Pilsen
Plzeň (Czech pronunciation: [ˈpl̩.zɛɲ]; English: Pilsen) is a city in western Bohemia in the Czech Republic. It is the capital of the Plzeň Region and the fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic. It is located about 90 km west of Prague at the confluence of four rivers--the Radbuza, the Mže, the Úhlava, and the Úslava--which form the Berounka River.
The city is known worldwide for Pilsener beer. Pilsen was in September 2010 selected by an official jury to be put forward to join the Belgian city of Mons as the European capital of culture in 2015.
History
Plzeň was first mentioned as a castle in 976, as the scene of a battle between Duke Boleslaus II of Bohemia and Emperor Otto II. It became a town in 1295 when King Wenceslaus II granted Plzeň its civic charter as a special "Royal City" and established a new town site, located some 10 km away from the original settlement, which is the current town of Starý Plzenec. It quickly became an important town on trade routes leading to Nuremberg and Regensburg; in the 14th century, it was the third-largest town in Bohemia after Prague and Kutná Hora. During the Hussite Wars, it was the centre of Catholic resistance to the Hussites: Prokop the Great unsuccessfully besieged it three times, and it joined the league of Romanist nobles against King George of Podebrady. In 1468, the town acquired a printing press; the Troyan Chronicle, the first book published in Bohemia, was printed on it.
Emperor Rudolf II made Plzeň his seat from 1599-1600. During the Thirty Years' War the town was taken by Mansfeld in 1618 after the Siege of Plzeň and it was not recaptured by the Imperial troops until 1621. Wallenstein made it his winter quarters in 1633. The town was unsuccessfully besieged by the Swedes in 1637 and 1648. The town and region have been staunchly Catholic despite the Hussite Wars.
At the end of the 17th century, the architecture of Plzeň began to be influenced by the Baroque style. The city center has been under historic preservation since 1989.
In the second half of the 19th Century Plzeň, already an important trade centre for Bohemia, near the Bavarian/German border, began to rapidly industrialise. In 1869 Emil Škoda started up the Škoda Works : this became the most important and influential engineering company in the country and a crucial supplier of arms to the Austro-Hungarian Army. By 1917 the Škoda Works employed over 30,000 workers. The second largest employer in this period was, after 1898, the National Railways train workshop with about 2,000 employees : this was the largest rail repair shop in all Austria-Hungary. Between 1861 and 1877, the Plzeň railway junction has been completed and in 1899 the first tram line started in the city. This burst of industry had two important effects : the growth of the local Czech (Slavic) population and the urban poor. Before 1860 the town was mostly German-speaking; after 1918 it was mostly Czech speaking. However much of the countryside to the west, north and south of the town continued to speak a local German dialect.
Following Czechoslovak independence from Austria-Hungary in 1918 the German-speaking minority in the region had hoped to be united with Austria and were unhappy at being included in Czechoslovakia. Many allied themselves to the Nazi cause after 1933, in hopes that perhaps Adolf Hitler might be able to unite them with their German-speaking neighbours. In 1938 Plzeň became literally a frontier town, after the creation of the Sudetenland moved the Third Reich borders to the city's outer limits. During the Nazi occupation from 1939 to 1945 the Škoda Works in Pilsen was forced to provide armaments for the Wehrmacht and Czech contributions, particularly in the field of tanks, was noted.
The German-speaking population was forcibly expelled from the city and in fact all of Czechoslovakia after the end of war in 1945, according to provision in the Potsdam agreement. All of their property was confiscated.
On May 6, 1945, near end of World War II, Plzeň was liberated from Nazi Germany by the 16th Armored Division of General Patton's 3rd Army. Also participating in the liberation of the city were elements of the 97th and 2nd Infantry Divisions. Other Third Army units liberated major portions of Western Bohemia. The rest of Czechoslovakia was liberated from German control by the Soviet Red Army. Elements of Third Army, as well as units from the First Army, remained in Plzen until late November 1945, assisting the Czechs with re-building from the war. After seizing power in 1948, the Communists undertook a systematic campaign to suppress all acknowledgement of the U.S. Army's role in liberating the city and Western Bohemia. This continued until 1989 when the Communists were removed from power. Since 1990, the city of Plzeň has organized the annual Liberation Festival, taking place in May, which has already become a local tradition, and has been attended by many American and Allied veterans.
