a Novotna
(born 1977), dancer and choreographer
- Zden?k Posp?ch
(born 1978), footballer
- Zuzana Ondra?kova
(born 1980), tennis player
- Luka? Vondra?ek
(born 1986), pianist
- Libor Kozak
(born 1989), footballer
Twin towns ? sister cities
[
edit
]
Opava is
twinned
with:
[16]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Opava
.
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