Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

in the

South Moravian Region The South Moravian Region ( cs, Jihomoravský kraj; , ; sk, Juhomoravský kraj) is an administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the south-western part of its historical region of Moravia (an exception is Jobova Lhota which trad ...

of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic after the capital,

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, and one of the 100 largest cities of the EU. The Brno metropolitan area has almost 700,000 inhabitants. Brno is the former capital city of Moravia and the political and cultural hub of the

. It is the centre of the Czech judiciary, with the seats of the

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...

, the Supreme Court, the Supreme Administrative Court, and the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office, and a number of state authorities, including the Ombudsman, and the Office for the Protection of Competition. Brno is also an important centre of higher education, with 33 faculties belonging to 13 institutes of higher education and about 89,000 students.

Brno Exhibition Centre Brno Exhibition Center is a convention centre based in Brno, Czech Republic. It was established in 1928. The centre occupies a site on and provides a total net exhibition area of including open-air space and exhibition halls with an exhibition ...

is among the largest exhibition centres in Europe. The complex opened in 1928 and established the tradition of large exhibitions and

trade fair A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and ...

s held in Brno. Brno hosts motorbike and other races on the

Masaryk Circuit The Masaryk circuit ( cz, Masarykův okruh) or Masarykring, also referred to as the Brno Circuit, refers to two motorsport race tracks located in Brno, Czech Republic. The original street circuit was made up of public roads, and at its longest m ...

, a tradition established in 1930, in which the Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix is one of the most prestigious races. Another cultural tradition is an international fireworks competition, '' Ignis Brunensis'', which attracts tens of thousands of visitors to each display. The most visited sights of the city include the

Špilberk Castle Špilberk Castle (German: ''Spielberg'', locally ''Špilas'') is a castle on the hilltop in Brno, Southern Moravia. Its construction began as early as the first half of the 13th century by the Přemyslid kings and complete by King Ottokar II of ...

and fortress and the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul on Petrov hill, two medieval buildings that dominate the cityscape and are often depicted as its traditional symbols. The other large preserved castle near the city is

Veveří Castle Veveří (german: Eichhorn) is an originally ducal and royal castle in Brno in the Czech Republic. It is located about northwest of Brno city centre on the Svratka River. History 11th to 15th centuries According to legend, the castle Ve ...

by Brno Reservoir. Another architectural monument of Brno is the functionalist

Villa Tugendhat Villa Tugendhat is an architecturally significant building in Brno, Czech Republic. It is one of the pioneering prototypes of modern architecture in Europe, and was designed by the German architects Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich. It w ...

, which was added to the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

list of

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

s in 2001. One of the natural sights nearby is the

Moravian Karst The Moravian Karst ( cs, Moravský kras) is a karst landscape and protected landscape area to the north of Brno in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It encompasses a number of notable geological features, including roughly 1100 cav ...

. The city is a member of the

UNESCO Creative Cities Network The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) is a project of UNESCO launched in 2004 to promote cooperation among cities which recognized creativity as a major factor in their urban development.City of Music" in 2017.

Names

The etymology of the name ''Brno'' is disputed. It might be derived from the

Old Czech The Czech language developed at the close of the 1st millennium from common West Slavic. Until the early 20th century, it was known as ''Bohemian''. Early West Slavic Among the innovations in common West Slavic is the palatalization of ve ...

''brnie'' 'muddy, swampy.' Alternative derivations are a Slavic verb ''brniti'' (to armour or to fortify) or a

Celtic language The Celtic languages (usually , but sometimes ) are a group of related languages descended from Proto-Celtic. They form a branch of the Indo-European language family. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward ...

spoken in the area before it was overrun by

Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and e ...

and later Slavic peoples. The latter theory would make it cognate with other Celtic words for hill, such as the Welsh word ''bryn''. Throughout its history, Brno's locals also referred to the town in other languages, including ''Brünn'' in German, ברין (''Brin'') in

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...

and ''Bruna'' in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

. The city was also referred to as Brunn () in English, but that usage is not common today. The asteroid

2889 Brno __NOTOC__ Year 889 ( DCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Guy III, duke of Spoleto, defeats the Lombard king Berengar I at the Tre ...

was named after the city, as was the

Bren light machine gun The Bren gun was a series of light machine guns (LMG) made by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. While best known for its role as the British and Commonwealth forces' primary infantry LMG in World War II, it was also used ...

(Brno + Enfield), one of the most famous weapons of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

History

The Brno basin has been inhabited since

prehistoric times Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

, but the town's direct predecessor was a fortified settlement of the Great Moravian Empire known as ''Staré Zámky'', which was inhabited from the

Neolithic Age The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

until the early 11th century. In the early 11th century Brno was established as a castle of a non-ruling prince from the

House of Přemyslid A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

, and Brno became one of the centres of Moravia along with

Olomouc Olomouc (, , ; german: Olmütz; pl, Ołomuniec ; la, Olomucium or ''Iuliomontium'') is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019). Located on t ...

and

Znojmo Znojmo (; german: Znaim) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 33,000 inhabitants. Znojmo is the historical and cultural centre of southwestern Moravia and the second most populated town in the South Moravian ...

