Horní Bříza
Horní Bříza (Ober Birken) is a town in Plzeň-North District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 4,000 inhabitants.
Horní Bříza
- Name
- Horní Bříza
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In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Horní Bříza • Settlement Type — Town • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Type1 — Region • Subdivision Name1 — Plzeň • Subdivision Type2 — District • Subdivision Name2 — Plzeň-North • Leader Title — Mayor • Leader Name — David Kapr • Established Title — First mentioned • Established Date — 1180 • Area Total Km2 — 14.55 • Elevation M — 367 • Population As Of — 2026-01-01 • Population Total — 4041 • Population Density Km2 — auto • Timezone1 — CET • Utc Offset1 — +1 • Timezone1 Dst — CEST • Utc Offset1 Dst — +2 • Postal Code Type — Postal code • Postal Code — 330 12 • Website — https: www.hornibriza.eu/
Etymology
Etymology
The name Bříza means 'birch' in Czech. The settlement was founded near some notable birch tree. The prefix Horní ('upper') served to distinguish it from nearby Dolní Bříza ('lower Bříza'; today known as Břízsko, part of Kozojedy) and Německá Bříza (today known as Česká Bříza).
Geography
Geography
Horní Bříza is located about 8 km north of Plzeň. It lies in the Plasy Uplands. The highest point is at 492 m above sea level. The Bělá Stream flows through the town.
History
History
The first written mention of Horní Bříza is from 1180. Around 1220, the village was donated to the monastery in Plasy. The appearance of Horní Bříza changed after the great fire in 1865 and also with the construction of the railway line in the years 1871–1873. However, a significant turning point did not occur until the 1880s, when kaolin was discovered here. In 1882, Johann Fitz, a prominent businessman and mining expert from Rokycany, began with its mining. In 1886, he introduced the production of ceramic goods and founded a company which maintained dominant position in the ceramics industry for hundred years.
World War II
World War II
During World War II, some death trains taking Jews, outspoken people, gypsies, intellectuals, communists and Russian prisoners travelled through Horní Bříza. It was on the route to Mauthausen concentration camp, further south on the Danube River. On 21 April 1945, a death train stopped here as the line was blocked. The station master Antonín Pavlíček intervened and organised the townspeople to cook food and bread for the about 1,000 women being taken to Mauthausen. He asked the SS to leave the people there so the town could care for them, but they refused.
Transport
Transport
• Illustration — Main street Horní Bříza is located on the railway line Plzeň–Plasy.
Sights
Sights
The only protected cultural monuments in Horní Bříza are the Chapel of Saint Peter, built in the pseudo-Baroque style in 1840, and the Memorial to the Victims of World War II.
Notable people
Notable people
• Zdeněk Bláha (1929–2025), composer, editor and bagpiper
Twin towns – sister cities
Twin towns – sister cities
Horní Bříza is twinned with: • Villeneuve-sur-Yonne, France
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Horní Bříza, revision 1367661888 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Czech Statistical Office. Population in municipalities as at 1. 1. DataStat. 2026-05-18.
- 2.Profous, Antonín. Místní jména v Čechách I: A–H. 195–196. 1947.
- 3.Město Horní Bříza. Krátce z historie.
- 4.Holden, Wendy. Born Survivors: Three Young Mothers and Their Extraordinary Story of Courage, Defiance, and Hope. Brown Book Group Limited. 2015. 9780751557398.
- 5.Czech Statistical Office. Historický lexikon obcí České republiky 1869–2011. 2015-12-21.
- 6.Czech Statistical Office. Population Census 2021: Population by sex. Public Database. 2021-03-27.
- 7.České dráhy. Station details Horní Bříza.
- 8.National Heritage Institute. Výsledky vyhledávání: Kulturní památky, obec Horní Bříza. Ústřední seznam kulturních památek.
- 9.Město Horní Bříza. Partnerství mezi městy Horní Bříza a Villeneuve sur Yonne.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 27 September 2026.
Elsewhere in General
22,760 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- HornbachPlace
- Hornby-with-FarletonPlace
- HornchurchPlace
- HornellPlace
- Horní JiřetínPlace
- Hornsby Girls' High SchoolOrganisation
- Hornsey College of ArtOrganisation
- HorodniaPlace
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