Commemorative Plaque to František J. J. Kreibich in Žitenice

Near the catholic church of St Peter and Paul in Žitenice, on a baroque parsonage number 25 a commemorative plaque was unveiled in 1925. This was to commemorate František Jakub Jindřich Kreibich (Franz Xaver Heinrich Jakob Kreibich, 1759 – 1833) who served here as priest in 1787 – 1829. Kreibich became renowned for his work as cartograph with a lifelong devotion to the mapping of the Bohemian kingdom. He also did meteorological measurements. The commemorative plaque has been taken off the facade of the Žitenice parsonage, presumably due to the reconstruction thereof.

Kreibich was born in Kamenický Šenov, graduated from the Jesuit grammar school in Chomutov and studied philosophy and theology at the Prague university. He was ordained priest in 1876 and soon became chaplain and later parish priest in Žitenice. He served his whole life here until his retirement in 1829. He spent the remaining years of his life in Litoměřice where he was buried.

Kreibich showed interest in geography and astronomy already during his studies and one of his first important works was the making of the map of the Litoměřice diocese which was commissioned by the then bishop. Kreibich`s work benefitted greatly from his friendship with the director of the Prague observatory Alois David, who was introducing methods of astronomic and geodetic positioning of settlement (the using of coordinates) in the Bohemian lands. Their cooperation gave birth to the Charte vom Königreiche Böheim, a detailed map of Bohemia (with a scale of 1: 246 500). It was first published in 1807 in Nurnberg and later in Prague, repeatedly. Kreibich also managed to update the antiquated Müller`s mapping and also to rectify the imperfections of Schaller`s extensive Topographie des Königreichs Böhmen from the end of the 18th century. There were many novelties in the map: the indication of altitude (distance above sea level) or clearer representation of the terrain not with the usual stylised symbols for hills but with hachures. 

Kreibich mapped anew the sixteen districts of Bohemia. At the time these were the most reliable maps in existence and they were good enough to be used long after his death (for example in the collection Neuester und vollständiger Atlas des Königreiches Böhmen, bestehend aus 16 Kreiskarten, published in 1838). Kreibich also made copy of the famous Klaudyan`s Map of Bohemia so the general public could appreciate its importance.  

Beside cartographic works, Kreibich also devoted himself to astronomy and meteorological measurements in Žitenice, especially to the measuring of the air temperature and the atmospheric pressure. Although Kreibich`s extensive library had been sold in an auction, his cartography heritage became the property of the Society for the Patriotic Museum, where he was a member and it has been kept in the archive of the National Museum to this day.  

Voit, P.: Encyklopedie knihy: starší knihtisk a příbuzné obory mezi polovinou 15. a počátkem 19. století. Praha 2006. URL: https://www.encyklopedieknihy.cz/index.php?title=Franti%C5%A1ek_Jakub_Jind%C5%99ich_Kreibich&oldid=13996 [22. 10. 2021].
Obec Žitenice. URL: https://www.obeczitenice.cz/pametihodnosti/d-75033/p1=3189 [22. 10. 2021].