. Brno was first mentioned in Cosmas' ''Chronica Boëmorum'' dated to the year 1091, when Bohemian king

Vratislav II Vratislaus II (or Wratislaus II) ( cs, Vratislav II.) (c. 1032 – 14 January 1092), the son of Bretislaus I of Bohemia, Bretislaus I and Judith of Schweinfurt, was the first King of Bohemia as of 15 June 1085, his royal title granted as a lifeti ...

besieged his brother Conrad at Brno castle. Znak Moravského markrabství

In the mid 11th century, Moravia was divided into three separate territories; each had its own ruler, coming from the Přemyslids dynasty, but independent of the other two, and subordinate only to the Bohemian ruler in

. The seats of these rulers and thus the "capitals" of these territories were the castles and towns of Brno,

, and

. In the late 12th century, Moravia began to reunify, forming the

Margraviate of Moravia The Margraviate of Moravia ( cs, Markrabství moravské; german: Markgrafschaft Mähren) was one of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown within the Holy Roman Empire existing from 1182 to 1918. It was officially administrated by a margrave in cooper ...

. From then until the mid of the 17th century, it was not clear which town should be the capital of Moravia. Political power was divided between Brno and Olomouc, but Znojmo also played an important role. The Moravian Diet, the Moravian Land Tables, and the Moravian Land Court were all seated in both cities at once. However, Brno was the official seat of the Moravian Margraves (rulers of Moravia), and later its geographical position closer to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

also became important. Otherwise, until 1642 Olomouc had a larger population than Brno, and was the seat of the only

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

in Moravia. Veduta z obléhání Brna Švédy v roce 1645

In 1243 Brno was granted the large and small city privileges by the King, and was thus recognized as a royal city. As throughout Eastern Central Europe, the granting of city privileges was connected with immigration from German-speaking lands. In 1324 Queen

Elisabeth Richeza of Poland Elizabeth Richeza of Poland ( cs, Eliška-Rejčka; pl, Ryksa-Elżbieta; 1 September 1288 – 19 October 1335), was a Polish princess member of the House of Piast and by her two marriages Queen consort of Bohemia and Poland and Duchess consor ...

founded the Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady, which now houses her grave. In the 14th century, Brno became one of the centres for the Moravian regional assemblies, whose meetings alternated between Brno and Olomouc. These assemblies made political, legal, and financial decisions. Brno and Olomouc were also the seats of the Land Court and the Moravian Land Tables, thus they were the two most important cities in Moravia. From the mid 14th century to the early 15th century, Špilberk Castle had served as the permanent seat of the Margraves of Moravia; one of them was elected the King of the Romans. Brno was besieged in 1428 and again in 1430 by the

Hussite The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation. The Huss ...

s during the

Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the Cat ...

. Both attempts to conquer the city failed.

17th century

Veduta Brna se znakem Markrabství moravského, rok 1670

In 1641, during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

, the Holy Roman Emperor and Margrave of Moravia Ferdinand III ordered the permanent relocation of the diet, court, and the land tables from Olomouc to Brno, as Olomouc's Collegium Nordicum made it one of the primary targets of Swedish armies. In 1642 Olomouc surrendered to the Swedish Army, which occupied it for eight years. Meanwhile, Brno, as the only Moravian city which, under the leadership of

Jean-Louis Raduit de Souches Jean-Louis Raduit de Souches (16 August 1608 to 12 August 1682), also known as Ludwig de Souches, was a French-born professional soldier who spent a number of years in the Swedish Army before switching to Imperial service in 1642. Although he was ...

, succeeded in defending itself from the Swedes under General

Lennart Torstenson Lennart Torstensson, Count of Ortala, Baron of Virestad (17 August 16037 April 1651), was a Swedish Field Marshal and military engineer. Early career He was born at Forstena manor in Västergötland. His parents were Märta Nilsdotter Posse a ...

, served as the sole capital of the Margraviate of Moravia. After the end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648, Brno retained its status as the sole capital. This was later confirmed by the Holy Roman Emperor

Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...

in 1782, and again in 1849 by the Moravian constitution. Today, the Moravian Land Tables are stored in the Moravian Regional Archive, and are included among the national cultural sights of the Czech Republic. View of Brno in the year 1700

During the 17th century

was rebuilt as a huge baroque

citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. I ...

. Brno was besieged by the Prussian Army in 1742 under the leadership of

Frederick the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the S ...

, but the siege was ultimately unsuccessful. In 1777 the bishopric of Brno was established by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

; Mathias Franz Graf von Chorinsky Freiherr von Ledske was the first Bishop.

