IGLAU (

See also:

• CZECH (in Bohemian, Cech)

Czech Jihlava)  , a town of Aastria, in Moravia, 56 tn . N.W. of Brunn by rail . Pop . (1900) 24,387, of whom 4200 are Czechs and the remainder Germans . Iglau is situated on the Iglawa, close to the Bohemian frontier, and is one of the oldest towns in Moravia, being the centre of a German-speaking enclave . Among the principal buildings are the churches of St Jakob, St Ignatius, St John and St Paul, the town-hall, and the barracks formed from a monastery suppressed under the emperor Joseph II . There is also a fine cemetery, containing some remarkable monuments . It has the principal tobacco and cigar factory of the state monopoly, which employs about 2500 hands, and has besides a large and important textile and glass industry, corn and saw-mills, pottery and brewing . Fairs are periodically held in the town; and the trade in timber, cereals, and linen And woollen goods is generally brisk . Iglau is an old mining town where, according to legend, the silver mines were worked so early as 799 . King Ottakar I . (1198–1230) established here a mining-office and a mint .

At a very early date it enjoyed exceptional privileges, which were confirmed by King

Wenceslaus I. in the year 1250 . The town-hall contains a collection of municipal and mining laws dating as far back as 1389 . At Iglau, on the 5th of July 1436, the treaty was made with the Hussites, by which the emperor Sigismund was acknowledged king of Bohemia . A granite column near the town marks the spot where Ferdinand I., in 1527, swore fidelity to the Bohemian states . During the Thirty Years' War Iglau was twice captured by the Swedes . In 1742 it fell into the hands of the Prussians, and in December r8o5 the Bavarians under Wrede were defeated near the town .