- Horní Benešov
Geobox | Settlement
name = Horní Benešov
other_name =
category = Town
image_caption =
symbol = Horní_Benešov_znak.png
etymology =
official_name =
motto =
nickname =
country = Czech Republic
country_
state =
region = Moravian-Silesian
region_type = Region
district = Bruntál
district_type = District
commune = Bruntál
municipality = Horní Benešov
part =
river =
location =
elevation = 568
lat_d = 49
lat_m = 58
lat_s =
lat_NS = N
long_d = 17
long_m = 36
long_s =
long_EW = E
highest =
highest_elevation =
highest_lat_d =
highest_long_d =
lowest =
lowest_elevation =
lowest_lat_d =
lowest_long_d =
area = 20.40
area_round = 2
population = 2460
population_date =
population_density = auto
established = 1253
established_type = Founded
mayor = Josef Klech
timezone =
map_background = Czechia - background map.png
map_caption = Location in the Czech Republic
map_locator = Czechia
map1 = Moravian-Silesian Region - outline map.svg
map1_background =Moravian_Silesian_Region_-_background_map.png
map1_caption = Location in the Moravian-Silesian Region
map1_locator = Moravian-Silesian_Region
commons = Horní Benešov
statistics =
website = [http://www.hbenesov.cz/ www.hbenesov.cz]
footnotes =Horní Benešov (IPA2|ˈɦorɲi: ˈbɛnɛʃof; Czech: "Benešov" until 1926, German: "Bennisch") is a small town in the
Moravian-Silesian Region of theCzech Republic .Benešov has a long mining tradition. It started as a mining settlement at the beginning of the 13th century. The town was officially founded in 1253, and the rights were confirmed in 1271 by the Bohemian King
Přemysl Otakar II . It was destroyed by a Hungarian invasion in 1474 and then during theThirty Years' War . The mining was in decline since 17th century. During the 19th and 20th centuries, economic development of Benešov was driven mostly by textile industry.According to the Austrian census of 1910 the town had 3,826 inhabitants, 3,807 of whom had permanent residence there. Census asked people for their native language, 3,800 (99.9%) were German-speaking.
Jews were not allowed to declare Yiddish, most of them thus declared the German language as their native. Most populous religious groups wereRoman Catholics with 3,766 (98.4%), followed byProtestants with 30 (0.8%) and theJews with 25 (0.6%). [Ludwig Patryn (ed): " [http://www.kc-cieszyn.pl/biblioteka/strony/ramka.php?autor=Patryn&licz=1 Die Ergebnisse der Volkszählung vom 31. Dezember 1910 in Schlesien] ", Troppau 1912.]John Kerry's ancestry
The town gained some attention when it was learned that Fritz Kohn, the paternal grandfather of
John Kerry , theU.S. Democratic Party 's candidate for United States President in the 2004 election, was from Horní Benešov. Kohn, who was born to aJew ish family here, changed his name to Kerry and converted toCatholic ism before emigrating to the U.S. in 1905.When Kohn was born, the town was populated almost entirely by Germans with only a very small
Jew ish community, and was part of the Silesia region ofAustria-Hungary . AfterWorld War I , the town was within the state ofCzechoslovakia and in 1926 was given its present name. Today it is almost entirely Czech.References
External links
* [http://www.hbenesov.cz/ Official website]
* [http://www.kr-moravskoslezsky.cz/obce2_en.html?id=4235 Statistics for Horní Benešov]
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