19th century

In December 1805 the

Battle of Austerlitz The Battle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805/11 Frimaire An XIV FRC), also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most important and decisive engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle occurred near the town of Austerlitz i ...

was fought near the city; the battle is also known as the "Battle of the Three Emperors". Brno itself was not involved with the battle, but the French Emperor

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

spent several nights here at that time, and again in 1809. In 1839 the first train arrived in Brno from Vienna; this was the beginning of rail transport in what is now the Czech Republic. In the years 1859–1864 the city fortifications were almost completely removed. In 1869 a

horsecar A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered (usually horse) tram or streetcar. Summary The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, w ...

service started to operate in Brno, the first tram service in what would later become the Czech Republic.

Gregor Mendel Gregor Johann Mendel, OSA (; cs, Řehoř Jan Mendel; 20 July 1822 – 6 January 1884) was a biologist, meteorologist, mathematician, Augustinian friar and abbot of St. Thomas' Abbey in Brünn (''Brno''), Margraviate of Moravia. Mendel was ...

conducted his groundbreaking experiments in

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...

while he was a monk at St. Thomas's Abbey in Brno in the 1850s.

20th century and Greater Brno

Around 1900 Brno, which consisted in administrative terms only of the central city area until 1918, had a predominantly German-speaking population (63%), as opposed to the suburbs, which were predominantly Czech-speaking. Life in the city was therefore bilingual, and what was called in German "Brünnerisch" was a mixed idiom containing elements from both languages. In 1919, after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, two neighbouring towns, Královo Pole and Husovice, and 21 other municipalities were annexed to Brno, creating Greater Brno ( cs, Velké Brno). This was done to dilute the German-speaking majority of close to 55,000 by the addition of the Czech communities of the city's neighborhood. Included in the German-speaking group were almost all of the 12,000 Jewish inhabitants, including several of the city's better known personalities, who made a substantial contribution to the city's cultural life.Eva Hahn, Hans Henning Hahn: ''Die Vertreibung im deutschen Erinnern. Legenden, Mythos, Geschichte.'' Schöningh, Paderborn 2010, , p. 370. Greater Brno was almost seven times larger, with a population of about 222,000 – before that Brno had about 130,000 inhabitants. In 1921 Brno became the capital of the Land of Moravia (Czech: ''země Moravská''). Seven years later, Brno became the capital of the Land of Moravia-Silesia (Czech: ''země Moravskoslezská''). In 1930, 200,000 inhabitants declared themselves to be of Czech, and some 52,000 of German nationality, in both cases including the respective Jewish citizens. Bundesarchiv Bild 183-2004-0813-500, Deutsche Truppen in Brünn

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-2004-0813-500, Deutsche Truppen in Brünn

During the German occupation of the Czech lands between 1939 and 1945, all Czech universities were closed by the Nazis, including those in Brno. The Faculty of Law became the headquarters of the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

, and the university hall of residence was used as a prison. About 35,000 Czechs and some American and British prisoners of war were imprisoned and tortured there; about 800 civilians were executed or died. Executions were public. The Nazis also operated a

subcamp Subcamps (german: KZ-Außenlager), also translated as satellite camps, were outlying detention centres (''Haftstätten'') that came under the command of a main concentration camp run by the SS in Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe. The Nazi ...

of the Auschwitz concentration camp, which held mostly Polish prisoners, an internment camp for

Romani people The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sig ...

in the city, and a forced labour "education" camp in the present-day district of Dvorska. Between 1941 and 1942,

transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

s from Brno deported 10,081 Jews to Theresienstadt (Terezín) concentration camp. At least another 960 people, mostly of

mixed race Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...

, followed in 1943 and 1944. After Terezín, many of them were sent to Auschwitz concentration camp,

Minsk Ghetto The Minsk Ghetto was created soon after the German invasion of the Soviet Union. It was one of the largest in Belorussian SSR, and the largest in the German-occupied territory of the Soviet Union.Donald L. Niewyk, Francis R. Nicosia, ''The Co ...

, Rejowiec and other

ghetto A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...

s and

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

s. Although Terezín was not an

extermination camp Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (german: Vernichtungslager), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocaust. The v ...

, 995 people transported from Brno died there. Only 1,033 people returned after the war. Industrial facilities such as the Československá zbrojovka arms factory and the Zweigwerk aircraft engine factory (which became Zbrojovka's subsidiary

Zetor Zetor (since January 1, 2007, officially Zetor Tractors a.s.) is a Czech agricultural machinery manufacturer. It was founded in 1946. The company is based in Brno, Czech Republic. Since June 29, 2002, the only shareholder has been a Slovak co ...

after the war) and the city centre were targeted by several Allied

bombardment A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire or by dropping bombs from aircraft on fortifications, combatants, or towns and buildings. Prior to World War I, the term was only applied to the bombardment of defenseless or undefended objects, ...

campaigns between 1944 and 1945. The air strikes and later artillery fire killed some 1,200 people and destroyed 1,278 buildings. After the city's occupation by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

on 26 April 1945 and the end of the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, ethnic German residents were expelled. In the Brno death march, beginning on 31 May 1945, about 27,000 German inhabitants of Brno were marched to the Austrian border. According to testimony collected by German sources, about 5,200 of them died during the march. Later estimates by Czech sources put the death toll at about 1,700, with most deaths due to an epidemic of

shigellosis Shigellosis is an infection of the intestines caused by ''Shigella'' bacteria. Symptoms generally start one to two days after exposure and include diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain, and feeling the need to pass stools even when the bowels are emp ...

. After the reestablishment of an independent Czechoslovak state after

, Prime Minister

Edvard Beneš Edvard Beneš (; 28 May 1884 – 3 September 1948) was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1945 to 1948. He also led the Czechoslovak government-in-exile 1939 to 194 ...

delivered a speech in Brno demanding the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia. Shortly afterwards, 20,000 ethnic Germans from the city were expelled into Allied-occupied Austria. After the 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état, the

Czechoslovak Socialist Republic The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, ČSSR, formerly known from 1948 to 1960 as the Czechoslovak Republic or Fourth Czechoslovak Republic, was the official name of Czechoslovakia from 1960 to 29 March 1990, when it was renamed the Czechoslovak ...

abolished Moravian autonomy and Brno thus ceased to be the capital of Moravia. Since then Moravia has been divided into administrative regions, with Brno the administrative centre of the

. In 1960s and 1970s, large panel

housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throughout the United States ...

s were built in border districts, such as Bohunice, Líšeň, Bystrc and Vinohrady. During the communist era, most of the workforce was employed in industry, mainly machinery. After 1989, part of the workforce switched from industry to services, and Brno became the IT centre of the Czech Republic. Nevertheless, new industrial zones were built at the edge of the city, such as Černovická terasa in the east of the city.

Geography

Brno is located in the southeastern part of the Czech Republic, at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, and there are also several brooks flowing through it, including the Veverka, Ponávka, and Říčka. The Svratka River flows through the city for about , and the Svitava River cuts a path through the city. Brno is situated at the crossroads of ancient trade routes which have joined northern and southern European civilizations for centuries, and is a part of the

Danube basin The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

region. The city is historically connected with Vienna, which lies to the south. Brno is across, measured from east to west, and its total area is . Within the city limits are the Brno Reservoir, several ponds, and other standing bodies of water, such as the

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

s in the Marian Valley and the Žebětín Pond. Brno is surrounded by wooded hills on three sides; about of the area of the city is forest, 28% of the total. Due to its location between the

Bohemian-Moravian Highlands The Bohemian-Moravian Highlands ( cs, Českomoravská vrchovina or ''Vysočina''; german: Böhmisch-Mährische Höhe) is a geomorphological macroregion and mountain range in the Czech Republic. Its highest peaks are the Javořice at and Devět ...

and the Southern Moravian lowlands (Dyje-Svratka Vale), Brno has a moderate climate. Compared to other cities in the country, Brno has a very high air quality, which is ensured by a good natural circulation of air; no severe storms or similar natural disasters have ever been recorded in the city.

Climate

Under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

, Brno has an oceanic climate (''Cfb'') for −3 °C original isoterm, but near of the (−2.5 °C average temperature in January, month most cold) or include by updated classification in

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(''Dfb'') with cold winters and warm to hot summers. However, in the last 20 years the temperature has increased, and summer days with temperature above are quite common. The average temperature is , the average annual precipitation is about , the average number of precipitation days is 150, the average annual sunshine is 1,771 hours, and the prevailing wind direction is northwest. The weather box below shows average data between years 1961 and 1990. Its height above sea level varies from to . The highest peak in the municipal area is the Kopeček Hill (), and the highest point overall lies in Útěchov on the border with the municipality of Vranov.

Cityscape

Administration

Legally, Brno is a statutory city, consisting of 29 administrative divisions known as city districts. The highest body of self-government is the Brno City Assembly. The city is headed by the lord mayor, who has the right to use the mayor's insignia and represents the city externally. As of 2021, the lord mayor is Markéta Vaňková of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS). The executive body is the city council and local councils of the city districts; the city council has 11 members including the lord mayor and her four deputies. The assembly of the city elects the lord mayor and other members of the city council, establishes the local police, and is also entitled to grant citizenship of honour and the Awards of the City of Brno. The head of the Assembly of the City of Brno in personal matters is the Chief Executive, who according to certain special regulations carries out the function of employer of the other members of the city management. The Chief Executive is directly responsible to the Lord Mayor. The city itself forms a separate district, the Brno-City District, surrounded by the

Brno-Country District Brno-Country District ( cs, okres Brno-venkov) is one of seven districts (''okres'') within South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Its administrative center is in the city of Brno. The most populated town of the district is Kuřim. The dist ...

. Brno is divided into 29 administrative divisions (city districts) and consists of 48 cadastral areas. The "Brno-City District" and "Brno-Country District" are not to be confused with the "city districts" of Brno. The city districts of Brno vary widely in their size by both population and area. The most populated city district of Brno is Brno-Centre, which has over 91,000 residents, and the least populated are Brno-Ořešín and Brno-Útěchov, with about 500 residents. By area, the largest district is Brno-Bystrc () and the smallest is Brno-Nový Lískovec (). Brno is the home to the highest courts in the Czech judiciary. The Supreme Court is on Burešova Street, the Supreme Administrative Court is on Moravské náměstí ( en, Moravian Square), the

is on Joštova Street, and the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office of the Czech Republic is on Jezuitská street.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, Brno had 385,913 inhabitants. The largest ethnic groups reported (without options to choose between) were

Czechs The Czechs ( cs, Češi, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, ...

(51.6%), Moravians (18.7%), Slovaks (1.5%),

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...

(0.9%),

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

(0.4%), and

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in C ...

(0.2%). 23.7% of inhabitants did not write any nationality. In the 2001 census, when the most common nationalities were list to choose between, 76.1% were Czechs and 18.7% Moravians (94.8% Czechs in the broader sense). Brno experienced its largest increases in population during the 19th century at the time of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

, and in 1919 due to a merger with surrounding municipalities.

Culture

The city spends about 30 million euro every year on culture. A vibrant university city with about 90,000 students, Brno is home to many museums, theatres and other cultural institutions, and also hosts a number of festivals and other cultural events. Since the 1990s Brno has experienced a great cultural "rebirth": façades of historical monuments are being repaired and various exhibitions, shows, etc., are being established or extended. In 2007 a summit of 15 presidents of EU Member States was held in Brno. Despite its urban character, some of the city districts still preserve traditional Moravian folklore, including folk festivals with traditional Moravian costumes, Moravian wines, folk music and dances. Unlike smaller municipalities, in Brno annual traditional Moravian folk festivals are held in several city districts, including Židenice, Líšeň, and Ivanovice. Hantec is a unique

slang Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-g ...

that originated in Brno.

Sights

Brno - Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul II

Brno has hundreds of historical sights, including one designated a

, and eight monuments listed among the national cultural heritage of the Czech Republic. Most of the main sights of Brno are situated in the historical centre. The city has the third largest historic preservation zone in the Czech Republic, the largest one being in the Czech capital

. However, there is a considerable difference in the number of historical preservation zones of both cities. While Brno has 484 legally protected sites, Prague has as many as 1,330. Špilberk Castle, originally a royal castle founded in the 13th century, was from the 17th century a fortress and feared prison (e.g.

Carbonari The Carbonari () was an informal network of secret revolutionary societies active in Italy from about 1800 to 1831. The Italian Carbonari may have further influenced other revolutionary groups in France, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Uruguay and Ru ...

). Today it is one of the city's principal monuments. Another key landmark is the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul, built during the 14th and 15th centuries in place of an 11th-century chapel. Its present form with two

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

towers was completed in 1909. The other large castle near the city is

. The Abbey of Saint Thomas was the site of

's experiments establishing the new science of

. The Church of Saint Tomas houses the tomb of its founder, John Henry and his son

Jobst of Moravia Jobst of Moravia ( cs, Jošt Moravský or ''Jošt Lucemburský''; german: Jo(b)st or ''Jodokus von Mähren''; c. 1354 – 18 January 1411), a member of the House of Luxembourg, was Margraviate of Moravia, Margrave of Moravia from 1375, List of mo ...

, Margraves of Moravia. The Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady houses the grave of its founder Queen Elisabeth Richeza. The Church of Saint James is one of the best preserved and most spectacular Gothic churches in Brno. Brno Parnas Fountain-02

Brno Ossuary Brno Ossuary is an underground ossuary in Brno, Czech Republic. It was rediscovered in 2001 in the historical centre of the city, partially under the Church of St. James. It is estimated that the ossuary holds the remains of over 50 thousand peo ...

is the second largest

ossuary An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the ...

in Europe, after the

Catacombs of Paris The Catacombs of Paris (french: Catacombes de Paris, ) are underground ossuaries in Paris, France, which hold the remains of more than six million people in a small part of a tunnel network built to consolidate Paris's ancient stone quarries. E ...

. Another ossuary is the

Capuchin crypt The Capuchin Crypt is a small space comprising several tiny chapels located beneath the church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini on the Via Veneto near Piazza Barberini in Rome, Italy. It contains the skeletal remains of 3,700 bodi ...

, with

mummies A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furt ...

of Capuchin monks and some of the notable people of their era, including architect Mořic Grimm and the mercenary leader Baron Trenk. The

Labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by t ...

under

Zelný trh Zelný trh (german: Kraut Markt; English: ''Vegetable Market'' or ''Cabbage Market'') is a town square, square and traditional marketplace in Brno, Czech Republic. It is located in the historic centre of Brno on an area of about . The square In t ...

