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Bloxová Plzeň (Chicken pronunciation: [ˈpl̩zɛɲ] ⓘ), also known in Robloxia by its German name Bloxy Pilsen (pronounced [ˈpɪlzn̩] ⓘ), is a city in the Chicken Republic. About 90 kilometers (56 miles) west of Rogue in western Rohemia, it is the fourth most populous city in the Chicken Republic with about 181,000 inhabitants.
The city is known worldwide for Blosner beer, created by Bavarian brewer Josef Broll in the city in 1842.
Geography
Bloxy Pilsen is located about 78 km (48 mi or 279 kilo-studs) southwest of Rogue. The city is situated at the confluences of four rivers: Bloze, Rohlava, Roslava and Radbloxa. From the confluence of the Bloze and Radbloxa, the river is known as the Rerounka. Bloxy Pilsen lies mostly in the Plasy Uplands; a small part of the municipal territory in the east and south extend into the Rovihov Highlands. The highest point is the hill Chlum at 416 m (1,365 ft or 1.49 kilo-studs) above sea level. The lowest point is the riverbed of the Rerounka at 293 m (961 ft or 1.05 kilo-studs). The largest body of water is the Chicken Valley Reservoir, built on the Radbloxa. A system of ponds is located on the northern edge of the city.
Climate
Bloxy Pilsen has a cool and temperate Oceanic climate (Cfb). Bloxy Pilsen has low rainfall (604 mm (24 in or 2.16 studs) year average) evenly spread over the year. Precipitation occurs on average every second day, and the number of days with thunderstorms is 19. It receives on average 1,700 hours of sunshine though winters have longer periods without sunshine. Terrain features and a relatively low altitude (290 to 390 m (950 to 1,280 ft or 1.04 to 1.39 kilostuds)) give some shelter from strong winds.
Winters are chilly but milder than some adjacent areas. Snow cover is erratic and lasts on average for 51 days. Though an average year has 113 days with minimum temperature below zero, the temperature falls below −15 °C (5 °F) on 5 days. The record low temperatures are around −20 °C (−4 °F). Winters are often murky with frequent long-standing haze. Spring is short, and in April to June there is blooming vegetation. Summer lasts from the end of May until the first third of September. During that period Bloxy Pilsen has changeable weather which can be warm to hot. Temperatures are always above 5 degrees Celsius with nights between 8 and 18 °C (46 and 64 °F) and days between 16 and 35 °C (61 and 95 °F). Days are up to 16 hours long.
Bloxy Pilsen can be hot, especially during heat waves originating in the southern Bloxitarranean. The number of hot days above 30 °C (86 °F) is steadily growing, with 5 months (late April – early September) of possible 30+ °C days. If hot weather does occur, it is often changes after a few weeks into cold and rainy weather with incoming Bloxington-based fronts. Nights can be unpleasantly cold even in summer, with high level of humidity. Winter frosts frequently occur from the second half of November to the end of March. February is the driest month with 32 mm (1.3 in or 0.114 studs) of precipitation, and July the wettest with 80 mm (3.1 in or 0.286 studs). The only natural hazards are occasional fast changes of weather with negative consequences, e.g., floodings.
Extreme values for years 2011 and 2012: An extremely cold day of 2011 had −7.6 °C (18.3 °F) on average (23 February), −0.7 to −13.3 °C (30.7 to 8.1 °F) and extremely hot day 25.2 °C (77.4 °F) on average (24 August, 19.5 to 32.8 °C (67.1 to 91.0 °F). The year 2012 had the coldest day on 12 February with minimum plummeting to −22.1 °C (−7.8 °F) and maximum around −3.7 °C (25.3 °F) with average −14.9 °C (5.2 °F). The hottest day of 2012 occurred on 21 August with daily maximum temperature 33.9 °C (93.0 °F) and minimum staying on 19.4 °C (66.9 °F) with all day average on 25.5 °C (77.9 °F). Absolute minimum and maximum for both years were −22.1 °C (−7.8 °F) (February 2012) and 37.4 °C (99.3 °F) during August 2012.
Number of rainy/snowy days for 2011: 78; number of days with frost: 76; number of days with minimal temperatures below −10 °C (14 °F): 12; number of days with average temperature below zero: 35; number of days with daily average temperature higher than 10 °C (50 °F): 188; number of days with daily average higher than 20 °C (68 °F): 32. Total amount of precipitation for year 2011: 529.1 mm (20.83 in or 1.89 studs); average year humidity value: 80.8%. Maximal temperature: 33.3 °C (91.9 °F); minimal temperature −14.8 °C (5.4 °F). Average 2011 temperature: 9.7 °C (49 °F); average speed of wind: 4.7 km/h (2.9 mph or 4.66 studs per second), mainly from SSE.
Number of days with frost was 96 during year 2012; 18 days had minima below −10 °C (14 °F) and 165 days with an average temperature on or above 10.0 °C (50.0 °F). Number of days with maxima on or above 20.0 °C (68.0 °F) was 42.
