Iglau

Iglau (Czech Jihlava), a town of Austria, in Moravia, 56 m. N.W. of Brünn by rail. Pop. (1900) 24,387, of whom 4200 are Czechs and the remainder Germans. Iglau is situated on the Iglawa, close to the Bohemian frontier, and is one of the oldest towns in Moravia, being the centre of a German-speaking enclave. Among the principal buildings are the churches of St Jakob, St Ignatius, St John and St Paul, the town-hall, and the barracks formed from a monastery suppressed under the emperor Joseph II. There is also a fine cemetery, containing some remarkable monuments. It has the principal tobacco and cigar factory of the state monopoly, which employs about 2500 hands, and has besides a large and important textile and glass industry, corn and saw-mills, pottery and brewing. Fairs are periodically held in the town; and the trade in timber, cereals, and linen and woollen goods is generally brisk.

Iglau is an old mining town where, according to legend, the silver mines were worked so early as 799. King Ottakar I. (1198-1230) established here a mining-office and a mint. At a very early date it enjoyed exceptional privileges, which were confirmed by King Wenceslaus I. in the year 1250. The town-hall contains a collection of municipal and mining laws dating as far back as 1389. At Iglau, on the 5th of July 1436, the treaty was made with the Hussites, by which the emperor Sigismund was acknowledged king of Bohemia. A granite column near the town marks the spot where Ferdinand I., in 1527, swore fidelity to the Bohemian states. During the Thirty Years’ War Iglau was twice captured by the Swedes. In 1742 it fell into the hands of the Prussians, and in December 1805 the Bavarians under Wrede were defeated near the town.

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