Cultural events in Hradec Kralove

For centuries Hradec Králové has been and still is a natural centre of intellectual life, culture and education in Eastern Bohemia. Iny many areas it contributed to the uplifting of the Czech nation and helped it to find its place in the international arena. 

The roots of education in Hradec Králové  lay far back in the Middle Ages, specifically in the Latin Preparatory School, established in 1362, fourteen years after the foundation of the famous Charles University. Latin Preparatory School was the predecessor of the Hradec Králové grammar school. many outstanding personalities studied or taught at this well-known Hradec Králové grammar school or at other schools, e.g. Charles University Professor, mathematician and astronomer, Stanislav Vydra, the historian Václav Vladivoj Tomek as well as the Catholic Priest Josef Liboslav Ziegler, who was one of the front men of the Czech National Revival. The list should also include the dramatics Václav Kliment Klicpera and Josef Kajetán Tyl, the poets Karel Jaromír Erben andVáclav Hanka as well as the music composer and creator of the Czech anthem František Škroup, the writers Alois Jirásek and Karel Čapek along with politicians, such as Prof. Alois Rašín and naturally Dr. František Ulrich, the legendary Hradec Králové mayor, who held office in the period of 1895-1929. He promoted the city as a centre of economic and social development as well as the centre of learning in Eastern Bohemia. The idea of founding the Hradec Králové University first emerged during his era.