České Budějovice (sometimes only Budějovice, sometimes rendered in English as "Ceske Budejovice", also known by the German name of Budweis) is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the largest city in the South Bohemian Region and is the political and commercial capital of the region.

History

České Budějovice boasts a beautiful town square: Naměstí Přemysla Otakara II (Přemysl Otakar II Square). It is the only perfectly square naměstí in the Czech Republic.

The town founded by Hirzo , a knight of King Ottokar II of Bohemia, and granted its charter as a city in the year 1265.

Beer

České Budějovice has long been well known for the fine beer brewed here since the 13th century. For a time the town was the royal brewery for the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and beer from Budweis (the German name for České Budějovice), or "Budweiser Beer", attained fame. Beer brewing remains a major industry here.

The largest brewery is Pivovar Budějovický Budvar, which has legal rights to market its beer under the "Budweiser" brand name in much of Europe. The same product is also sold elsewhere under the names "Budvar" and "Czechvar" due to legal squabbles with Anheuser-Busch over the Budweiser brand. The American lager was originally brewed as an imitation of the famous Czech original but over time has developed its own identy and attained remarkable commercial success. Anheuser-Busch has made offers to buy out the Czech brewing company in order to secure global rights to the name "Budweiser", but the Czech company has refused all such offers, considering keeping the Budweiser name Czech to be a matter of national pride.

The second largest brewery Pivovar Samson also does a fair amount of export, mostly under the "Samson" and "Crystal" labels.

Geography

The city is in the center of a valley of the Vltava River, where the Vltava meets the Malse river.

Sights

The old town preserves interesting Medieval and Baroque architecture around the large town square, including the old town hall with murals and bronze gargoyles, and the town tower "Černá věž" ("Black Tower"). In the new town the Belle Epoque Austro-Hungarian train station is notable.

Transportation

The railroad line connecting Ceske Budejovice to Linz was the oldest on the European continent, constructed from 1824 to 1832.

Miscellaneous

Ceske Budejovice is home to the University of South Bohemia and an Academy of Sciences.

Ceske Budejovice was the birthplace of:

• Vladimír Remek (born 1948), astronaut
• Vaclav Prospal (born 1975), professional ice hockey leftwinger

External links:

• Virtual Tourist tour of Ceske Budejovice
• University of South Bohemia