Our German Bohemian Legacy
by
Robert J. Paulson
GBHS Founder
Bischofteinitz
The friendly former county town Bischofteinitz was in the west of Bohemia, not far from the foothills of the Bohemian Forest, at the middle of the picturesque Radbusa, which springs near the Bavarian border at the places Friedrichshof-Waier in the Bohemian Forest, a beautiful forest valley between Schwanenbrückl and Schmolau in south-north direction and at In the latter place the low mountains of the Bohemian Forest were broken and forced to strike the eastern direction.
It touched Weißensulz, Zwirschen, Schüttarschen, Taschlowitz, Pollschitz and Sirb and took shortly before Bischofteinitz coming from Hirschstein Piwonka, which went through the places Münchsdorf, Ronsperg and Metzling.
In front of the city stood the Thalo mill, while the St. Anna mill, in the vicinity of which the old pilgrimage church of St. Anna with the princely tomb sat on a hill, received power from the Piwonka just before its confluence with the cycle bus.
The river broadened in the city's soft space through the weir of the city mill and the valley offered a very picturesque picture.
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On the left bank, the town nestled with the north on a rock standing proud castle of Prince Trauttmansdorff-Weinsberg, the town church on the Ringplatze with its impressive house fronts and their Baroque and Renaissance gables, the town hall and the bell tower with the big bell and the magnificent English park with mirror pond and observation tower and groups of trees with giants up to 700 years on the wooded hill Hubeny against Kotzoura, Untermedelzen and Worowitz. To the west, the small suburb joined the new district, which almost reached Neudorf, to the east the after the Capuchin monastery with its church named monastery fortress, which strived with the new houses and villas on the road to Semeschitz. When leaving the urban areas, the Herrenmühle was discovered with the power plants built by the Träger family in 1904/05.
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On the right bank of the river lay the large suburb with the Erzdekanalkirche, the German schools (boys and girls-Volks- and Bürgerschulen), the railway station of the local railway Bischofteinitz-Ronsperg, the bourgeois steam brewery and the agricultural spirits distillery.
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St. Anna pilgrimage church
About half an hour west of Bischofteinitz a lime tree avenue led to a park on a moderately high hill, from whose summit the sanctuary greeted far visible. The emergence of the pilgrimage church is linked to the legend, according to which the Teinitz citizens Krecka a wooden statue of St. Mother had creaked on his field and carried her home from where she was supposed to have returned again and again. This was interpreted as an indication that the saint wanted to be worshiped in this place.
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First, some Teinitz citizens built a wooden chapel. Archdeacon Nicholas of Budweis (also called Tuchschmied) but had already built in 1507 a stone church in late Gothic styles, which was then consecrated on 5 April 1516 by Peter Kraft, Suffragan Bishop of Regensburg. Archdeacon Nicholas erects there also a spiritual brotherhood in honor of St. Anna for a good death, which was confirmed by Pope Alexander II in 1563 and equipped with indulgences. Gradually, almost all the clergy, the nobility and the faithful people of Western Bohemia joined this brotherhood. As a reminder of the Brotherhood, only the prayer for St. Anna for a good death, every Tuesday from the priest after the St. Mass was prayed in St. Anne's Church.
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The miraculous image of St. Anna "selbdritt" was in a glass box above the rotary tabernacle on the altar.
What seemed particularly interesting to the pilgrims in St. Anna was two chapels built in the park south of the church. The one chapel, which echoed the Moorish style, was dedicated to the painful mother, who, as Pieta, always saw devout worshipers at her feet.
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The second chapel was built in 1697 by the widowed Countess Anna Maria Trauttmansdorff, b. Princess Liechtenstein allegedly built entirely according to the model of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem.
There were many occasions to go to St. Anna. The main festival, however, took place every Sunday after the 26th of July. There the whole district made a rendezvous. The Czech pilgrims came from the Taus area with their picturesque Choden costumes. The event was accompanied by a big carnival, which the children enjoyed year after year.
