JILEMNICE

Jilemnice is situated in a mountainous area of west foothills of Krkonoše mountains. It was established at the beginning of the 14th century as an economic centre of an extensive Štěpanice demesne held by the Valdštejn lineage. In 1492 the Valdštejns divided the town and the demesne into two individual parts but in 1701 both parts of the demesne were reunited together again. It was in the hands of the count’s dynasty of Harrachs, whose members were known for their flexible and progressive economic policy. They lifted the local glass and linen industries to the world level.

The town grew rich by the linen industry. The affluence of the town can be seen up to now in a number of pieces of architecture and the valuable equipment of the St. Vavřinec church. But the enhanced building activity was accompanied by pernicious fires especially in 1788, 1803 and 1838.

In the year 1892 count Jan Harrach brought the first skis to the Krkonoše Mountains for his forest workers. Soon skiing became popular among all groups of inhabitants very fast. Jilemnice has developed into the most important Czech skiing centre and it was called “the cradle of the Czech skiing”. In 1894 the local skiers founded the first independent ski club in the Czech countries and Slovakia “The Czech Krkonoše Club SKI”.