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| Area: | 87.8 Km&2 |
| Population: | 49,865 ''(2004)'' |
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(
German ''Iglau'') is a city in the
Czech Republic . Jihlava is a centre of the
Vysočina Region , situated on the Jihlava river (German ''Igel'') on the ancient frontier between
Moravia and
Bohemia , and is the oldest mining town in the Czech Republic.
Among the principal buildings are the churches of St. Jacob, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. John the Baptist and St. Paul, the Municipal Hall and the
Catacombs , second largest in the Czech Republic. There is also a
Jew ish cemetery, containing some remarkable monuments including tombstone of the parents of
Gustav Mahler .
An old
Slavic settlement upon a ford merged with a later mining town, in the
Middle Ages inhabited mostly by
German s (coming mostly from
Bavaria and
Saxony ). According to legend, the silver mines were worked so early as
799 . There is, however, no historical evidence for such statements. King
Otakar I (
1198 –
1230 ) established here a mining-office and a mint. At a very early date it enjoyed exceptional privileges, which were confirmed by King
Wenceslaus I in the year
1250 . The Municipal Hall contains a collection of municipal and mining laws dating as far back as
1389 .
In the era of the
Hussite Wars , Jihlava stayed a
Catholic stronghold and managed to resist in sieges. Later at Jihlava, on
July 5 1436 , the treaty was made with the
Hussites , by which the emperor
Sigismund was acknowledged king of Bohemia. A granite column near the town marks the spot where
Ferdinand I , in
1527 , swore fidelity to the Bohemian estates.
During the
Thirty Years' War Jihlava was twice captured by the
Swedes . In
1742 it fell into the hands of the
Prussians , and in December
1805 the
Bavarians under
Wrede were defeated near the town. In 1860 it became the childhood home of
Austrian Composer Gustav Mahler , who retained his ties to the town until the death of both of his parents in 1889.
Before
1945 , Jihlava was the center of the second largest German-speaking
Enclave in Czechoslovakia (after Schönhengstgau/Hřebečsko). A few weeks after the end of
World War II , the German inhabitants of Jihlava were evicted; it is estimated
that hundreds died on the ardous trek to Austria.
