History of Nové Hrady
The town is located near to the Austrian border. It was historically a border town guarding an entry path into the Kingdom of Bohemia. An important manor was established later, together with a city of mostly German-speaking inhabitants.
The existence of Nové Hrady is documented in a deed dated May 21st, 1279. Witnesses to the document include Hogyrius de Gretzen (also known as Ojíř z Nového Hradu or Ojíř ze Svin), a member of the Vítkovci family, who held the post of Lord Chamberlain of the Kingdom of Bohemia from 1284 to 1289.
In the beginning of the 14th century, the city belonged to the Landštejn family. During the governance of Vilém of Landštejn, the border between the Nové Hrady and Weitra estates was marked out and confirmed (October 24th, 1339). In 1341, the new owner gave the castle and estates in noble gavelkind to King John of Bohemia. After the death of Vilém of Landštejn, the city of Nové Hrady was inherited by his son Vítek of Landštejn. Since he was not of age at the time, he was represented by his brother Ojíř, who got to use the title of Lord of Nové Hrady. Vítek later abandoned his brother and decided in 1359 to sell the city to brothers Petr, Jošt, Oldřich and Jan of Rosenberg for 7093 threescore and 63 pennies.
For this price, the Rosenbergs received the castle and city of Nové Hrady, half of Stropnice town, 2 parts of Sviny town including the entire keep and patronage of the church and parsonage, and villages Údolí, Štiptoň, Byňov, Krčín, Buková, Žár and Borovany. The purchase price was paid in installments until 1363. The Rosenbergs expanded the Nové Hrady estates and bestowed upon it nearly the same privileges as were enjoyed by royal cities.
During the Governance of Oldřich II of Rosenberg, who established a strong anti-Hussite defense, disaster came to the city: In May 1425, Hussites led by Jan Hvězda of Vícemilice, Marshal of the City of Tábor, conquered the city and completely burned it including the castle. It wasn't rebuilt until 10 years later, when it again became part of the Rosenberg defense system.
On October 11th, 1488, King Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary granted Nové Hrady the right to a weekly market every Monday and two special markets per year. Moreover, within a mile of the city, the brewing and sale of beer was forbidden as well as opening of new pubs, and no craftsman could open shop in this area. The king permitted the city to use its old coat of arms, and in 1491, he freed Nové Hrady from gavelkind.
In 1551, Vilém of Rosenberg became the eleventh ruler to govern over the Rosenberg estates. Under his leadership, a glassworks was established in 1589. It produced highly prized Venetian glass under Italian supervision. From that time up to the 19th century, many other glassworks were founded in the Nové Hrady estates. The famed artificial lake builder Jakub Krčín of Jelčany constructed lakes, canals and sheep farms. In 1592, the last of the Rosenbergs Petr Vok inherited the estates. He bought the Žumberk manor and had the castle reinforced under the supervision of Antonio Canevale.
In 1611, Nové Hrady together with all other Rosenberg estates were inherited by Jan Jiří of Švamberk and later by his son Petr. During the rebellion of estates, Petr of Švamberk sided with the rebellion and his estates including Nové Hrady were raided several times by the imperial armies.
In March 1619, imperial general Henri Duval Dampierre invaded Bohemia and seized the city. He did not take the castle, but he looted and burned the city before leaving. In Junde 1619, imperial general Karl Bonaventura Graf von Buquoy entered the razed city without a fight and met the tough resistance of the 300-strong garrison of the castle. Fighting wore on long into the night, until count Buquoy decided to negotiate. He promised the garrison safe passage to leave. All the property of Petr of Švamberk was confiscated and on February 6th, 1620, Emperor Ferdinand II gave the entire Nové Hrady estates (including Žumberk and Cuknštejn) to Buquoy for services in war and as reimbursement for expenses.
Since that year, the estates were hereditary property of the Buquoy family. Karl was succeeded by Ferdinand Karl, who had the city fortifications repaired and founded a monastery. In 1708 a healing spring was discovered in Dobrá Voda, which led to the construction of a grand Baroque church. One of the most significant members of the family was Count Jan Nepomuk.. During his governance, many new glassworks were founded (Janovy Hutě, Jiříkovo Údolí). The count supported the habitation of remote parts of the Nové Hrady region and utilization of lumber. New mills, forges, distilleries, lodges, game preserves and pheasantries were built. In 1796, a forestry school was opened in Jakule. Nepomuk's other activities include the construction of an English park, improvement of schools, reconstruction of the old castle and construction of a new chateau on the city borders (1801-1810).
The revolution year of 1848 brought many changes. The Nové Hrady estates came to an end and Nové Hrady became an independent city with its own administration, led by a democratically selected 18-member council and mayor. From 1850, the city had its own court, which was subject to the marshal in Kaplice. In 1855, kerosene city lighting was installed. Democratization of the monarchy gave rise to many new interest groups. 23 of these were established by the end of the 1980s. First of these was a volunteer firefighting brigade which was sponsored by count Buquoy. Seven religious brotherhoods settled in Nové Hrady.
In 1906, a large fire ravaged the city. 16 buildings burned to the ground and the town hall and Residence were damaged. The city was supported financially mainly by count Buquoy, the Budweis bishop, His Majesty Emperor Franz Ferdinand d'Este, who travelled often to Nové Hrady, as well as many other offices and organizations.
After the end of the First World War, the city was occupied by Czechoslovak units. Czechs were delegated to the city council and administrative bodies. A year later, a Czech sports club and Czech one-class school were built, and a Czech cultural centre was established in 1923. In 1925 the land reform assigned part of Buquoy lands to the government. According to the 1930 census, 845 Germans and 351 Czechs lived in Nové Hrady. Although a Czech school was built in 1938, in October of the same year Hitler annexed parts of Bohemia and Nové Hrady became part of the Third Reich. Many Czechs left the town, but those who remained had to go to war.
In May 1945, the Red Army reached the city, in July a nine-member administration was put into place, and a city council was established in October. Based on the decrees of Eduard Beneš, Count Karel Jiří Buquoy was sentenced for treason and collaboration and his property was confiscated together with the property of all German citizens, who had to leave their homes in the autumn of 1946. Czechs, Slovaks and Romanians started settling in the Nové Hrady region.
A garrison remained stationed in the city until 1947. Life in the city was adversely affected by the Border Protection Act of 1951. Nové Hrady is located very near to the border and strict rules applied for inhabitants.
After 1989, a new era began for the city. Visitors and tourists returned to the city and were interested in the cultural and historical heritage. They discover a region of deep forests, beautiful valleys, meadows and lakes in a well-preserved landscape.