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Worth mentioning is also that under the church built in 1839 spacious tomb of the members of the princely. Trauttmansdorff family was in which also 3 altars stood. On the road to St. Anne's Church, the countess Anna Maria Trauttmansdorff, mentioned above, had stone statues erected in 1696 depicting scenes from the Passion of Christ.
population The down-to-earth population, a friendly people with strong Bavarian influence spoke a dialect very similar to the Egerland.
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The Czech school, which was built in the twenties, was located in the new district.After the census of 1930, the number of originally only a small number of Czech inhabitants increased to 390 with a total of 3,200 inhabitants. In 1938, there were still 28 Czechs living in the city. The largest part of the population was Roman Catholic, the Protestant confession was at 20, the Israelites represented about 54 people.
Several very ancient churches testify that the city was always regarded as a refuge of Catholic Christianity, and that the
Hussite movement of the fifteenth century was unable to exert any appreciable influence here.
The city was the seat of the district executive (district administrator) for the district Bishopric, a district court (district court), a tax office (tax office), a taxation authority and the district school office for the German districts Bischofteinitz and Taus.
Most inhabitants of the actual city operated a business, cultivated their garden or were farmers, while the residents of the right bank devoted themselves almost entirely to agriculture and cattle breeding, as almost all the inhabitants of the about 35,000 souls count district Bishopric.
naming
Bishopric has had different names throughout history. More recently, Teinitz (dialect pronunciation: "Teinz") was usually in use. However, the historical roots of the name lie in the word Horschau-Teinitz, which was in the Czech Horssov-Teyn, Horssowsky, Horschowsky Teyn or Tyn Horschuv, in the Latin Tina Horssii or Tynhorschovium. The word Tein or Tyn is thus the oldest name for the city. The name Bischofteinitz arose only from the long-standing affiliation to the Prague Archbishopric.
formation
Bishopric, historically known until the 10th century, was over 450 years in the possession of the Prague Archbishopric, then passed to Dobrohost of Ronsperg as Lord of Teinitz, later under Emperor Ferdinand I in the property of Johann Popel von Lobkowitz and in 1623 as Result of the Battle of the White Mountain to Max Earl of Trauttmansdorff, the founder of the Peace of Westphalia, whose descendant was owner of the castle lake and extensive goods until the international illegal expulsion of all Germans in 1945/46.
In 973 Duke Boleslaus founded a diocese in Bohemia in Prague and donated it with other goods also bishopric. The founding of the place falls already in the year 717 and was originally Czech. The first mention of the place takes place in 1186, where a certain Oschitka in Gorsow (the Horschauer Meierhof) administrator of the Prague bishops, as a witness appears (see "The political district Bishopric" by Karl Liebscher).
Although the relevant original document is missing, it is clear from a document book that the efforts of the first Archbishop Ernst von Pardubitz raised the bishopric of Emperor Charles IV to a town in 1351, and surrounded it with ramparts, moats and city gates. In the period before (1263) also falls the further development of the episcopal castle, which emerged from the 1228 erected "House of Bishops", 1279 the founding of the town church of St. Peter and Paul, as well as the founding of a collegiate in the old Tein on the right Radbusaufer, the later Erzdekanalkirche. It was the seat and center of the still young Christianity in the districts Teinitz, Taus and Tachau.
So long before the founding of the city due to heavy trade on the way from Regensburg to Prague right the Radbusa already probably the first dwellings emerged, announce Geschichstsschreiber only from the later emergence of the Neustadt left the Radbusa on the hill in front of the castle. In 1357 Bishopric received, as many other cities in Bohemia also, special Privilege. These were confirmed again and again and extended. Emperor Ferdinand III. increased these privileges of the city by giving it to the rightful citizens of the citytheir wheat and barley beer both inside and outside the city. This privilege played a significant economic role until 1945.
