Osoblaha


Osoblaha is a village in the Bruntál District of Czech Silesia in the Czech Republic in Osoblaha Hook. From 1938 to 1945 it was one of the municipalities in Sudetenland. The village is named after the Osoblaha River of the same name.
Osoblaha municipality is situated in the northern part of the microregion, and is the final stop of the narrow-gauge railway.

History

The first mention of Osoblaha dates back to 1233. The town gained its municipal rights in 1251, which opened the way for its subsequent economical development. However, small-town prosperity was halted by World War II. Although Osoblaha was the first town in the Czech lands to be liberated by Soviet troops on 22 March 1945, the bitter fighting caused the destruction of 90% of all buildings. The German name of the municipality is "Hotzenplotz"; it served the German writer Otfried Preussler for naming his famous children's book character of "Hotzenplotz the Robber".
According to the Austrian census of 1910 the town had 2,853 inhabitants, 2,759 of whom had permanent residence there. The census asked people for their native language: 2,754 declared themselves to be German-speaking, though this includes most Yiddish-speaking Jews, who were not allowed to enter Yiddish as a separate language. The main religious groups were Roman Catholics with 2,779, followed by Jews with 58.
The most important monument in the centre of the municipality is the Jewish Cemetery. The cemetery is unique in the Czech Republic because of the gravestones designed in the "Silesian style". This type of tombstones typically uses ornamentation dating back as far as 1694. Remains of former town fortifications from the 16th century can be seen in the town. Of the other Osoblaha monuments, one might mention the St. Nicholas Church behind the town towards Studnice village which, together with the empire fountain on the square, is one of the last monuments to attest the town's original architectural style.
In the 1870s, the owners of the sugar refinery in Osoblaha wanted a railway connection for purposes of trade. From financial point of view, the best alternative was a connection to the railway network in neighbouring Prussia. However, the government in Vienna refused this on political and military grounds. On 14. December 1898 a narrow gauge railway line from Třemešná was opened.

Notable people

Osoblaha is twinned with: