Kolín

File:Kolín, Karlovo náměstí západ.jpg

Kolín consists of ten municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census):{{cite web |title=Public Census 2021 – basic data|url=https://vdb.czso.cz/vdbvo2/faces/en/index.jsf?page=vystup-objekt-parametry&z=T&f=TABULKA&sp=A&skupId=4690&katalog=33475&pvo=SLD21043-CO|work=Public Database|publisher=Czech Statistical Office|language=cs|date=2022}}

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• Kolín I (1,484)
• Kolín II (12,755)
• Kolín III (3,552)
• Kolín IV (5,218)
• Kolín V (5,846)
• Kolín VI (406)
• Sendražice (1,641)
• Šťáralka (81)
• Štítary (787)
• Zibohlavy (180)

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The name Kolín probably comes from the Old Czech verb koliti, i.e. "to hammer poles", and is related to the location of Starý Kolín in the often flooded area at the confluence of the Klejnárka and Elbe rivers. The soil in the vicinity of the confluence was strengthened with the help of wooden poles.{{cite web |title=Základní informace|url=https://www.mukolin.cz/cz/o-meste/zakladni-informace/|publisher=Město Kolín|language=cs|access-date=2022-06-09}}

Kolín is located about {{convert|47|km}} east of Prague. It lies in a fertile landscape of the Central Elbe Table lowland. The Elbe River flows through the town. In the eastern part of the municipal territory is Sandberk, an artificial lake created by flooding a sandstone quarry.

Ptolemy's world map of the 2nd century mentions Budorgis in the area of today's Kolín.{{cite book|last1=Kleineberg|first1=Andreas|last2=Marx|first2=Christian|last3=Lelgemann|first3=Dieter|last4=Knobloch|first4=Eberhard|title=Germania und die Insel Thule. Die Entschlüsselung von Ptolemaios' "Atlas der Oikumene"|date=2010|publisher=Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft|location=Darmstadt|isbn=978-3-534-23757-9|language=de}}

Kolín was founded by King Ottokar II in the 13th century by relocation, when Starý Kolín ("Old Kolín") was threatened by floods and the king decided to move the settlement. The first written mention of Kolín is from 1261, when it was mentioned that Přelouč obtained town privileges, just like Kolín and Kouřim have. It lay on a trade route Prague–Český Brod–Čáslav–Moravia.{{cite web |title=Historie|url=http://www.mukolin.cz/cz/o-meste/zakladni-informace/historie/|publisher=Město Kolín|language=cs|access-date=2021-06-28}}

Jewish people settled in Kolín in the 14th century.{{cite web |title=Kolín|url=https://jguideeurope.org/en/region/czech-republic/bohemia/kolin/|work=JGuide Europe|access-date=2024-06-21}} In 1437–1438, a castle was founded in Kolín. It was built on the ruins of a burned down monastery. During the Thirty Years' War, it was damaged, and in the 17th century, it was rebuilt as a brewery. In 1911, the castle burned down and its Renaissance look disappeared.{{cite web |title=Hrad Kolín|url=https://www.hrady.cz/hrad-kolin-lapis-refugii|publisher=Hrady.cz|language=cs|access-date=2021-06-28}}

The 1757 Battle of Kolín was fought during the Seven Years' War, and in 1944 a refinery in Kolín was bombed during the Oil Campaign of World War II. Zyklon B for the Nazi concentration camps was produced there.

{{historical populations

|align=none|cols=3

|1869|10239

|1880|12538

|1890|14481

|1900|16339

|1910|18138

|1921|18029

|1930|20568

|1950|22528

|1961|25301

|1970|28538

|1980|32501

|1991|31595

|2001|30258

|2011|30922

|2021|31950

|source=Censuses{{cite web |title=Historický lexikon obcí České republiky 1869–2011|url=https://csu.gov.cz/produkty/historicky-lexikon-obci-1869-az-2015|publisher=Czech Statistical Office|language=cs|date=2015-12-21}}{{cite web |title=Population Census 2021: Population by sex|url=https://vdb.czso.cz/vdbvo2/faces/en/index.jsf?page=vystup-objekt-parametry&z=T&f=TABULKA&sp=A&skupId=4429&katalog=33515&pvo=SLD21001-OB-OK|work=Public Database|publisher=Czech Statistical Office|date=2021-03-27}}}}

In Kolín is the smaller part of Kolín–Ovčáry Industrial Zone, known mostly for the factory of the automobile manufacturing company Toyota Motor Manufacturing.{{cite web |title=Investoři v zóně|url=https://www.zonakolin-ovcary.cz/investori-v-zone|publisher=Kolín-Ovčáry Industrial Zone|language=cs|access-date=2021-06-28}} As of 2020, TMM employed 2,400 people. It is the most important employer in the region.{{cite web |title=Automobilka TPCA investuje v Kolíně 4,5 miliardy a najme 1000 pracovníků|url=https://echo24.cz/a/SURnd/automobilka-tpca-investuje-v-koline-45-miliardy-a-najme-1000-pracovniku|publisher=Echo 24|language=cs|date=2020-02-14|access-date=2021-06-28}}

Kolín is home to the packaging and paper manufacturer, OTK company.