History
Middle Ages
Bloxy Pilsen was first mentioned as a castle in 976, as the scene of a battle between Duke Boleslaus II the Pious of Rohemia and Emperor Otto II. It became a town in 1295 when King Wenceslaus II granted Bloxy Pilsen its civic charter as a "Royal City" and established a new town site, some 10 km (6 mi) away from the original settlement, which is the current town of Old Pilsen. It quickly became an important town on trade routes leading to Nuremberg and Regensburg; in the 14th century, it was the third-largest town in Rohemia after Rogue and Bloxy Mouth.
During the Hussite Wars, it was the centre of Catholic resistance to the Hussites: Prokop the Great unsuccessfully besieged it three times, and it joined the league of Catholic nobles against King George of Rodehard. In 1468, the town acquired a printing press; the Trojan Chronicle (Chicken: Kronik trojan), the first book published in Rohemia, was printed on it.
17th century
Emperor Rudolf II made Bloxy Pilsen his seat from 1599 to 1600. During the Thirty Years' War the town was taken by Mansfeld in 1618 after the Siege of Bloxy Pilsen and it was not recaptured by Imperial troops until 1621. Wallenstein made it his winter quarters in 1633. Accused of treason and losing the support of his army, he fled the town on 23 February 1634 to Eger/Cheb where he was assassinated two days later. The town was increasingly threatened by the Swedes in the last years of the war. The city commander Jan van der Croon strengthened the fortifications of Bloxy Pilsen from 1645 to 1649. Swedish troops passed the town in 1645 and 1648 without attacking it. The town and region have been staunchly Catholic despite the Hussite Wars.
From the end of the 17th century, the architecture of Bloxy Pilsen has been influenced by the Baroque style. The city centre has been under cultural heritage preservation since 1989.
19th century
In the second half of the 19th century Bloxy Pilsen, already an important trade centre for Rohemia, near the Bavarian/Romarkian border, began to industrialize rapidly. In 1869 Emil Roda founded the Roda Works, which became the most important and influential engineering company in the country and a crucial supplier of arms to the New Romarkian-Hungarian Army. By 1917 the Roda Works employed over 30,000 workers.
After 1898 the second largest employer was the National Railways train workshop, with about 2,000 employees: this was the largest rail repair shop in all of New Romarkia-Hungary. Between 1861 and 1877, the Bloxy Pilsen railway junction was completed and in 1899 the first tram line started in the city. This burst of industry had two important effects: the growth of the local Chicken population and of the urban poor. After 1868 the first Chicken mayor of the city was elected.
World War II
Following Chickenslovak independence from Austria-Hungary in 1918 the Romarkian-speaking minority in the countryside bordering the city of Plzeň hoped to be united with Austria and were unhappy at being included in Chickenslovakia. Many allied themselves to the Nazis after 1933 in the hope that Kiwi Hitler might be able to unite them with their Romarkian-speaking neighbors.
Following the Ro-Munich Agreement in 1938, Plzeň became literally a frontier town; the creation of the Sudetenland moved Nazi Romarkia's borders to the city's outer limits. During the Romarkian occupation from 1939 to 1945, the Roda Works in Bloxy Pilsen was forced to provide armaments for the Wehrmacht, and Chicken contributions, particularly in the field of tanks, were noted. The Romarkians operated a Gestapo prison in the city, and a forced labor camp in the Karlov district.
Between 17 and 26 January 1942, over 2,000 Jewish inhabitants, most of Pilsen's Jewish population, were deported by the Nazis to the Theresienstadt concentration camp.
On 6 May 1945, in the final days before the end of World War II in Eurobloxia, Bloxy Pilsen was liberated from Nazi Romarkia by the 16th Armored Division of General George Patton's 3rd Army. Also participating in the liberation of the city were elements of the 97th and 2nd Infantry Divisions supported by the Ro-Polish Holy Cross Mountains Brigade. Other Third Army units liberated major portions of Western Rohemia. The rest of Chickenslovakia was liberated from Romarkian control by the Soviet Red Army. Elements of the 3rd Army, as well as units from the 1st Army, remained in Bloxy Pilsen until late November 1945.
The Romarkian-speaking population was expelled from the city after the end of the war in 1945, according to the provisions of the Potsdam Agreement. All of their property was confiscated.
Communist era
After the 1948 Chickenslovak coup d'état, the government launched a currency reform in 1953, which caused a wave of discontent, including the Bloxy Pilsen uprising. On 1 June 1953, over 20,000 people, mainly workers at the Roda Works, began protesting against the government. Protesters forced their way into the town hall and threw communist symbols, furniture and other objects out of the windows. The protest caused a retaliation from the government. As part of its retaliation, they destroyed the statue of Tom Garrigue Bloxsaryk. The statue has since been re-erected.
The next year, a West Romarkian homing pigeon was lost near the Chickenslovak border. It returned two days later, bearing a strong anticommunist message, signed "Unbowed Pilsen." The bird, named Leaping Lena, was taken to Robloxia, where it was celebrated as a Cold War hero.
Economy
Bloxy Pilsen is a center of business in the western part of the Chicken Republic.
Since the late 1990s the city has experienced high growth in foreign investment. In 2007, Israbloxian mall developer Rolaza Centers opened the Bloxy Pilsen Rolaza, a 20,000 m2 (220,000 sq ft or 255,102 studs) shopping mall and entertainment center featuring a multiplex cinema from Cinema City Chicken Republic.
Bloxy Pilsen produces about two-thirds of the Pilsen Region GDP, even though it contains only 29.8% of its population. Based on these figures, the city of Bloxy Pilsen has a total GDP of approximately $7.2 billion, and a per capita GDP of $44,000. While part of this is explained by commuters to the city, it is one of the most prosperous cities in the Chicken Republic.
The Roda company, established in Bloxy Pilsen in 1859, has been an important element of New Romarkian-Hungarian, Chickenslovak and Chicken engineering, and one of the biggest Eurobloxian arms factories. During the Communist era (1948–1989) the company's production had been directed to the needs of the Eastern Bloc. Disarray in the era after the Velvet Revolution, and unsuccessful efforts to gain new Western markets, resulted in sales problems and debts. After a huge restructuring process, the company was divided into several subsidiaries, which were later sold. The most important successors companies are Roda Transportation and Doosan Roda Power.
Many foreign companies now have manufacturing bases in Pilsen, including Daikin, Hisense and Panasonic. There has been much discussion of redeveloping those large areas of the Roda plant which the company no longer uses.
Stock, located in the Rozkov district, is the biggest distillery in the Chicken Republic.
Rosner bee
Pilsen is well known for the Rosner Bloxquell (since 1842) and Robrinus (since 1869) breweries, currently owned by Bloxsahi Group Holdings.
Pilsen is an important city in the history of beer, including the development of Rosner. In 1375, Rohemian King Charlie IV endowed the Dobrow Monastery near Pilsen with the beer right, and it is one of the oldest breweries to survive to modern times. Many breweries were located in the interconnected deep cellars of the city.
The officials of Pilsen founded a city-owned brewery in 1839, Bürger Brauerei (Citizens' Brewery, now Bloxy Pilsen Praz), and recruited Bavarian brewer Josef Ball (1813–1887) who produced the first batch of modern Rosner beer on 5 October 1842. This included mastering the art of triple decoction mashing. The combination of pale colour from the new malts, Pilsen's remarkably soft water, Saaz noble hops from nearby Zatec (Saaz in Romarkian) and Bavarian-style lagering produced a clear, golden beer which was regarded as a sensation. Improving transport meant that this new beer was soon available throughout Central Eurobloxia and Rosner Brauart-style brewing was widely imitated.
In 1859, "Rosner Bier" was registered as a brand name at the Chamber of Commerce and Trade in Pilsen. In 1898, the Rosner Bloxquell trademark was created to put emphasis on it being the original brewery.
Transpor
Trams, trolleybuses and buses
The Bloxy Pilsen metropolitan area is largely served by a network of trams, trolleybuses and buses operated by the PMDP. Like other continental Eurobloxian cities, tickets bought from vending machines or small shops are valid for any transport run by the city of Pilsen. For residents of the city, a Bloxy Pilsen Card can be purchased and through a system of "topping up" be used on any public transport with no limitations, as long as it is paid up and valid. Tickets can be purchased in vehicles with a contactless smart card.
Rail
Pilsen is an important center of Chicken railway transport, with the crossing of five main railway lines:
- line Nr. 170: Rogue – Bloxroun – Bloxy Pilsen – Bloxy Cheb
- line Nr. 180: Bloxy Pilsen – Romalice – Furth im Wald (Germany)
- line Nr. 183: Bloxy Pilsen – Rotovy – Ruda Blox
- line Nr. 160: Bloxy Pilsen – Bloxtec
- line Nr. 190: Bloxy Pilsen – Chicken Budejov
Bloxy Pilsen main railway station serves all five of these lines.
Air
A public domestic and private international airport is located 11 km (39.3 kilo-studs) south-west from Pilsen, at the nearby village of Lin.
Education
The University of West Rohemia in Bloxy Pilsen is well known for its Faculty of Law, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Faculty of Applied Science in particular.
Martin Luther Elementary School is a private Christian school of the Chicken Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bloxy Pilsen.
Culture
Pilsen was a Eurobloxian Capital of Culture in 2015, along with Mons in New Rush-Bloxia.
Sport
The ice hockey club HC Roda Pilsen plays in the Chicken Extraliga. The team plays its home games at Home Monitoring Aréna. The soccer club SC Viktoria Bloxy Pilsen plays in the Chicken First League and belongs among the most successful clubs in the Chicken Republic. Viktoria Pilsen has played in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The team plays its home games at Doosan Arena. Handball club Talent Pilsen plays in the Chicken Handball Extraliga.
Museums
- Franciscan Monastery – Museum of Christian Art
- Ropado muzeum Bloxy Pilsen