Havířov

Havířov (Czech pronunciation: [ˈɦaviːr̝of] (listen); Polish: Hawierzów) is a city in Karviná District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 69,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the region. Havířov lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia.

Havířov Hawierzów
Statutory city
Republiky Square in the city centre
Flag Coat of arms Wordmark
Havířov Location in the Czech Republic
Coordinates: 49°46′59″N 18°25′22″E / 49.78306°N 18.42278°E / 49.78306; 18.42278Coordinates: 49°46′59″N 18°25′22″E / 49.78306°N 18.42278°E / 49.78306; 18.42278
Country	Czech Republic
Region	Moravian-Silesian
District	Karviná
Founded	1955
Government
• Mayor	Josef Bělica (ANO)
Area
• Total	32.08 km^2 (12.39 sq mi)
Elevation	260 m (850 ft)
Population  (2022-01-01)^[1]
• Total	69,084
• Density	2,200/km^2 (5,600/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	736 01
Website	www.havirov-city.cz

Havířov was founded in 1955 and is the youngest Czech city.

Administrative parts

The city is made up of eight administrative parts:

• Bludovice
• Dolní Datyně
• Dolní Suchá
• Město
• Podlesí
• Prostřední Suchá
• Šumbark
• Životice

Etymology

In a competition to name the city in 1956, various names were suggested, such as Stalin, Gottwaldův Horníkov (after Klement Gottwald), Zápotockýgrad (after Antonín Zápotocký) and "Čestprácov" (derived from the Socialist-era greeting čest práci). Eventually it was decided that the city should be named Havířov (from havíř, i.e. "miner", with the possessive suffix -ov).^[2]

History

The first written mention of settlements in today's Havířov area is from 1305 (Horní Suchá and Dolní Suchá). Bludovice was first mentioned in 1335 and Šumbark in 1438.^[3]

 

Havířov railway station

Havířov was founded after the World War II as a coal mining town to restore hard coal mining in the region. Building of first housing estates for miners and their families began in 1947. Havířov was officially established in 1955 and in the same year received the statute of a town.^[3]

Havířov was built on top of several villages with significant Polish populations. The local people were given apartments in the newly built city, and most of their old houses were demolished to make room for new urban buildings. The majority of the population of Havířov emigrated from other parts of Czechoslovakia, many of them from Slovakia, as migrant workers, thus substantially altering the ethnic structure of the area.

Today, the original villages are administrative parts of the city and mostly lie on the outskirts of urban Havířov. In 1975–1990, Horní Suchá, now a separate municipality, was a part of Havířov.^[3]

Most of the buildings of the new city were built in the style of socialist realism.^[4]

Demographics

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1869 5,173 —     1880 5,379 +4.0% 1890 5,900 +9.7% 1900 7,223 +22.4% 1910 10,409 +44.1%	Year Pop. ±% 1921 11,765 +13.0% 1930 12,782 +8.6% 1950 12,898 +0.9% 1961 51,103 +296.2% 1970 82,068 +60.6%	Year Pop. ±% 1980 85,946 +4.7% 1991 86,297 +0.4% 2001 85,855 −0.5% 2011 76,694 −10.7% 2021 68,153 −11.1%
Source: Censuses^[5]^[6]

Sport

Football

The city's football club, MFK Havířov, competes in the Czech Fourth Division. In the past, the team appeared for several seasons in Czech 2. Liga. Football club MFK Havířov was founded in 1922 as ČSK Moravská Suchá. MFK Havířov has two pitches and one artificial pitch. They have nickname which is "indians" according to American bikers. Their matches are played on pitches in Prostřední Suchá.^[7]

Ice hockey

The ice hockey club AZ Havířov appears in the 1st Czech Republic Hockey League, the second-tier league of ice hockey in the country.

Rugby

RC Havířov competes in the highest division of rugby in the Czech Republic, the KB Extraliga.

Cycling

Havířov hosted the prologue and the third stage, both an individual time trial, of the 2012 and 2013 Gracia-Orlová.

Notable people

• Jan Bystroń (1860–1902), Polish linguist
• Józef Kiedroń (1879–1932), Polish mining engineer and politician
• Martin Mainer (born 1959), artist and professor
• Daniel Zítka (born 1975), footballer
• Jan Laštůvka (born 1982), footballer
• Dominik Graňák (born 1983), ice hockey player
• Robert Mayer (born 1989), ice hockey player
• Pavel Maslák (born 1991), sprinter
• Kateřina Pauláthová (born 1993), alpine skier
• Kryštof (founded 1994), music band
• David Pastrňák (born 1996), ice hockey player

Twin towns – sister cities

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

Havířov is twinned with:^[8]

•   Collegno, Italy
•   Harlow, England, United Kingdom
•   Jastrzębie-Zdrój, Poland
•   Mažeikiai, Lithuania
•   Omiš, Croatia
•   Paide, Estonia
•   Turčianske Teplice, Slovakia
•   Zagorje ob Savi, Slovenia

References

1. "Population of Municipalities – 1 January 2022". Czech Statistical Office. 2022-04-29.
2. "Havířov má šedesát let. Mohl to být také Gottwaldův Horníkov". Česká televize. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
3. "Historie a současnost" (in Czech). Statutární město Havířov. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
4. "Havířov vznikl před 60 lety. Honosné bulváry připomínají Paříž a Moskvu" (in Czech). iDnes. 2015-12-16. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
5. "Historický lexikon obcí České republiky 1869–2011 – Okres Karviná" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. 2015-12-21. pp. 1–2.
6. "Population Census 2021: Population by sex". Public Database. Czech Statistical Office. 2021-03-27.
7. "History". MFK Havířov. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
8. "Partnerská města - Statutární město Havířov" (in Czech). Statutární město Havířov. Retrieved 2020-06-07.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Havířov.

• Official website