( en, Cabbage market), a system of underground corridors and cellars dating back to the Middle Ages, has been recently opened to the public. These cellars have been used mainly for storing food, maturing beer and wine, and as wartime shelters. Originally, they were not interconnected as they are now – this happened later during the reconstruction in 2009. Brno is home to a functionalist Synagogue and the largest Jewish cemetery in Moravia. A Jewish population lived in Brno as early as the 13th century, and remnants of tombstones can be traced back to as early as 1349. The functionalist synagogue was built between 1934 and 1936. While the Brno Jewish community numbered 12,000 in 1938, only 1,000 survived

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

persecution during Germany's occupation in

. Today, the cemetery and synagogue are again maintained by a Brno Jewish community. The only Czech

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

, founded in 1998, is also located in Brno. The era between the world wars saw a building boom to the city, leaving it with many modern and especially functionalist buildings, the most celebrated being

, designed by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in the 1920s for the wealthy family of Fritz Tugendhat, and finished in 1930. It was designated a

in 2001. Another renowned architect who significantly shaped Brno was Arnošt Wiesner.Karrie Jacobs, ''Discovering Brno's architecture'', in ''Travel + Leisure'', November 2005
available online
/ref> Other functionalist buildings include the Avion Hotel and

Morava Palace Palace Moravia (''Palác Morava'' in Czech, ''Morava-Palast'' in German) is a building in City of Brno, Czech Republic. In 1926, an architectural competition for the model of a hotel was announced. This was supposed to be built on a place of form ...

. The

is the city's main attraction for international business visitors, visited by over one million visitors each year, and hosting over 40 professional trade fairs and business conferences. Lužánky is the oldest public park in the Czech Republic, established in the late 18th century by the emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Denis Gardens were founded in the early 19th century and were the first public park in the present-day Czech Republic founded by public authorities. Špilberk Park is classified as a national cultural sight of the Czech Republic, as a unique piece of landscape architecture. One of Brno's more recent additions is the Brno astronomical clock. The AZ Tower, opened in 2013 and tall, is currently the tallest building in the Czech Republic.

Festivals

The biggest festival in Brno is the

fireworks Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large number of devices ...

competition festival, Ignis Brunensis (Latin for "Flame of Brno"), held annually in June, part of the "

Brno - City in the Centre of Europe Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

" festival. Ignis Brunensis is the biggest show of its kind in Central Europe, usually attracting 100,000-200,000 visitors to each display. The international film festival '' Cinema Mundi'' screens about 60 films competing for

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

nomination in the category of Best Foreign Language Film. ''Theatre World Brno'' is another international festival held annually in the city, in which Brno theatres and the city centre stage around 100 performances by national and foreign ensembles. Other festivals held regularly in Brno include the International Music Festival Brno, the Spilberk International Music Festival, and the Summer Shakespeare Festival. Every September, Brno hosts a wine festival, ''Slavnosti vína'', to celebrate the harvest in the surrounding wine-producing region.

Theatres

Brno has a long theatre tradition. Brno has the oldest theatre building in Central Europe, the Reduta Theatre on

( en, Vegetable Market). The first theatre plays in Brno probably took place in the 1660s in the ''City Tavern'', today's Reduta Theatre; however, the first theatre with boxes was built in this complex in 1733. The first documented professional Czech performance took place in 1767, again in the Reduta Theatre; the play was called ''Zamilovaný ponocný'' ( en, Watchman in Love) and was performed by the Venice Theatre Company. The same year, Mozart performed in the theatre with his elder sister Anna Maria (Nannerl). In that year the Mozart family spent Christmas in Brno, and their visit is commemorated by a statue of Mozart as a child in front of the Reduta Theatre. The theatre's ''Mozart Hall'' was also named after him. Mesto Brno - Mahenovo divadlo 2

The Národní divadlo v Brně en, National Theatre of Brno) (NdB) is the leading producer of

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

and

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

in the city of Brno. The first permanent seat of NdB was established in 1884, and today this institution owns the

Mahen Theatre Mahen Theatre ( cs, Mahenovo divadlo) is a Czech theatre situated in the city of Brno. Mahen Theatre, built as German ''Deutsches Stadttheater'' in 1882, was one of the first public buildings in the world lit entirely by electric light. Ort (200 ...

, built in 1882,

Janáček Theatre Janáček Theatre ( cs, Janáčkovo divadlo) is an opera house in the city of Brno, Czech Republic. It is the largest of the three theatres serving the National Theatre Brno ("NdB") opera and ballet company, the others being the Mahen and the ...

, built in 1965, and the Reduta Theatre. The composer

Leoš Janáček Leoš Janáček (, baptised Leo Eugen Janáček; 3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist, and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and other Slavic musics, including Eastern European f ...

is also connected with the National Theatre of Brno. The Mahen Theatre was the first theatre building in Europe to be illuminated by

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...

's electric light bulbs; at that time it was a completely new invention and there were no power plants built in the city, so a small steam power plant was built nearby just to power the theatre, and Edison came to Brno in 1911 to see it. The most commercially successful theatre in Brno is the

Brno City Theatre Brno City Theatre (Czech: Městské divadlo Brno, further in text MdB) is a repertoire theatre in Brno, Czech Republic, that focuses on dramatic and music production, mainly musical theatre. The building of the theatre is located on Lidická st ...

