MLADA BOLESLAV
Mladá Boleslav is a city in the Central Bohemian Region
of the Czech Republic, on the left bank of the Jizera
river about 50 km northwest of Prague.
Founded in the second half of the 10th century by King
Boleslav II as a royal castle. Because there already was
a castle known as Boleslav near Prague, this new castle
was named Mladá (young) to distinguish it from the older
Boleslav, which became known in the 15th century as
Stará Boleslav (Old Boleslav). The town received partial
city rights in 1334 and 1436, becoming an important site
on the road from Prague to northern Bohemia, Lusatia,
and Brandenburg. In the 16th century the town was a
leading centre of the Unity of the Brethren church,
hosting the Brethren's bishop, Renaissance church, and
printing house. After being re-Catholicized in the 17th
century, the town's population declined.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, Mladá Boleslav was an
outstanding Jewish center. In this period, about one
half of the town´s population was Jewish. In the 19th
century (in fact, the period of decline of the Jewish
community), Mladá Boleslav was dubbed "Jerusalem on
Jizera". In 1634, Jacob Bashevi von Treuenberg (born
1580 in Verona,Italy), the first enobled Jew in the
Hapsburg monarchy, was buried on the Jewish cemetery in
Mladá Boleslav.
In the 19th century new prosperity came- the town became
an important regional centre as new schools, theatres,
museums, and the Laurin & Klement (today Škoda)
automobile factory were founded. After the communist
revolution in 1948, the town declined horribly; however
it has been improving since the 1990s as the factory is
making it one of the richest Czech towns. |