History

Trebic lies on both banks of the River Jihlava, which forms a natural axis of the city and actually of the whole Trebic administrative district. The countryside along the river is a natural habitat for the characteristic flora & fauna of the Czech-Moravian Highlands. One of the local curiosities is a variety of pulsatilla which you can admire on the Ptackovsky Hill (Ptackovsky kopecek), only a stone's throw from Trebic. The nearby Mohelno Serpentine Steppe attracts visitors with its extraordinary collection of natural curiosities, thermophilic flower species, Tertiary relicts, dwarf species and the like, all concentrated in a relatively small area.

Over the centuries of its existence Trebic has become an important industrial, administrative, political, cultural and entertainment metropolis of southwestern Moravia. The beginnings of the city go back to 1101 when Moravian apanage princes Oldrich Brnensky and Litold Znojemsky founded here a Benedictine Monastery. Thanks to the generosity of its founders the monastery was amongst the richest in the Premyslite Kingdom, serving as an important religious and educational center. The monastery was also a moving force behind further settlement of the region.

Around the mid-thirteenth century (probably between 1240 and 1260) the Benedictine congregation decided to add a new building to the monastery: an amazing Romanesque-Gothic basilica, nowadays dedicated to Virgin Mary and St. Prokopus. The Trebic Basilica outlived the monastery itself, managing to overcome all adversities. Nowadays it is considered one of the most precious historic monuments of this type. What is more, the Trebic Monastery decided to build from scratch a new colony on the right bank of the River Jihlava. After all those centuries the extraordinary expanse of Karlovo Square (Karlovo namesti) still demonstrates the Benedictines' big-hearted approach to the colonization of the region (the hoods of the Benedictine Order are actually contained in Trebic's coat of arms). Very soon after its foundation Trebic was referred to as 'the city', which is evidenced by the text of the oldest surviving document from 1277. But it was not until 1335, however, that Karel IV and Jan Lucembursk granted the city the privilege to build defensive walls and to enforce the norms of municipal law equal to those enforced in the Royal City of Znojmo. The content of this important privilege did not wind up as a dead letter, on the other hand, its impact on the city proved momentous. The ramparts erected around the mid-fourteenth century protected the city till the 18th century when they lost any military significance and what is more, hindered further expansion of the city. Some vestiges of the ramparts can be seen still today.

Trebic lost its original Gothic appearance in 1468 when it was almost completely wiped off the face of the earth during the wars between Jiri of Podebrady and Mathias Korvin. Nor did Trebic of the Renaissance as we know it from later pictures survive. After frequent fires Renaissance and Baroque gables were replaced with Romantic and retro-style facades. This makes particularly precious two surviving Renaissance houses on Karlovo Square (Karlovo namesti): Frantiskovsky dum (Painted House) and Rabluv dum (Black House). The former belonged to Francesco Calligardi, an Italian merchant, the latter belonged to Jan Rab, a master soap-maker. Both houses are notable for its graffito facade. The times of the construction of the city, i.e. around mid-thirteenth century, brought into being another important monument, St. Martin's Parish Church. Its impressively sturdy and tall tower is visible from many miles around. Originally, the tower formed part of city walls and only later it was incorporated in the main church building. The church was also hit hard by the disastrous year 1468 and for many years hereafter it was used for religious service in a provisional state of repair. It was not until the 18th century that a new Baroque vault as well as two lateral chapels were added to the church. Between the aftermath of the Hussite Revolution and the post-Bila hora era St. Martin's Church was used by Protestants. From that time date two late-Gothic 'Pernstejn-style' doors leading into the sacristy (second half of the 15th century) and a Renaissance tin font donated to the church by Jan Rafael Chroustensky of Malovar at the beginning of the 17th century.

Prior to the Battle of Bila hora (the White Mountain) Trebic was one of the centers of Brethrens' Union, most notably its suburb Jejkov where the Brethrens' Chapel, a hospital and a 'Funeral Garden' were located. Jan A. Komensky's second wife Dorota was a daughter of Jan Cyrill, a leading functionary of Brethrens' Union in Trebic.

The city managed to get through the Rebellion of the Estates and Thirty Years' War with relatively little damage, resisting re-catholization for a very long time. The architectural symbol of the victory of Catholics and the return of the 'Old Creed' to Trebic, was the Capuchin Monastery built together with a church in Jejkov. The construction of the Church of Lord Jesus Christ's Metamorphosis built in the simple Capuchin style was finished just like the monastery proper in 1693. The complex replaced the Brethrens' Chapel, which had been pulled down.

During Thirty Years' War the whole Trebic estate became the property of the Mnichuv Hradec-based family branch of the House of Valdstejn. Smil Osovsky's widowed wife Katerina of Valdstejn, remarried to Karel of zerotin, one of the most prominent politicians, decided to emigrate from the country. Hence, she surrendered her estate to her brother Adam the younger of Valdstejn, Emperor's senior official. In the 18th century Trebic was engaged in long-running disputes with the Valdstejn nobility, and most of all with Jan Josef of Valdstejn, over the preservation of at least part of its ancient privileges.

The nineteenth century introduced a lot of important changes into Trebic. The predominant role of textile trade (drapers and weavers) in the economy of the city was taken over by shoe and leather industries. In the second half of the 19th century the Czech segment of Trebic's population fought a victorious battle with the much richer and more influential German minority over the control of the city. Without any doubt, one of the praiseworthy decisions of the Czech self-government was its move to establish a Slavic junior grammar school in 1871 and the construction of a new building for the Grammar School in 1889. The Grammar School's pseudo-Renaissance style designed by the building contractors Herzan & Volf enriched Trebic with another historic and architectural point of interest. Over the 19th century the change in the appearance of Trebic was extremely noticeable. Trebic ceased to be the hub of the government of feudal masters, its industrial production was expanding and the so-called transversal railroad linked Trebic firmer than ever with outer regions.

In the 20th century Trebic has been coping with the lot of a district city lost in the countryside. The construction activity in the city exceeded only exceptionally an average rate. Among the buildings that worth a mention is the Art Nouveau Evangelical Church on Brafova Avenue (Brafova trida)(finished in 1910), Orthodox St. Vaclav's and St. Ludmila's Temple on the Gorazdovo Square (Gorazdovo namesti), the headquarters of the Municipal Savings Bank on Karlovo Square (Karlovo namesti) (built in 1932 on the basis of a project of the architect Bohuslav Fuchs) and just to name some of the industrial buildings, the Cubist building of the UP Company in the Domky neighborhood.

The present-day Trebic is a city with the population of 40,000. Its industrial sector is based not only on traditional trades, such as footwear production, tool-machinery and wood-processing industries, but also on such progressive technologies as the nuclear energy production.

The beautiful scenery of the Czech-Moravian Highlands, its spectacular historic monuments and last but not least its prominent position in the cultural history of the Czech Republic lend Trebic a touch of uniqueness and attractiveness.