, founded in 1945; its performances are usually sold out. They also stage about 150 performances abroad every year. The theatre's repertoire consists primarily of musical and dramatic shows. There are a variety of smaller theatres in Brno, including Divadlo Bolka Polívky, Divadlo Husa na provázku, HaDivadlo, loutkové divadlo Radost, Divadlo Polárka, G Studio, Divadlo v 7 a půl – Kabinet múz, and Divadlo Vaňkovka children's theatre. The Mahen Theatre was originally called the City Theatre, and until 1918 it performed exclusively in German and was not part of the National Theatre of Brno. Between 1971 and 1978, some plays were performed at the

due to reconstruction of the Mahen Theatre.

Local legends

There are several legends connected with the City of Brno. One of the best known is the Legend of the Brno Dragon. It is said that there was a terrible creature terrorizing the citizens of Brno. The people had never seen such a beast before, so they called it a dragon. They lived in fear of the dragon until a brave man managed to kill the monster by tricking it into eating a carcass filled with lime. In reality the dragon was a crocodile, the preserved body of which is now displayed at the entrance of the

Old Town Hall Old or OLD may refer to: Places * Old, Baranya, Hungary * Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, ...

. Crocodile and dragon motifs are common in Brno. A crocodile ( cz, krokodýl) is the local stuffed baguette, and the city radio station is known as Radio Krokodýl. The local

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

team is named

Draci Brno Draci Brno (English: Brno Dragons) is a baseball team from Brno, Czech Republic. The team plays in the Czech Extraliga The Czech Extraliga ( cs, Extraliga ledního hokeje, ELH) is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. It w ...

( en, Brno Dragons) and the local rugby club is named

RC Dragon Brno RC Dragon Brno is a Czech rugby club in Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it ...

. There is also a local

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

team called the

Brno Alligators Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

. An

Intercity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...

train connecting Brno and

is called Brněnský drak ( en, The Brno dragon). Next to the "dragon" at the Old Town Hall is the town's second well-known emblem, a wagon wheel made from a tree found and cut down 50 miles from the city. According to the legend, a local man made a wager that he could fell the tree, make a wheel out of it, and roll the wheel to the City of Brno, all within a single day. Since the achievement was deemed to be impossible by normal human means, the man was believed to have called on the devil for assistance, and died in poverty as a result. Another local legend relates to the siege of the city by Swedish forces in 1645. The locals and the Swedish army were in a stalemate, and the Swedish general declared that he would withdraw if his army had not won by noon. The bell ringer at Petrov Cathedral tricked him by ringing the bell an hour early, and keeping his word, the general and his army left. As a historic tribute to the event, the bell at Petrov Cathedral still rings for noon an hour earlier, at 11 o'clock. At this time, the Brno astronomical clock also releases a glass ball as a souvenir.

Museums, libraries, and galleries

The most significant museum in Brno is the

Moravian Museum Moravian is the adjective form of the Czech Republic region of Moravia, and refers to people of ancestry from Moravia. Moravian may also refer to: * a member or adherent of the Moravian Church, one of the oldest Protestant denominations * Moravia ...

, the largest museum in Moravia and the second largest in the Czech Republic. The museum was founded in 1817 and its collections include over 6 million pieces. The biggest public library in Brno is the

Moravian Library Moravian Library (Czech: ''Moravská zemská knihovna'') is the second largest library in the Czech Republic. Located in Brno, Czech Republic, it is a universal research library and the regional library of the South Moravian Region The South ...

, the second largest library in the Czech Republic with around 4 million volumes. The biggest gallery in Brno is the Moravian Gallery, again the second largest institution of its kind in the Czech Republic and the biggest in Moravia. One section of the Moravian Museum, the

Anthropos Pavilion Anthropos (or Anthropos Pavilion, from the Greek ''Άνθρωπος'', human or man) is a museum located in the city of Brno, South Moravia, Czech Republic. The museum is a part of the Moravské zemské muzeum (Moravian Museum). It focuses on ex ...

, is related to the oldest history of mankind and prehistoric Europe. Brno also has a Technical Museum, the largest in Moravia and one of the largest in Czech Republic. The permanent exhibitions chart the advance of science and technology, accompanied by various lifelike models and restored machines. The museum also hosts short-term exhibitions of many different points of interest. In 2016 the Vašulka Kitchen Brno (VKB) was established in Brno for research, artistic experiment and informal education in the field of new media art. Housed in the Brno House of Arts, it consists of the archive of Steina and Woody Vasulka’ work and presents a permanent exhibition of their selected works.

Education

Over the past two decades Brno has evolved into an important university city; the number of students at Brno's higher education institutions reached 89,000 in 2010. The city has also become home to a number of institutions directly related to research and development, including the

Central European Institute of Technology CEITEC (the Central European Institute of Technology) is a Research Center for Life Sciences, Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology. CEITEC was founded by a group of Brno universities (Masaryk University, Brno University of Technology, Mendel Un ...

(CEITEC), and the International Clinical Research Center (ICRC). The city is also gaining importance in various fields of

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

, especially in software development. Companies operating in Brno include AVG Technologies (headquarters), IBM (Client Innovation Centre),

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile te ...

Honeywell Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...

(Global Design Center), Siemens, SGI (Czech headquarters), Red Hat (Czech headquarters), and

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorol ...

