Place:Frýdlant v Čechach, Czech Republic

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Frýdlant (; also known as Frýdlant v Čechách) is a town in Liberec District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,500 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Early history

The area was settled by Slavic (Sorbian) tribes from Lusatia from the 6th century onwards and in the 12th century was incorporated into the Upper Lusatian (Land Budissin) territory, then held by the Margraves of Meissen. It belonged to the Lordship of Seidenberg (Zawidów), which in 1158 passed to King Vladislaus II.

13th–16th centuries

In the 13th century the castle was held by the Ronovci family until the middle of the century when Častolov of Ronov was forced to return the castle and other property to King Ottokar II.

The first written mention of Frýdlant is from 1278, when Rulko of Birbstein,^[1] also called Rudolf of Bieberstein, purchased the castle and surrounding land from the king.^[2] The castle is situated near the centre of town, above the Smědá river.^[3] Rulko held property in Silesia and Upper Lusatia and family members held court positions.^[1]

There were important trade routes through the area, including to Görlitz and to Lusatia.^[1] From Görlitz, the Via Regia provided routes to Russia, Spain, and throughout Europe. Perhaps as early as 1304, and definitely by 1381, a moat and curtain walls were constructed to surround and protect the town; these were largely removed in 1774.

The Birbsteins (Biebersteins) supported King Sigmund during the Hussite Wars (1419–1434). Frýdlant was taken by the Hussites in 1428.^[1] Between 1428 and 1433, the town was raided several times.^[2] Frydlant castle and town, also called Frýdlant Manor, went to Emperor Ferdinand I when Christopher, the last of the line of the Birbsteins, died in 1551.^[1] The castle went into the Redern family when Bedřich bought it in 1558. Since the ruler set the religion for an area at that time, Bedřich made Protestant churches and closed the Catholic church in Hejnice that had been the destination for religious pilgrimages. Several new villages were established and the production of linen cloth resulted in an economic boom during the initial years of the Redern family.^[1] Marco Spazzio di Lancio, an Italian architect hired by the family, expanded the castle in the 16th century.^[4]

17th–19th centuries

was considered a traitor when he opposed Emperor Ferdinand II and supported Frederick V after the Battle of White Mountain in 1620. All of his property was then taken from him.[1] Frýdlant then went to Albrecht von Wallenstein, who became Duke of Frýdlant and lived at Jičín.[5][4] Wallenstein returned Catholicism to the area and held the lands until 1634, when he was assassinated.[1] Frýdlant then went to Matthias Gallas of Campo as a reward for his fight against Wallenstein in 1636 by Emperor Ferdinand II.[1]

At the end of the Thirty Years' War, the castle was possessed by the Swedes. They constructed fortified barbicans and strengthened the defensive walls.^[4] In 1639, Christoph von Redern returned to Frydlant after a period of exile. One year later, the Swedes left Bohemia entirely.^[6] Due to the loss of religious freedom and Protestants being forced to adopt the Catholic religion, many exiles did not return to the area.^[1] The area continued to suffer through 1642.^[1]

The estates remained with Matthias Gallas and the Gallas line until 1757. When Earl Philip Joseph Galas died without children, the estate went to Christian Philip Clam, his nephew, under the stipulation that going forward the family would assume the Gallas coat-of-arms and the family surname would be changed to Clam-Gallas.^[1]

In 1800^[7] or 1801,^[3] the Clam-Gallas family opened the castle to the public as a museum.^[3][7] Napoleon and his troops were in the town in 1813, to the detriment of the citizens of the town. A textile industry developed in the town in the 19th century.^[2] In 1899, the Plague Column was constructed in the memory of the victims of five plague epidemics. The town also survived several significant fires.^[2]

In 1875, a railway line from Liberec via Frýdlant to Zawidów was put into operation. Lines to Mirsk and the Frýdlant–Heřmanice Railway to Zittau followed soon.

20th century

Until 1918, Friedland in Böhmen was part of the Austrian monarchy (Cisleithanian side after the Compromise of 1867). It was the head of a district with the same name, one of the 94 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in the Bohemian crown land. It remained with the Clam-Gallas family until the last descendant Clotilda, who died in 1982, having moved to Vienna in April 1945.^[1]

Following the 1938 Munich Agreement, the town was occupied by Nazi Germany and incorporated as Friedland (Isergebirge), one of the municipalities in Sudetenland. After World War II, it fell back to the Third Czechoslovak Republic and renamed Frýdlant v Čechách. The German-speaking population was expelled according to the Beneš decrees and replaced by Czech settlers.

In 2016, Georg Mederer and Erich Stenz, German treasure hunters, claimed that trucks delivered items from the amber chamber of Saint Petersburg, Russia to the castle in the late period of the war. They state that the items previously owned by Peter the Great were stolen by the Nazis and stored in the castle cellars with contemporaneously constructed brick walls. The men further state that they have been unable to search for the stolen items due to the Czech government and the Czech National Heritage Institute.^[8] There is also a theory that the amber room, including decorative wall panels, were shipped to Konigsberg, now Kaliningrad, and the contents were destroyed during bombing of the town.

Research Tips