Olomouc

The town of Olomouc:

The center of the center of the city Olomouc is the central square Horni Namesti where, among other things, the city hall can be admired. Like Prague, Olomouc has an astronomical clock. It was built in the 15th century, and later modified and rebuilt several times, for the last time just after the Second World War in a socialist realistic style. In the 16th century many palaces of 'new realms' were built in Renaissance style.

In the 18th century six Baroque fountains were built, five of which depicted Roman gods (Jupiter, Neptune, Hercules, Triton and Mercury), and the sixth Julius Caesar. A number of columns were also erected, including two plague columns, which had to keep the memory of the victims of the plague alive. Plans for a seventh fountain, the Arion fountain, could not be realized until 2002. The city enjoys Unesco protection because of its many monuments. For example, the Column of the Holy Trinity is included on the World Heritage List of UNESCO.

Other well-known squares are Dolni and Namesti Republiky.

Olomouc is according to a legend at the place where the Roman Empire built a fort, which was named Mons Julii. This name would have slowly evolved to Olomouc. Although this is only a legend, archaeological research on site led to the discovery of a Roman camp from the time of the battle against the Marcomans.

In the 9th century there was a trade settlement on the same spot. Establishment of merchants and craftsmen from central Germany and especially Silesia made it possible for the city to have in the year 1239 an autonomous administration institutions under German (Magdeburg) city law. In the Hussite Revolution in the 15th century the city remained faithful to Rome and since 1566 it became a center of counter-reformation with a Jesuit training.

This would became later a university, the predecessor of the Palacký-University Olomouc which today “houses” some 17,500 students. During the Thirty Years' War the city was repeatedly besieged and was occupied by Swedish troops between 1642 and 1650. After being partially destroyed and largely depopulated, she had to relinquish her administrative function to Brünn, but she remained an ecclesiastical center. 

Because Olmütz was strategically located between Austria and at that time Prussian Silesia, fortifications were built around the city. That is why the Viennese imperial court in 1828 sought, in the episcopal palace, a hiding place for the then erupted revolution. In 1841 the city was connected to the railway network, and that was the beginning of a modest industrialization. After that, Jews would be allowed to settle in the city after their community had already been expelled in 1454. Their new synagogue was set on fire after the German occupation in 1939 and the 1,600 Jews were taken to concentration camps, from which only 285 returned.

The dominant German-cultural character was reflected in 1910, with the 70% German speakers, of which one in ten was Jewish. The establishment of the new Czechoslovakia meant that the Czechs in 1921 already formed a small majority in Olomouc, which would then increase significantly. The German occupiers considered the city too Czech to be included in the annexation of the Sudetenland in 1939, as stipulated in the Munich Convention. The city was annexed to the protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. After the liberation in 1945, the German-speaking minority was expropriated under the Beneš decrees and relieved of her citizenship. She was then expelled.

Olomouc has grown from almost 24,000 in 1919 to more than 100,000 inhabitants in 1980 due to repeated municipal mergers with municipalities in the area. Since then, the population has stagnated.