Capital of the Moravie, Brno (), in German: Brünn ) is the second plus big city of the Czech Republic with a population of 390.000 inhabitants, and is located at the confluence of the rivers Svitava and Svratka.

The most known monument of the city is the Villa Tugendhat, built by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in the years 1920. This example of the modern architecture was registered on the list of the World heritage of UNESCO in 2002.

Administrative organization

The town of Brno is divided into 29 districts:

History

Brno is founded in 1243 and remains a city strengthened until the XIXe century. It is the political and cultural center of the southernmost area of Moravie.

From May 3rd, 1645 to August 23rd, 1645, the city is besieged by the troops Suédoises, ordered by the Général Lennart Torstenson. The defenders, carried out by the Colonel Jean-Louis Raduit de Souches, gain finally the victory at the end of a heroic defense. This victory appears among the most glorious chapters of the history of the city, and in 1995, the 350e birthday of this event was celebrated by important festivities.

See also: Head office of Brno

Brno is also known of the French from his proximity with the town of Slavkov where was held on December 2nd, 1805 celebrates it Bataille of Austerlitz. The city thus it successively accommodated the main characters of the battle to be started with Koutouzov, the large Russian general and Napoleon i itself. Plates still mark in the city the memory of their passage.

Shortly after the Industrial revolution the city became one of the principal industrial centers of the Austria-Hungary. After the First World War, it was annexed to the Czechoslovakia, was become the Czech Republic nowadays. Formerly called the Czech Manchester , it still shelters important industrial parks.

Brno is especially famous for its great men, such as the monk Gregor Mendel, precursor of the Génétique, or the writer Milan Kundera.

Famous the Circuit Masaryk is located at the North-West of the city: each year the Grand Prix motor bike is held to with it of the Czech Republic.

The patois which is spoken there is called Hantec.

Monuments

Old Town hall

The old Town hall ( Stará radnice ), built at the 13th century, is the civil building oldest of the city. It holds in particular a high tower, surmounted of a roof rebirth. The first written mention locating the seat of the administration of the city in these places goes back to 1343. It will remain there until 1935, year during which it is transferred to the Dominicain convent.

In 1510 an access to the interior court is arranged under the tower. The entry is provided the following year with a Gothic gate , which had with Anton Pilgram, which one notes the slope -- deliberated -- central pinnacle. The statue representing justice and the emblem date from the year 1660 and the consoles from the figurative part of 1873. The gate underwent two important restorations: a first in 1884 by the sculptor F. Dressler who replaces the three central consoles, then one second in 1900 when the two external consoles are replaced by Gothic consoles.

At the 19th century the Town hall shelters a prison. The city gaining in importance, the municipality engages of many rebuildings of which most important is the raising of the tower in 1905, on a project of P. Meumann. Masonry is raised of 5 meters and the roof is replaced by a copy of old.

Saint-Pierre-and-Saint-Paul cathedral

The cathedral, built with the site of an old strong castle, dominates the hill of Petrov. It is about a building of late Gothic style of the 13th century, built on an older crypt, and altered in the style baroque in 1743-1746 after the Swedes had set fire to it at the time of the seat of 1645. The frontage and the turns were finished at the beginning of the 20th century.

Špilberk

During Petrov, the fortress of the Spielberg (in Czech: Špilberk) dominates the city. It is a prison of State famous for its dungeons having locked up protagonists of the Italian Risorgimento. It besides was called " the prison of the nations". Piero Maroncelli, Federico Confalonieri, Silvio Pellico thus attended it. This last, after its release, tells its captivity in a book, the Mie Prigioni (My Prisons, 1832). The Gestapo invested the fortress during the Second world war to make a center of torture of it. This place of disaster report shelters today an exposure on the history of the city and the municipal museum.

The Tugendhat villa

The Villa Tugendhat , built between 1929 and 1930 by the German Architect Ludwig Crumbs van der Rohe, is classified under monument of the Modern architecture of the World heritage of UNESCO since December 2001. It is about a proclamation of the functionalist architecture.

Famous characters

Education

Twinning

See too

External bonds

  • Official site)
  • University Masaryk
  • Philharmonic orchestra of Brno
  • Villa Tugendhat
  • Guided visit of Brno and Austerlitz
  • Brno, the official Web site of the Czech Republic

Be-X-old: Брно Simple: Brno

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