Reichenberg - Encyclopedia

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

REICHENBERG (Czech, Liberec), a town of Bohemia, 87 m. N.E. of Prague by rail. Pop. (1900) 34,099, chiefly German. The most prominent buildings are the new town-hall (1893); the castle of Count Clam Gallas, built in the 17th century, with additions dating from 1774 and 1850; the Erzdekanatskirche, of the 16th century; the Protestant church, a handsome modern Romanesque edifice (1864-68) and the hall of the cloth-workers. Reichenberg is one of the most important centres of trade and industry in Bohemia, its staple industry being the cloth manufacture. Next in importance comes the spinning and weaving of wool, cotton, linen and carpet manufactures, and dyeing.

Reichenberg is first mentioned in a document of 1348, and from 1622 to 1634 was among the possessions of the great Wallenstein, since whose death it has belonged to the Gallas and Clam Gallas families, though their jurisdiction over the town has long ceased. The cloth-making industry was introduced in 1579.