Royal city of protection
After severe conflicts between Archbishop Wechta, who was devoted to the Hussite doctrine and the Catholic citizens, the time ended, since Bishopric was a bishop's city. Under the Bohemian King Sigismund, a son of Emperor Charles IV. Bischofseinitz 1420 royal protection city. And this protection under the new fief knight Drschka should prove beneficial. While the unpaved Great suburb including the then, probably magnificent Gothic church of St. Christophorus and the churches to the hl. Kunegunde and the hl. Fabianus and Sebastianus and the Kollegiatstiftes after the siege by the Hussitischen gangs 1427 and 1431eeinenäschert became, the city could be successfully defended itself.
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The fact that the anti-German poison had already flowed in the Czech veins at that time, reports from this period. The Germans would have been killed on the run, pulled out of the bushes where they had hid, pulled out and killed. Palacky, the most important Czech historian wrote in his "History of Bohemia": "It can not be determined how many thousands of Germans are buried in the Bishopric church (around which the cemetery lay)."
It was not until 1767 that the destroyed church was completed again and in 1768 in honor of the Assumption of Mary, the bishop and martyr Apollinaris and of St. Consecrated to Christophorus.
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The Lobkowitz era
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In 1539, Johann Popel von Lobkowitz acquired the rule of Teinitz on the condition that this property, which was once church property, always remained with a Catholic Lord and the Catholic faith.
In 1546 the town was given a coat of arms by Emperor Ferdinand I, which was renewed and extended by Emperor Ferdinand II. For this reason, the gold-colored Chiffer "F II," came to the chest of the crowned with the imperial crown, and with its feet the towers of the city protecting eagle, who dominated the coat of arms of bishopric.
It is thanks to the work of German missionaries and German bishops, the elevation to the city and the privileges that have been repeatedly confirmed, such as the right to levy customs, that Bischofteinitz was able to experience centuries as a proud city in the splendor and glory of German emperors and Bohemian kings and princes.
But she was also plagued by plagues, war, distress, fire and floods.
So in 1547, on Wednesday after Easter, a great conflagration raged. The whole city, church, castle and suburbs including the stately Meierhofe under the castle became a robbery of the flames and 26 people were killed.
The city and castle were rebuilt with great diligence and the castle was built in a splendor, as it still exists today in its fundamentals. The territory of the burgraves was constantly enlarged by inheritance and marriage. To the castle belonged at that time (1587) the main building with pleasure house and garden, 6 Meierhöfe, a malting house and a brewery in Zetschowitz, two hop gardens and a vineyard. The income from fisheries, forests and other possessions must have been significant.
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The population suffered immensely untoward from the turmoil of the Thirty Years' War. Atrocities, diseases, looting, contributing marauding troops decimated the population considerably.
The Countess Count William Popel von Lobkowitz, originally a benevolent lord and protector of the city, developed by the influence of his wife to a reckless patron saint, who had no respect for the church laws, and the clergyman as volunteers and deposed and the Catholic city chaplain "beat and bled". He took part in the Battle of the White Mountain in the anti-royal camp and was captured in 1621 after the victory of Emperor Ferdinand II, who was also King of Bohemia and escaped death by the sword only the intercession of his uncle. His estates, however, were confiscated by the royal treasury.
