Beroun

Beroun (Czech pronunciation: [ˈbɛroun]; German: Beraun) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It is the administrative centre of Beroun District.

Not to be confused with Moravský Beroun.

Beroun
Town
View of Beroun
Flag
Coat of arms
Beroun
Location in the Czech Republic
Coordinates: 49°57′51″N 14°4′26″E
Country Czech Republic
RegionCentral Bohemian
DistrictBeroun
First mentioned1265
Government
 • MayorSoňa Chalupová
Area
 • Total31.31 km2 (12.09 sq mi)
Elevation
235 m (771 ft)
Population
 (2019-01-01[1])
 • Total19,510
 • Density620/km2 (1,600/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
266 01
Websitewww.mesto-beroun.cz

Geography

It is located about 30 kilometres (19 mi) southwest of Prague at the confluence of Berounka and Litavka rivers. The town is part of the Prague metropolitan area. As of 2011, it has a population of 18,930.

Beroun lies on the D5 motorway, which connects Prague with Plzeň and, farther afield, with the German border and the Bundesautobahn 6 to Nuremberg, part of the European route E50.

History

A settlement na Brodě ("by the ford") was first mentioned in a 1088 deed. As a royal Bohemian town, it received its present name in the 13th century. Its name may be derived from (Welsch-)Bern, the archaic German name of Verona in Italy, but alternatively might be a form of the ancient Slavic theonym Perun. Already in the High Middle Ages, under the rule of King Wenceslaus II, it was a fortified town. Many citizens were German merchants, settling here in the course of the Ostsiedlung.

Beroun officially obtained town privileges from the hands of Emperor Charles IV, who was specially attached to the place, calling it "Verona mea." Under his patronage the town rapidly prospered.[2] In 1421 Hussite forces under the command of Jan Žižka stormed the town, and though it was retaken and devastated after the Battle of Lipany, it has remained a mainly Czech settled town since then.

Beraun, engraving by Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677)

Under the rule of the House of Habsburg from 1526, the town's estates were seized. During the Thirty Years' War it was sacked by the Imperial army, the Saxon and the Swedish forces in turn. In the First Silesian War the same fate befell it at the hands of the French and Bavarian troops.[2]

In the early 18th century the Chapel of Virgin Mary of Sorrows, now a cultural heritage site, was built in the town.

A garrison town since the 18th century, Beroun did not prosper again until in the 1860s with the opening of limestone quarries and iron ore mines. Beside several ironworks, Beroun became the site of textile manufacturing and the population increased.

Jan Hus Square

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

Beroun is twinned with:[3]

Notable people

See also

References
  1. "Population of municipalities of the Czech republic". Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  2.  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Beraun". Encyclopædia Britannica. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 764.
  3. "Partnerská města". mesto-beroun.cz (in Czech). Město Beroun. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
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