Horní Benešov

Horní Benešov (Czech pronunciation: [ˈɦorɲiː ˈbɛnɛʃof]; Benešov until 1926, German: Bennisch) is a town in the Bruntál District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,200 inhabitants. Horní Benešov has a long mining tradition.

Horní Benešov
Town
Saint Catherine Church
Flag
Coat of arms
Horní Benešov
Location in the Czech Republic
Coordinates: 49°58′0″N 17°36′10″E
Country Czech Republic
RegionMoravian-Silesian
DistrictBruntál
Founded1253
Government
 • MayorPavel König
Area
 • Total20.40 km2 (7.88 sq mi)
Elevation
568 m (1,864 ft)
Population
 (2020-01-01[1])
 • Total2,249
 • Density110/km2 (290/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
793 12
Websitewww.hbenesov.cz

Administrative parts
Luhy village

Village of Luhy is an administrative part of Horní Benešov.

History

Horní Benešov started as a mining settlement, first mentioned in 1227. The silver mines was one of the oldest in Czech lands. The town was officially founded in 1253, and the town rights were confirmed in 1271 by the Bohemian King Ottokar II.[2] It was destroyed by a Hungarian invasion in 1474 and then during the Thirty Years' War. The mining was in decline since 17th century. During the 19th and 20th centuries, economic development of Benešov was driven mostly by textile industry.[2]

According to the Austrian administration census of 1910 the town had 3,826 inhabitants, 3,807 of whom had permanent residence there. Census asked people for their native language, 3,800 (99.9%) were German-speaking. Most populous religious groups were Roman Catholics with 3,766 (98.4%), followed by Protestants with 30 (0.8%) and the Jews with 25 (0.6%).[3]

Before World War I, the town was part of the Silesia region of Austria-Hungary. After World War I, the town was within the state of Czechoslovakia and in 1926 was given its present name. From 1938 to 1945 Horní Benešov was one of the municipalities in Sudetenland. Today it is almost entirely Czech after the post-1945 expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia.

John Kerry's ancestry

The town gained some attention when it was learned that Fritz Kohn, the paternal grandfather of John Kerry, the U.S. Democratic Party's candidate for United States President in the 2004 election, was from Horní Benešov. Kohn, who was born to a Jewish family here, changed his name to Kerry and converted to Catholicism before emigrating to the U.S. in 1905.[4]

Twin towns – sister cities
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in the Czech Republic

Horní Benešov is twinned with:[5]

References
  1. "Population of Municipalities – 1 January 2020". Czech Statistical Office. 30 April 2020.
  2. "Historie města". hbenesov.cz (in Czech). Město Horní Benešov. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  3. Ludwig Patryn (ed): Die Ergebnisse der Volkszählung vom 31. Dezember 1910 in Schlesien, Troppau 1912.
  4. "Horní Benešov přivítal Kerryho. Ne ministra, zatím jeho bratra". idnes.cz (in Czech). iDnes.cz. 14 October 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  5. "Partnerská spolupráce". hbenesov.cz (in Czech). Město Horní Benešov. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
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