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The era Trauttmansdorff
The rule Teinitz acquired thereupon in 1622 Count Maximilian von Trauttmansdorff, an old noble family from the village of Trautmansdorff near Gleichenberg in the eastern part of Styria, which was already under Emperor Rudolf II in the court services. Fortunately, under the rule of those of Trauttmansdorff, the city soon recovered from the consequences of the war.In 1683 the poorhouse was built and in 1693 the conversion of the original courthouse to the town hall took place in its present form. In another conversion in 1781, the stone statue of Justitia, the goddess of justice, came to a niche on the second floor, with scales and a sword. On the occasion of the 27th general meeting of the German Bohemian Forest Confederation in 1911, a marble plaque, created by the Pilsner sculptor Ludwig Wildt, was placed above the entrance. It contained the following words: "We want our cabins, gray and old, do not inherit to strangers, we want in the German Bohemian Forest, live German and die German! "
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Because of the good care by Kapuzinermönche on a sickbed in Vienna, Count Maximilian conceived the plan to found a Capuchin monastery in Bischofteinitz. On April 22, 1650, the Order's Visitor of the Capuchin Order arrived in Bischofteinitz and accepted the foundation on behalf of the Apostolic See. On June 8, 1650, Maximilian died of Trauttmansdorff. The construction and furnishing of the Capuchins became simple and simple, just as their father, Francis of Assisi, had wanted. And just as in Assisi every year on August 2, Portiunkula, the little church "Mary of the Angels" unfolds into a huge sanctuary, the Bishopric of the Capuchin Church became the destination of devout pilgrims.
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Festively decorated, bishopric on this day always enjoyed a feast of peace and the attachment of the faithful people from town and country to their Capuchins. The bishopric owes to them that it has never been unfaithful to the Catholic faith. It remained the Nazi rabble reserved, 1941 the Kapuzinermöche from Bischofteinitz chased away.
A second big fire in 1708 shook half of the city including the Little Suburb, the roof of the church Petri et Pauli was seized by the flames, collapsed and cut through the church vault. Even the magnificent mausoleum, built by Johann the Younger Knight of Lobkowitz, was destroyed at that time. The church was rebuilt again, this time as a parish church and inaugurated in 1773 by the Prague suffragan bishop. As early as 1752, the town church had been united with the Horschauer and the suburban church, with the suburban church occupying the leading position as the seat of the Archdeacon.
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At that time, the city consisted of 267 houses. The main sources of inspiration of the citizens were agriculture, brewing and crafts. There were weavers, lace makers, yarn bleachers, gunsmiths, dyers, clothiers, nail makers, trimmers, tanners and wax-makers on the spot. There were well over 150 craftsmen and many merchants and shopkeepers settled here. Three fairs a year were for the population each time a folk festival, but also of enormous economic importance. The city was home to doctors, surgeons, midwives and a pharmacy. The inns were widely known retreats.
A great event for the citizens of Bischofteintz in 1770 was the visit of Emperor Joseph II to the castle of Trauttmansdorff. In honor of him, the protector and livestock liberator, a monument was erected in 1884 on the Ringplatz with great celebrations. This monument was destroyed in 1918 by the Czechs. It was precisely this emperor, who - proud of his German - during his reign, protected his hand over the culture and language of the Czechs, at a time when this culture was threatened with extinction due to the superiority and dominance of German culture was. Without this emperor it would have been possible to learn about Czechs in 1918 only from the history books.
In 1776, a barracks in the Great suburb, next to the school, with stables for the then stationed here k.k. Cuirassier Regiment No.8 and later built for other types of troops. In 1797, the two tubular box were built at the ring place, an important facility for water and health care.
Born on February 13, 1781 in Bischofteinitz Johann Joseph Edler von Littrow, director and professor of astronomy at the k.k. University in Vienna.
On July 7, 1784 Franz Willibald Nußhard was born in Bischofteinitz, doctor of medicine and surgery, k.k. Council and professor of special pathology at the University of Prague.
In 1801 Bishopric was once again struck by a conflagration, which fell next to the town hall another 82 houses victim. Even during the Napoleonic wars, the city had much to suffer from billeting, troop patrols and occupation.
In 1827 number plates were first attached to the houses and in 1829 the first post office in the former inn "Zur Post" was opened. In 1836 the road was built against Neudorf, and in 1838 against Horschau.
In 1845 Bishopric was separated from the Klattauer district as a district and received its own district administration.
The abolition of the Robot in 1849 allowed Bischofteinitz to develop more freely. It took place the first elections of the deputies. In 1852 the last old city gate, whose foundations are still recognizable today, was demolished, in 1867 the Landwehr barracks were built and the first Jewish families were established. The census of 1879 revealed 2890 Bishop's citizens. In 1885, the expansion of schools with commercial and agricultural training schools continued.
