Humpolec

Humpolec (Czech pronunciation: [ˈɦʊmpɔlɛt͡s]; German: Humpoletz) is a town in Pelhřimov District in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 12,000 inhabitants.

Humpolec
Town
Horní Square
Flag Coat of arms
Humpolec Location in the Czech Republic
Coordinates: 49°32′30″N 15°21′26″E
Country	Czech Republic
Region	Vysočina
District	Pelhřimov
First mentioned	1178
Government
• Mayor	Petr Machek
Area
• Total	51.51 km2 (19.89 sq mi)
Elevation	527 m (1,729 ft)
Population  (2025-01-01)[1]
• Total	11,522
• Density	220/km2 (580/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	396 01
Website	www.mesto-humpolec.cz

Administrative division

Humpolec consists of 12 municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census):^[2]

• Humpolec (8,819)
• Brunka (33)
• Hněvkovice (391)
• Kletečná (179)
• Krasoňov (263)
• Lhotka (36)
• Petrovice (167)
• Plačkov (173)
• Rozkoš (293)
• Světlice (171)
• Světlický Dvůr (65)
• Vilémov (245)

Etymology

The name is derived from the German personal name Gumpolt. The oldest written form of the name was Gumpoldis in Latin.^[3]

Geography

Humpolec is located about 22 km (14 mi) northwest of Jihlava, roughly halfway between Prague and Brno. It lies in the Křemešník Highlands. The highest point is the hill Krásná vyhlídka at 663 m (2,175 ft) above sea level. There is a significant amount of small fishponds; some of them are in the urban area.

History

The first written mention of Humpolec is from 1178. In the 13th–15th centuries it was a silver mining town. Humpolec became known for drapery production from the 17th century, which reached its peak in the 19th century.^[4]

Demographics

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1869 8,192 —     1880 8,514 +3.9% 1890 9,110 +7.0% 1900 9,152 +0.5% 1910 9,150 −0.0%	Year Pop. ±% 1921 8,812 −3.7% 1930 8,317 −5.6% 1950 7,706 −7.3% 1961 8,955 +16.2% 1970 9,727 +8.6%	Year Pop. ±% 1980 10,786 +10.9% 1991 11,122 +3.1% 2001 10,929 −1.7% 2011 11,024 +0.9% 2021 10,835 −1.7%
Source: Censuses[5][6]

Economy

Humpolec is traditionally an industrial town. The largest employers are Valeo Compressor Europe, a manufacturer of compressors for cars,^[7] the Family Brewery Bernard, which was established in 1597, and BJS Czech (a manufacturer of furniture).^[8]

Transport

The D1 motorway from Prague to Brno passes through Humpolec.

The railway of local importance heading to Havlíčkův Brod begins here.^[9]

Sights

Aerial view of the historic centre

The Church of Saint Nicholas was originally an early Gothic church, rebuilt in 1721–1722 in the Gothic-Baroque style by Jan Santini Aichel. Its current Neo-Gothic form is a result of the reconstruction in 1895.^[10]

The Evangelical church was built in the Historicist style in 1862, and the tower was added in 1890–1891. Together with the rectory from 1854 and the evangelical school, it forms an area protected as a cultural monument.^[11]

Since 2022, the chimney of the Family Brewery Bernard has a public observation deck in a height of 33 metres (108 ft), which is accessible over a spiral staircase with 189 steps. It is a part of the Visitor Centre of the brewery.^[12]

Notable people

• Jan Želivský (1380–1422), priest
• Aleš Hrdlička (1869–1943), Czech-American anthropologist
• Josef Stránský (1872–1936), composer and conductor
• Anna Sychravová (1873–1925), politician
• Jaroslav Augusta (1878–1970), painter
• Anděla Kozáková-Jírová (1897–1986), lawyer
• Jan Zábrana (1931–1984), writer and translator; lived here as a child
• Ivan Martin Jirous (1944–2011), poet, underground writer and dissident
• Joseph Drapell (born 1940), Czech-Canadian painter
• Dusan Kadlec (1942–2018), Czech-Canadian painter
• Miluše Horská (born 1959), politician
• David Holoubek (born 1980), football manager
• Jan Kopic (born 1990), footballer

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in the Czech Republic

Humpolec is twinned with:^[13]

• Námestovo, Slovakia