Loučovice is a village in South Bohemian Region

South Bohemian Region

South Bohemian Region is an administrative unit of the Czech Republic, located mostly in the southern part of its historical land of Bohemia, with a small part in southwestern Moravia...

 of the Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

. It has around 1,950 inhabitants.

First known settlements existed before year 1250. First written mention appears in a document from 1361, when the location was owned by monastery in Vyšší Brod

Vyšší Brod

Vyšší Brod is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has around 2,600 inhabitants and it's the southernmost municipality in the Czech Republic. There is Vyšší Brod Monastery, very important historic landmark.-External links:*...

. Starting in 1884 entrepreneur Arnošt Porák built large paper mill here (at its peak it employed around 1,800 workers). Electrified railway built in 1909-11 reached Loučovice. During 1938-45 the area became part of Nazi Germany. After expulsion of German speaking people in 1945 many smaller hamlets in the area had disappeared but Loučovice grew up. In 1951 villages Bolechy, Mnichovice and Kapličky were merged into Loučovice and the settlement became standalone administrative unit. During 1960s-80s several large panelák

Panelák

is a colloquial term in Czech and Slovak for a panel building constructed of pre-fabricated, pre-stressed concrete, such as those extant in Czech Republic and elsewhere in the former Soviet bloc...

s were built here.

Several natural reservations protected by the state extend to the area of the village, among them Vyšebrodsko Natural Park and formation of giant stones Čertova stěna-Luč.

External links

Village website Details about the village