Velhartice

Velhartice
Velhartice
Municipality
	Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary and the municipal office building
	Coat of arms
	Velhartice Location in the Czech Republic
	Coordinates: 49°15′55″N 13°23′23″E / 49.26528°N 13.38972°ECoordinates: 49°15′55″N 13°23′23″E / 49.26528°N 13.38972°E
Country	Czech Republic
Region	Plzeň
District	Klatovy
First mentioned	1318
Area
• Total	27.25 km2 (10.52 sq mi)
Elevation	622 m (2,041 ft)
Population (2021-01-01)
• Total	841
• Density	31/km2 (80/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	339 01
Website	www.velhartice.cz

Velhartice (German: Welhartitz) is a municipality and village in Klatovy District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 800 inhabitants. The village centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone.

Administrative parts[]

Villages of Braníčkov, Chotěšov, Drouhavec, Hory Matky Boží, Jarkovice, Konín, Nemilkov, Radvanice, Stojanovice and Tvrdoslav are administrative parts of Velhartice.

History[]

Velhartice Castle

The first written mention of Velhartice settlement is from 1318.^[2] However, the Gothic Velhartice Castle was built already in 1290–1310 by a nobleman who later became courtier and close friend of the Emperor Charles IV.^[3]

During the Thirty Years' War, Emperor Ferdinand II gave the castle to one of his generals, Don Balthazar de Marradas who, in 1628, sold it to Don Martin de Hoeff Huerta who bought it for his beautiful adopted daughter Anne-Marie of Moldavia.

In 1790s, the Desfours family, who at the time also owned the castle, built a paper-making factory in Velhartice which, during the World War II, made sleeping bags for the German Army. A leather-tanning factory opened in 1882 and during the World War II provided leather for military boots made in the neighbouring town. In 1945, several armoured units of George S. Patton's Third Army were stationed in Velhartice. The last owner of the Velhartice Castle, Prince Windisch-Graetz, was expelled to Austria in 1946. Presently the castle is claimed by the Czech Republic.