After the Communist takeover of February 1948, the totalitarian, Soviet-oriented Czechoslovak government launched a currency reform in 1953. This decision caused a wave of discontent throughout the society, while the events in Plzeň were more intense. On 1 June 1953 over 20,000 people, mainly workers of the Škoda Works began demonstrating against the communist regime. Demonstrators forced their way into the town hall and threw Communist symbols, furniture and other objects out the windows. From the afternoon, the demonstration was violently suppressed by the Communist officials.
Pilsener beer
The officials of Plzeň founded a city-owned brewery in 1839, Bürger Brauerei (Citizens' Brewery - now Plzeňský Prazdroj), and recruited Bavarian brewer Josef Groll (1813–1887) who produced the first batch of modern pilsener beer on 5 October 1842. The combination of pale colour from the new malts, Pilsen's remarkably soft water, Saaz noble hops from nearby Žatec (Saaz in German) and Bavarian-style lagering produced a clear, golden beer which was regarded as a sensation.
Improving transport meant that this new beer was soon available throughout Central Europe and Pilsner Brauart-style brewing was widely imitated. In 1859, “Pilsner Bier” was registered as a brand name at the Chamber of Commerce and Trade in Plzeň. In 1898, the Pilsner Urquell trade mark was created to put emphasis on it being the original brewery.
Education and economy
Plzeň is a centre of academic, business, and cultural life for the western part of the Czech Republic. The University of West Bohemia in Plzeň is well known for its School of Law, School of Mechanical Engineering and School of Applied Science in particular.
Since the second half of the 1990s the city has experienced high growth in foreign investments. In 2007, Israeli mall developer Plaza Centers opened the Pilsen Plaza, a 20,000 square meters shopping mall and entertainment center featuring a multiplex cinema from Cinema City Czech Republic.
Plzeň produces approximately two-thirds of the Plzeň Region GDP, even though it contains only 29.8% of its population. Based on these figures, the city of Plzeň has a total GDP of approximately $7.2 billion, and a per-capita GDP of $44,000. While part of this is explained by commuters (people who work in the city, but live elsewhere) it is one of the most prosperous cities in the Czech Republic.
The Škoda company, established in Plzeň in 1859, has been an important part of the Austro-Hungarian, Czechoslovak and Czech engineering. The company's production had been directed to the needs of the Eastern Bloc, and after the Velvet Revolution, it consequently ran into selling problems and debts. After huge restructuring process it has just two principal subsidiaries: Škoda Transportation (locomotives, tube-trains or trams, since sold to Portland, Tacoma, Seattle and Sardinia) and Škoda Power (turbines).
Many foreign companies now own manufacturing bases in Plzeň including Daikin and Panasonic. There has been much discussion of redeveloping those large areas of the Škoda plant which the company no longer uses.
Plzeň also has biggest distillery (Stock) in the Czech Republic.
The source: wikipedia.org
Getting to Pilsen
Pilsen lies about 80 km southwest from Prague and about 80 km from the German border. The easiest way to get to Pilsen is to go by bus. The are links from Zlicin Bus terminal approx. once an hour. To get to Zlicin, take bus No. 100, a special fast and frequent service from the airport to Zlicin.
At Zlicin Bus station, there is a stop of big yellow buses of company STUDENT AGENCY. The ticket to go to Pilsen costs about 90 crowns (about 3,75 EUR). And it's even a bit cheaper if you have an ISIC card.
You can also go by train, there are trains going to Pilsen from Prague Main Railway Station every hour. Unfortunately, the train ticket is much more expensive, it costs approx. 175 crowns (7 EUR) and the quality of the transportation isn't very satisfying. What is more, the railway station is further away from the airport than the Zlicin Bus station.
Public transport
The IFMSA CZ Pilsen will provide you after your arrival with a card that entitles you to use Pilsen public transportation without restraint. The only thing you've got to do is to have always your passport or ID with you, so that you can prove that the card you get from us really belongs to you. There are tramways, buses and trolley-buses that perform public transport in Pilsen. The public transport system in Pilsen is very good and very easy to use.
Stránku naposledy upravil(a) Pavel Korpa dne 20.01.2011
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