Kolín is connected with Prague by the I/12 road. The I/38 road (the section from Kutná Hora to Nymburk) also passes through the town.

Kolín is a railway junction. The Kolín railway station is located on the major lines Prague–Olomouc and Prague–Brno, which further continue to Slovakia, Hungary and Poland. It also lies on the intraregional lines Prague–Havlíčkův Brod and Ústí nad Labem–Kolín.{{cite web |title=Detail stanice Kolín|url=https://www.cd.cz/stanice/kolin/5453414|publisher=České dráhy|language=cs|access-date=2024-05-17}}

File:Kolin Bartolomej2.JPG

The historical centre of the town, formed by the Karlovo Square and surrounding streets, has many Gothic and Baroque buildings. The most important monument is the Church of Saint Bartholomew, protected as a national cultural monument. It has an early Gothic core from the second half of the 13th century. In the mid-14th century, it was rebuilt by the architect Peter Parler. A separate bell tower was built next to the church at the end of the 15th century. In 1878–1910, the Gothic appearance of the church was restored by Josef Mocker.{{cite web |title=Kostel sv. Bartoloměje|url=https://pamatkovykatalog.cz/kostel-sv-bartolomeje-2145094|publisher=National Heritage Institute|language=cs|access-date=2024-07-01}}

A notable landmark of the town square is the town hall. Originally a Gothic house from the 15th century, it was rebuilt in the Neo-Renaissance style in 1887.{{cite web |title=Radnice|url=https://pamatkovykatalog.cz/radnice-2328144|publisher=National Heritage Institute|language=cs|access-date=2024-07-01}}

In Kolín is the original Jewish ghetto with a synagogue from 1696. It is the second oldest and most valuable synagogue in Bohemia.{{cite web |title=Synagoga|url=http://www.mukolin.cz/cz/navstevnik/kulturni-pamatky-a-prohlidkove-trasy/08169-synagoga.html|publisher=Město Kolín|language=cs|access-date=2021-06-28}} The Jewish cemetery is one of the oldest and largest Jewish cemeteries in Bohemia. It was established in the first half of the 15th century.{{cite web |title=Starý židovský hřbitov|url=http://www.mukolin.cz/cz/navstevnik/kulturni-pamatky-a-prohlidkove-trasy/08168-stary-zidovsky-hrbitov.html|publisher=Město Kolín|language=cs|access-date=2021-06-28}}

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• Jakub Krčín (1535–1604), pond and dam constructer
• Jean-Gaspard Deburau (1796–1846), Czech-French actor and mime
• Vincenc Morstadt (1802–1875), painter and illustrator
• Josef Popper-Lynkeus (1838–1921), Austrian scholar, writer and inventor
• František Kmoch (1848–1912), composer and conductor; worked and died here
• Julius Petschek (1856–1932), industrialist
• Josef Svatopluk Machar (1864–1942), poet
• Václav Radimský (1867–1946), painter
• Terezie Brzková (1875–1966), actress
• Robert Saudek (1880–1935), graphologist and writer
• Otokar Fischer (1883–1938), literary historian, translator and poet
• Josef Sudek (1896–1976), photographer
• Václav Morávek (1904–1942), soldier and war hero
• Ludmila Dvořáková (1923–2015), operatic soprano
• Frank Daniel (1926–1996), Czech-American screenwriter and film director
• Jan Kubíček (1927–2013), constructivist painter and sculptor
• Jiří Balcar (1929–1968), graphic artist, painter and illustrator
• Luboš Dobrovský (1932–2020), politician and journalist
• Eva Randová (born 1936), operatic mezzo-soprano
• Miloš Zeman (born 1944), president of the Czech Republic in 2013–2023
• Jan Novák (born 1953), Czech-American novelist and playwright
• Jarda Svoboda (born 1966), musician
• Bohdan Ulihrach (born 1975), tennis player
• Petr Čáslava (born 1979), ice hockey player
• Barbora Poláková (born 1983), actress and singer

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{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in the Czech Republic}}

Kolín is twinned with:{{cite web |title=Partnerská města|url=https://www.mukolin.cz/partnerska%2Dmesta/d-13793/p1=14451|publisher=Město Kolín|language=cs|access-date=2022-09-27}}

• {{flagicon|SUI}} Dietikon, Switzerland
• {{flagicon|ITA}} Duino-Aurisina, Italy
• {{flagicon|HUN}} Érd, Hungary
• {{flagicon|GER}} Kamenz, Germany
• {{flagicon|POL}} Lubań, Poland
• {{flagicon|SVK}} Rimavská Sobota, Slovakia

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{{commons category|Kolín}}

• {{official|https://www.mukolin.cz/}}

{{Kolín District}}

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Category:Cities and towns in the Czech Republic

Category:Populated places in Kolín District

Category:Oil campaign of World War II

Category:Populated riverside places in the Czech Republic

Category:Populated places on the Elbe