Velká Dobrá

During the Hussite Wars the settlement, located on an important trade route through Bohemia, was badly damaged. In 1548 Malá Dobrá had 8 settlers and Velká Dobrá nine.

The village sustained extensive damage during the Thirty Years' War. Protestant troops under Frederick V marched through Dobrá from Rakovník on August 26, 1619, and looted the village. During the war many residents were slaughtered, died of epidemic disease, or fled into the forests. In 1662, reports stated that six out of 14 farms at the settlement were still empty, and the lower village stronghold of Žďárští od Žďár, used for accommodation during the 16th century, had been turned into farm land. In 1688, though, the former upper defensive stronghold was converted into a granary, suggesting a recovering population.

Chapel of the Finding of the Holy Cross

Around 1753 the village erected a statue to John of Nepomuk, followed by a chapel in 1765. The chapel was remodelled to its current form in 1816 and dedicated by Antonín Hertzok of Adlersberg, dean of Smečno, on 12 October 1817.

Until the mid-19th century the Kladno region was largely agricultural, and most Velká Dobrá residents were farmers. In 1843 Malá Dobrá's population numbered 326 persons in 42 households, with another 291 persons in 36 households (average eight residents per household) at Velká Dobrá. New employment opportunities emerged when the first black coal mines were opened in the Kladno region, and expanded when Adalbert Works, a steelworks and predecessor of the modern company Poldi, opened at Kladno. The population rose by 115 between 1843 and 1857, and reached a total of 748 across Malá and Velká Dobrá in 1870, despite a cholera outbreak that killed 30 in 1866, following the stationing of Prussian troops at the village during the Austro-Prussian War.

In 1929 the Unhošť administrative district was abolished and Malá and Velká Dobrá became parts of Kladno District. In 1935, the municipalities of Malá Dobrá and Velká Dobrá were merged.[2]