České Budějovice founded by Ottokar II of Bohemia
History
The first written mention of Budějovice is from 1251, when it was only a village. The royal city was founded on its site by King Ottokar II of Bohemia in 1265. The siting and planning of the city was carried out by the king's knight Hirzo. The German-speaking settlers were coming from the Bohemian Forest and Upper Austria. The royal city was created as a platform of the king's power in South Bohemia and to counterbalance the powerful noble House of Rosenberg, which became extinct in 1611.
In 1341 King John of Bohemia allowed Jewish families to reside within the city walls, and the first synagogue was built in 1380; however several pogroms occurred in the late 15th and early 16th century. Since the Hussite Wars, the city was traditionally a bulwark of the Catholic Church during the long-lasting religious conflicts in the Kingdom of Bohemia. A part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526, České Budějovice remained a loyal supporter of Emperor Ferdinand II in the Thirty Years' War. České Budějovice underwent a short occupation by Prussia during the Silesian Wars, and the war between the Habsburgs and the French army in 1742.
In 1762 the Piarists established a gymnasium here and Emperor Joseph II founded the diocese in 1785. In 1847, the production of Koh-i-Noor Hardtmuth pencils was relocated from Vienna to Budějovice. Aside from Hardtmuth, Adalbert Lanna the Elder belonged among the city's most prominent industrialists of the 19th century. During his time, Budějovice became a major trade hub. The Budweis–Linz Horse-Drawn Railway was built in 1825–1832 and became the second oldest public line in continental Europe (after the St. Étienne-Andrézieux line in France).The city remained a German-speaking enclave until 1880, after which Czechs became the majority. Until the end of World War II, the city contained a significant German minority (about 15.5% in 1930). For example, the ratios between the Germans and the Czechs were in 1880: 11,829 Germans to 11,812 Czechs, in 1890: 11,642 to 16,585, in 1900: 15,400 to 23,400, in 1910: 16,900 to 27,300 and in 1921: 7,415 to 35,800.During World War II, the city was occupied by Nazi Germany. The occupiers operated a Gestapo prison and a forced labour camp in the city. During the final stages of the war, in March 1945, České Budějovice's marshalling yard was twice targeted by United States Army Air Forces raids that greatly damaged the city and caused great loss of life. At the end of the war, on 9 May 1945, Soviet troops liberated the city. The entire German population was expelled in 1945 under the Beneš decrees and the Potsdam Agreement.