Telč

For the Romanian commune called Teltsch in German, see Telciu.

Telč
Town
Zachariáše z Hradce Square
Flag Coat of arms
Telč Location in the Czech Republic
Coordinates: 49°11′3″N15°27′10″E / 49.18417°N 15.45278°E / 49.18417; 15.45278
Country	Czech Republic
Region	Vysočina
District	Jihlava
First mentioned	1335
Government
• Mayor	Vladimír Brtník
Area
• Total	24.87 km2 (9.60 sq mi)
Elevation	514 m (1,686 ft)
Population  (2024-01-01) [1]
• Total	5,185
• Density	210/km2 (540/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	588 56
Website	www.telc.eu
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name	Historic Centre of Telč
Criteria	Cultural: (i), (iv)
Reference	621
Inscription	1992 (16th Session)
Area	36 ha (0.14 sq mi)
Buffer zone	296.5 ha (1.145 sq mi)

Telč (Czech pronunciation: [tɛltʃ] ^ⓘ ; German : Teltsch) is a town in the Jihlava District in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,200 inhabitants. The town is well known for its historic centre, which is protected by law as an urban monument reservation and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Administrative parts

Telč is made up of the town parts of Telč-Podolí, Telč-Staré Město, Telč-Štěpnice and Telč-Vnitřní Město, and the village of Studnice. Studnice forms an exclave of the municipal territory.

Etymology

The settlement was originally named Teleč. The name was created by adding the possessive suffix to the personal name Telec (meaning "young calf") and was masculine. The current name Telč is feminine. ^[2]

Geography

View on Telč across the Ulický Pond

Telč is located about 26 kilometres (16 mi) southwest of Jihlava. It lies in the Křižanov Highlands. The highest point is the hill Studnická Ostražka at 642 m (2,106 ft) above sea level, located near Studnice.

The stream of Telčský potok flows through the town and contributes the Moravian Thaya River in the south. The Moravian Thaya partly forms the eastern border of the municipal territory. The territory is rich in fishponds. The set of ponds Štěpnický, Ulický and Staroměstský is located in the centre of the town.

History

According to local legend, the town was founded in 1099, however the first written mention is from 1335. The Gothic castle, Gothic houses and water fortification were built in the mid-14th century. The development ended during the Hussite Wars. The town was conquered by the Hussites but the castle resisted. ^[3]

Telč slowly recovered and another period of prosperity occurred during the rule of Zachariáš of Hradec. In the middle of the 16th century, he had the medieval castle rebuilt in the Renaissance style. He also had the Gothic houses rebuilt into Renaissance houses with arcades and decorated façades. During the Thirty Years' War, the town was shortly occupied by the Swedish army. The counter-reformation brought the Jesuits to the town, who built the Church of the Name of Jesus in 1667, and founded the Jesuit Latin Grammar School. ^[3]

During the 18th century, the town profited from wealthy townspeople who had statues, fountains, chapels and Marian column built. In 1773, the rights of the Jesuit Order were cancelled. From 1785, Telč was germanised. During the 19th century, the industry developed. The railway was built in 1898. ^[3]

Demographics

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1869 4,733 —     1880 5,272 +11.4% 1890 5,079 −3.7% 1900 4,785 −5.8% 1910 4,647 −2.9%	Year Pop. ±% 1921 4,533 −2.5% 1930 4,420 −2.5% 1950 4,288 −3.0% 1961 5,146 +20.0% 1970 5,367 +4.3%	Year Pop. ±% 1980 5,875 +9.5% 1991 6,049 +3.0% 2001 6,053 +0.1% 2011 5,540 −8.5% 2021 5,151 −7.0%
Source: Censuses [4] [5]

Transport

Telč is located on the railway line Havlíčkův Brod–Slavonice. The town is served by two train stations. ^[6]

Sights

Telč Castle

The historic town centre is located between the Štěpnický and Ulický ponds and also delimited by town walls. The historic centre is protected as an urban monument reservation and the town part of Telč-Staré Město is an urban monument zone. Since 1992, Telč has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site. ^[7]

The town square is a unique complex of long urban plaza with well-conserved Renaissance and Baroque houses with high gables and arcades. The houses have been uniformly reconstructed in the Renaissance styles and later gables and façades of some of them were individually remodelled, in most cases in the Baroque style. ^[8]

The 17th-century Renaissance château with an English-style park is one of the main landmarks of the square and whole town. One of the most valuable parts is the Chapel of All Saints with stucco decoration. There are several exhibition routes and the château also houses a branch of the Vysočina Museum with ethnographic, historical and archaeological collections. ^[9]

In popular culture

In 1963 Vojtěch Jasný made the film The Cassandra Cat in Telč. ^[10] In 1979 Werner Herzog filmed the movie Woyzeck in Telč.

Multiple Czech fairy tale movies were filmed in the Telč Castle, most known are The Proud Princess (1952) and Z pekla štěstí (1999). ^[11]

Notable people

• Siegfried Taub (1876–1946), Jewish politician
• Leopold Lojka (1886–1926), Archduke Franz Ferdinand's chauffeur
• Theodor Schaefer (1904–1969), composer and pedagogue

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in the Czech Republic

Telč is twinned with: ^[12]

• Belp, Switzerland
• Figeac, France
• Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany
• Šaľa, Slovakia
• Waidhofen an der Thaya, Austria
• Wilber, United States

Gallery

• 
  Telč Castle
• 
  Telč Castle, First Court
• 
  Telč Castle, Wedding Hall
• 
  Telč viewed across the ponds
• 
  General view
• 
  Zachariáše z Hradce Square
• 
  Houses on the square
• 
  Sgraffiti on a house on the square

References

1. "Population of Municipalities – 1 January 2024". Czech Statistical Office. 2024-05-17.
2. "Název města" (in Czech). Město Telč. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
3. "Historical background". Telč. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
4. "Historický lexikon obcí České republiky 1869–2011" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. 2015-12-21.
5. "Population Census 2021: Population by sex". Public Database. Czech Statistical Office. 2021-03-27.
6. "Detail stanice Telč" (in Czech). České dráhy . Retrieved 2023-07-21.
7. "Historic Centre of Telč". UNESCO. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
8. "Houses on the square". Telč. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
9. "Chateau". Telč. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
10. "Vojtěch Jasný's film The Cassandra Cat returns to Cannes in digitally restored version". Czech Radio. 2021-06-24. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
11. "Telč: The Painted City". Foreigners.cz. 2020-07-15. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
12. "Partnerská města" (in Czech). Město Telč. Retrieved 2020-10-08.

External links

• Official website
• Telč on DiscoverCzech Travel Agency