After the completion of the state railway from Stankau via Blisowa to Taus in 1861 in May 1899 the construction of the local railway Stankau-Ronsperg, which passed through the bishopric, was begun by the promotion of numerous state and private organizations and private individuals, and on 6 August 1900 be handed over to traffic. Since then, the "Bockl", as the popular saying called it, has become indispensable in the life of Bischofteinitz.
Founding of the advance fund, Neubäu of the Dampfbräuhauses, collective cooperatives for trade and commerce, associations for guest and Schankgewerbe, establishment of the Raiffeisenkasse, opening of the girls citizen school, establishment of the first parish and association library, establishment of the power station and building of the distillery mark the economic and social transition from the 19th to the 20th century.
In 1913, the Lourdes pilgrimage church was built and consecrated on the Galgenberg, and in 1925/26 the Erzdekanalkirche was restored to its original state.
In 1914, the previously wooden bridge over the Radbusa was replaced by an iron construction.
The world wars and their results Bischofteinitz had a hard time beginning and end of the First World War. Many fathers and sons had to give their lives. In 1918, Bischofteinitz brought the invasion of Czech Miltärs and thus in 1919 the violent integration into a state, which rejected the German population, and which brought her subsequently Czech arbitrariness, arrests, harassment, severe national and economic oppression and systematic attempts at Cheykla, although could be slowed down by the activities of national protection associations, but only with the redeeming connection to the German Reich 1938 their provisional end found.
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The city increased and embellished significantly after the First World War. It resulted in villa district, new commercial enterprises and banks, new rows of buildings and the construction of a city park at the Radbusa. Even during the Second World War, the large "Stadthalle" was built at the site of the worn-out old Bräuhaus, in which the "cinema" was housed, and a modern dairy at the station.
However, the liberation from the Czech yoke was in fact exchanged for the dictatorship of the National Socialists. Their anti-church spirit brought the Bishop of Catholics and their priests the heaviest trials, the Jews the flight abroad, the non-National Socialist associations the dissolution, the critics of National Socialism imprisonment and imprisonment and many a death. During these years, many bishop-castles have certainly been burdened with misguided beliefs in progress, and many innocent families have had to pay for this error during and even more so at the end of World War II with a heavy toll.
But the historic deathblow for the city community was only offset by the Czech mob, which had been lost because of the war lost to the Germans. Instigated by years of anti-German propaganda, he now believed he had to avenge himself in an unimaginable, bloodthirsty and criminal attack of Hussite nationalism and drove all German bishops inhabitants of their hometown and their ancestral property.
Alfred Piwonka using texts by the following authors:
Anton Pauli "Bishofteinitz"
Josef Drachsler, School Board "Geographical overview of the city and district Bischofteinitz"
Hans Schlögl "Bischofteinitz - 600 years of the city" in the commemorative publication for the 600th anniversary of the town of Bischofteinitz in 1951
Monsig. Leopold Klima, Archdeacon a.D. "Bishopric in the History of its Churches" and "The St. Anna Pilgrimage Church" ib
Dr. Josef Hüttl, Archdeacon, "The Archdeaconate in Bischofteinitz"
Rudolf Hild "Short History of Bischofteinitz"
Ing. Willi Ubl "Feststadt Bischofteinitz", Festschrift Day of the Egerland, 1934
Josef Bernklau "Town and Dominion Bishopric in the era Trauttmansdorff 1622-1945"
Fr. Wilhelm Tschida "Peace and Salvation - 300 years of Capuchins in our hometown"
© Heimatkreis Bischofteinitz e.V., homework adviser Peter Pawlik, Palnkamerstr. 73a, 83624 Otterfing, Tel. 0 80 24/9 26 46, Fax 0 80 24/9 26 48, E-Mail: Peter-Pawlik@t-online.de