Jindřichův Hradec

Jindřichův Hradec (Neuhaus) is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 21,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument reservation.

Administrative parts
The town parts of Jindřichův Hradec I–V and the villages of Buk, Děbolín, Dolní Radouň, Dolní Skrýchov, Horní Žďár, Matná, Otín, Políkno and Radouňka are administrative parts of Jindřichův Hradec.

Geography
Jindřichův Hradec is located about 42 km northeast of České Budějovice. It lies in the Křemešník Highlands. The highest point is the hill Rýdův kopec at 553 m above sea level.

The town is situated on the Nežárka river, on the shore of Vajgar pond, which is one of the symbols of the town. It is a 49 ha large fishpond established in 1399. There is a significant amount of other ponds in the municipal territory.

History
The predecessor of today's town was a Slavic gord. The first written mention of Hradec is from 1220, when a Gothic castle was built on the site of the former gord by the owner of the estate, Jindřich I Vítkovec (founder of the line of lords of Hradec). In the mid-13th century, a settlement was founded by the castle and named after the founder of the castle. The current name Jindřichův Hradec is documented first in 1410.

In the late 16th century, when Jindřichův Hradec was owned by the last members of the Hradec family, the town has reached the peak of its development. The houses and the castle were rebuilt from Gothic into the Renaissance style, and the town spread beyond the town walls. After the Thirty Years' War, in 1654, Jindřichův Hradec was the second largest town in the Kingdom of Bohemia with 405 houses. Soon after, however, it lost its political importance, and at the end of the 17th century, economic importance also declined.

In 1773 and 1801 respectively, the town was damaged by large fires and many houses have undergone building modifications. Part of the town walls was demolished and a new large park was established on the border between Old Town and New Town. In 1887, the town was connected by railway with Veselí nad Lužnicí and Jihlava.

Economy
The town's economy is focused mainly on services. The largest employer in the town is the hospital. The largest industrial companies are DK Open (food producer) and Pollmann CZ (manufacturer of car parts), both employing more than 250 people.

Transport
Jindřichův Hradec is located at the crossroads of two main roads, which are parts of the European route E551: the I/23, which connects the South Bohemian Region with Brno, and the I/34 from České Budějovice to Havlíčkův Brod and Svitavy.

Jindřichův Hradec lies on the railway line from Plzeň to Horní Cerekev via České Budějovice. There is also a narrow-gauge railway leading from Jindřichův Hradec to Nová Bystřice. It is operated by Jindřichohradecké místní dráhy company and serves mostly as a tourist attraction.

Education
A gymnasium, today known as Gymnázium Vitězslava Nováka, was founded in 1595, making it one of the oldest non-university schools in Central Europe.

Sport
The town's basketball club is GBA Lions Jindřichův Hradec. It played in the National Basketball League until 2018.

Sights
The historic centre of Jindřichův Hradec is formed by the Míru Square with adjacent streets and the castle. The landmarks of the square are the former Gothic town hall, rebuilt several times; and Langer's house, originally a Gothic building, later rebuilt in the Renaissance style.

The town castle and palace is the third largest in the country after those in Prague and Český Krumlov. It covers nearly 3 ha.

The regional museum is located in a Renaissance building that was once the Jesuit seminary. It appeared in the town in 1882 and is one of the oldest regional museums in Bohemia. The most well-known item in the museum is the Krýza's crèche, the largest mechanical nativity scene in the world according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

Sacral monuments
There are several churches in the town, the most notable are the three in the historic centre: Church of Saint John the Baptist with the nearby building that once housed minorite monks and was later an infirmary, Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, and Church of Ascension of the Virgin Mary. The Church of Ascension of the Virgin Mary is known for its 68.3 m tall tower open to the public, and for marked 15° meridian that passes through the courtyard of the church.

Other churches include Church of Saint Catherine with a Franciscan monastery, Church of the Holy Trinity, Church of Saint James the Great, Church of Saint Wenceslaus, Evangelical church, and former Church of Saint Elizabeth.

The Jewish cemetery was founded around 1400. The oldest preserved tombstone is from 1638.

Notable people

 * Adam Václav Michna z Otradovic (1600–1676), organist, composer and poet
 * Florian Baucke (1719–1779), Jesuit missionary
 * Hanuš Schwaiger (1852–1912), painter
 * Antonín Rezek (1853–1909), political historian
 * Stanislaus von Prowazek (1875–1915), zoologist and parasitologist
 * Kurt Adler (1907–1977), Jewish Austrian chorus master, music conductor, author and pianist
 * Karel Berman (1919–1995), Jewish opera singer and composer
 * Vladimír Špidla (born 1951), politician, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
 * Renáta Tomanová (born 1954), tennis player
 * Pavel Kroupa (born 1963), Czech-Australian astrophysicist
 * Václav Chalupa (born 1967), rower
 * Karel Poborský (born 1972), footballer
 * Leoš Friedl (born 1977), tennis player
 * Petr Fical (born 1977), German ice hockey player
 * Pavel David (born 1978), footballer
 * Aleš Kotalík (born 1978), ice hockey player
 * Jan Marek (1979–2011), ice hockey player
 * Zbyněk Michálek (born 1982), ice hockey player
 * Milan Michálek (born 1984), ice hockey player

Twin towns – sister cities
Jindřichův Hradec is twinned with:
 * 🇸🇰 Dunajská Streda, Slovakia
 * 🇩🇪 Neckargemünd, Germany
 * 🇭🇺 Sárospatak, Hungary
 * 🇦🇹 Zwettl, Austria