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General Information

The town of Fryšava pod Zákovou horou is situated along 2 km on both sides of the Fryšavka river whose source is 2 km west of the town. Fryšava lies in the middle of the most impressive part of the Zd'ársky hills and is the departure point for the most important peaks.

Fryšava is 705 m (2313 ft.) above sea level

Postal code: 592 04

Number of inhabitants: 335

Size of town: 1254 ha (3097 acres)

Current Mayor: Josef Fiala

Town office address:

Fryšava c. 80

592 04 Fryšava pod Zákovou horou

Czech Republic

History

The origin of the name 'Fryšava' is unclear. The most likely explanation is that it comes from the German exclamation "Frisch auf!". This is an exclamation traditionally used by German miners, which fits with the history of mining in the area surrounding Fryšava. "Frisch auf!" translates loosely to "Look alive!". The spelling of the town's name has varied over the years: in German records it's referred to as Frischau and in some older Czech records, it's spelled Vršava.

Fryšava was founded in the time right before 1560 on the territory of the dominion of Pernštejn, between the two former settlements of Vlckovice & Medlov. Its rise there is connected with the local glassworks, of which the first written notice dates from the year 1560. According to this writing in the Nové Mesto book of marriage agreements, the glass-making master Mates of Fryšava gave his daughter, Apolena, in marriage. It's supposed that the village existed earlier under the name of Medlánky, referred to in 1500 in the Pernštejn dominion. In the second half of the 16th century, Fryšava became part of the Nové Mesto dominion. The name of the community is probably of German origin. In the year 1749, the community gained a seal; the emblem has a tracing wheel beneath a star. The Fryšava glassworks, together with the glassworks in Vríšt', were among the oldest in the Nové Mesto dominion. In the middle of the 17th century, the production of venetian glass was established. In 1711 the glassworks was damaged by a strike of strong lightening. In 1718, it was completely burned down. The operation was re-established but news about the activity ended in the year 1729. Examples from the last phase of activity of the Fryšava glassworks, especially souvenir mugs with enamel scenes, are stored in the Horácké museum in Nové Mesto na Morave. The glassworks was in the place of the former Šín inn (no. 42).

In 1651 the first two iron furnaces in the Nové Mesto dominion were established in Kadov. The furnaces were established before the origin of Kadov on land which at that time evidently still belonged to Fryšava. Parallel with the origin of the Kadov furnaces, the mining of iron ore also began in the second half of the 17th century near Fryšava. According to a description from 1741, the mining activity was situated on the southern region of the community. In 1802 there is a reference to the Martin mine and, in 1839, the Matìj mine. They mined fine-grained magnetite with a high content of iron up till the 1850s.

Many significant people lived in Fryšava. Fryšava forester, Rudolf Gabessam (1852-1912) obtained skis from Norway in 1891 and was one of the first to ski in the Nové Mìsto area. Jirí Zidlický-Harusák (1895-1950) arrived at the Fryšava gamekeeper's lodge in 1922. He was not only a forester, but also a painter and writer. The painter Václav Jícha (1874-1950) lived in Fryšava from the year 1929 until his death. In the year 1903, Otokar Brezina came to Fryšava. Jícha's brother-in-law, music schoolmaster and composer Otakar Šín (1881-1943), was born in Rokytna, but he grew up in Fryšava. Master woodcarver František Košík was born in Fryšava in 1913. Musical composer Pavel Cotek was born in Fryšava in 1922. He was an associate professor of music theory at Palacký University in Olomouc.

From 1944-1945, Fryšava was a base for resistance groups. The headquarters were situated in the Fryšava hills northwest of the town, where there is a memorial. On 9 May 1945, the partisan group “Záre” met with retreating soldiers from the German army. During the ensuing battle, 12 partisans and 5 local residents fell. All are buried in the local cemetery. A memorial, designed by the sculptor V. Makovský, marks their graves. The Fryšava cemetery is also the final resting place for Václav Jícha and Otakar Šín.

The house of Václav Jícha is decorated with graffiti of the Nové Mesto native, Karl Nemec, from 1927 & 1932. In 1931, this painter also decorated the local Catholic church, St. Matouš (erected 1788), with graffiti. The graffiti of Karl Nemec though was before the latest repair of the church's whitewash.

The former settlement of Medlov was situated southeast of Fryšava. It was named after the first colonizers of that area, the Lords of Medlov. The settlement is first mentioned in 1348 and lastly in 1358. It went defunct at the latest in 1384. In its place was established (most likely by Vilém of Pernštejn) the present-day fishpond Medlov (29 ha), which is first mentioned in writing in 1587.

In 1934 the former skiing representative Leoš Stehlik created a sport and recreation center here.