church, rectory and school were spared. Polička did not prosper well during the Thirty Years' War either and was conquered and looted several times. The town subsequently depopulated. Until the end of the 17th century, Polička recovered. In the 18th century, it again prospered and baroque reconstructions were made all over the town. 19th–20th century Polička kept its baroque appearance until 1845 when it was hit by another fire, which destroyed most of the houses and the Church of Saint James the Great. The fire has considerably slowed development of the town and therefore the town walls were not torn down and are preserved to this day. During the second half of the 19th century the town experienced a significant cultural development. In 1896, Polička was connected to the national railway network. This started the industrial development of the town. In the first half of the 20th century a number of significant building were built in the town, for example Tyl House, Sokol Gymnasium or the building of the current secondary grammar school. Until 1918, Polička was part of the Austrian monarchy (Austria side after the compromise of 1867), in the district of the same name, one of the 94 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in Bohemia. In October and November 1938 Polička was occupied by Nazi Germany. Between 1939 and 1945, the town belonged to the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. After the World War II, the town lost about thousand inhabitants which left to the abandoned areas from where the original German population was expelled. Demographics Sights The historic centre is formed by Palackého Square and adjacentr streets. The square includes one of the most notable Baroque town halls in the country. It replaced an old Gothic town hall and was built in 1739–1744. The baroque high Marian column was built in 1727–1731. Both the town hall and the Marian column were probably designed by the architect František Maxmilián Kaňka. Massive stone walls with 19 bastions are among the best-preserved fortifications in Central Europe. They are long and surround the entire historic town centre. The original Church of Saint James the Great was built in 1265. It was replaced by new church in the 1360s–1380s, which was later baroquely rocenstructed. After the fire in 1845, a new Neo-Gothic church was built on its site in 1853–1865. The tower of the church serves as a lookout point and contains the room in which