| Horní Bříza | |
| Settlement Type: | Town |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Plzeň |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Plzeň-North |
| Pushpin Map: | Czech Republic |
| Pushpin Relief: | 1 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in the Czech Republic |
| Coordinates: | 49.8442°N 13.3633°W |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | David Kapr |
| Established Title: | First mentioned |
| Established Date: | 1180 |
| Area Total Km2: | 14.55 |
| Elevation M: | 367 |
| Population As Of: | 2024-01-01 |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Total: | 4191 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone1: | CET |
| Utc Offset1: | +1 |
| Timezone1 Dst: | CEST |
| Utc Offset1 Dst: | +2 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 330 12 |
Horní Bříza (German: Ober Birken) is a town in Plzeň-North District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 4,200 inhabitants.
Horní Bříza is located about 8km (05miles) north of Plzeň. It lies in the Plasy Uplands. The highest point is at 492m (1,614feet) above sea level. The Bělá Stream flows through the town.
The first written mention of Horní Bříza is from 1180. Around 1220, the village was donated to the Plasy Monastery.[2]
The appearance of Horní Bříza changed after the great fire in 1865 and also with the construction of the railway line in the years 1871–1873. However, a significant turning point did not occur until the 1880s, when kaolin was discovered here. In 1882, Johann Fitz, a prominent businessman and mining expert from Rokycany, began with its mining. In 1886, he introduced the production of ceramic goods and founded a company which maintained dominant position in the ceramics industry for hundred years.[2]
During World War II, some death trains taking Jews, outspoken people, gypsies, intellectuals, communists and Russian prisoners travelled through Horní Bříza. It was on the route to Mauthausen concentration camp, further south on the Danube River. On 21 April 1945, a death train stopped here as the line was blocked. The station master Antonín Pavlíček intervened and organized the townspeople to cook food and bread for the about 1,000 women being taken to Mauthausen. He asked the SS to leave the people there so the town could care for them, but they refused.[3]
Horní Bříza is located on the railway line Plzeň–Plasy.[4]
Horní Bříza is poor in monuments. The only cultural monuments are the Chapel of Saint Peter, built in the pseudo-Baroque style in 1840, and the Memorial to the Victims of World War II.[5]
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in the Czech Republic. Horní Bříza is twinned with:[6]
Villeneuve-sur-Yonne, France