With over 40,000 students,

Masaryk University Masaryk University (MU) ( cs, Masarykova univerzita; la, Universitas Masarykiana Brunensis) is the second largest university in the Czech Republic, a member of the Compostela Group and the Utrecht Network. Founded in 1919 in Brno as the se ...

is the largest university in Brno and the second biggest in the Czech Republic. Today, it consists of nine faculties, with more than 190 departments, institutes and clinics. The Brno University of Technology was established in 1899, and is now among the biggest technical universities in the Czech Republic with over 20,000 students. Viktor Kaplan, inventor of the

Kaplan turbine The Kaplan turbine is a propeller-type water turbine which has adjustable blades. It was developed in 1913 by Austrian professor Viktor Kaplan, who combined automatically adjusted propeller blades with automatically adjusted wicket gates to ach ...

, spent nearly 30 years at the German Technical University in Brno, which ceased to exist in 1945, its property transferred to Brno University of Technology.

Mendel University Mendel University in Brno is located in Brno, Czech Republic. It was founded on 24 July 1919 on the basis of the former Tábor Academy. It now consists of five faculties and one institute - the Faculty of AgriSciences, Faculty of Forestry and ...

, named after the founder of genetics

, who developed his revolutionary scientific theories in Brno, has roughly 10,000 students.

Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts The Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts ( cs, Janáčkova akademie múzických umění v Brně; abbreviation in Czech: JAMU) is a public university with an artistic focus in Brno, Czech Republic. It was established in 1947 and consi ...

, named after

, was founded in 1947 and is one of two academies of music and drama in the Czech Republic. It holds the annual Leoš Janáček Competition.

Sports

Start Superbike Weltmeisterschaft 2008 Brno

The city has a long association with

motor racing Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of tw ...

; among other events, the

has hosted the

Moto GP Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start of ...

championship since 1965. The annual

Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix The Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix was a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. Before 1993, the race was known as the Czechoslovak motorcycle Grand Prix. Since 1965, the race was a part of world Gran ...

, the most famous motor race in the Czech Republic, has been held in the city since 1950. Since 1968, Brno has been a permanent fixture on the

European Touring Car Championship The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004. In 2005 it was superseded by the World ...

(ETCC) series. The

2010 FIBA World Championship for Women The 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women, the 16th edition of FIBA's premier tournament for women's national basketball teams, was held from September 23 to October 3, 2010 in the Czech Republic. Three cities, Ostrava, Brno and Karlovy Vary, h ...

was played in Brno's

Arena Vodova An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

, with the Czech squad taking the silver medal. There is also a horse-race course at Brno-Dvorská and an aeroclub airport in Medlánky. Several sports clubs represent the city in the various Czech leagues, including

FC Zbrojovka Brno FC Zbrojovka Brno is a professional football club based in the city of Brno, South Moravia, Czech Republic and named after Zbrojovka Brno, a firearms manufacturer. Founded in 1913 as SK Židenice, the club later became known as Zbrojovka Brno. Br ...

( football), HC Kometa Brno (

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

), KP Brno ( handball),

BC Brno Basketball Club Brno ( cs, Basketbalový Klub Brno), for sponsorship reasons Brno Next Generation, is a Czech professional basketball club based in the city of Brno. The team plays in the Czech National Basketball League – the highest competit ...

(

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, men) and

BK Brno Basketbalový Klub Brno, currently officially BK Žabiny Brno, previously also known as Imos Brno for sponsorship reasons, is a Czech women's basketball club from Brno established in 1993, not to be mistaken with male club BC VS Brno. It has been ...

(women), four

teams (

, Hroši Brno, VSK Technika Brno, MZLU Express Brno),

Brno Ravens Lacrosse Club Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inha ...

(

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

), Brno Alligators (

), two rugby teams (

, RC Bystrc) and others.

Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

players

Lucie Šafářová Lucie Šafářová (; born 4 February 1987) is a Czech former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles, and No. 5 in singles. She is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having won the 2015 Australian Open, 2015 ...

Lukáš Rosol Lukáš Rosol (; born 24 July 1985) is a Czech professional tennis player. He competes on the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Tour, both in singles and doubles. Rosol was coached by former Czech player, 1999 US Open quarterfinalist Ctislav Dosed ...

, and

Jana Novotná Jana Novotná (; 2 October 1968 – 19 November 2017) was a Czech professional tennis player. She played a serve and volley game, an increasingly rare style of play among women during her career. Novotná won the women's singles title at Wimbl ...

are from Brno, as well as

Michal Březina Michal Březina (; born 30 March 1990) is a retired Czech figure skater. He is the 2013 European bronze medalist, 2011 Skate America champion, 2009 World Junior silver medalist and four-time Czech national champion. He also won the 2014-15 IS ...

, one of the top Czech figure skaters.

Transport

Public transport in Brno consists of 12

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

lines, 14

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or trol ...

lines (the largest trolleybus network in the Czech Republic) and almost 40 day and 11 night bus lines. Trams (known locally as ''šaliny'') first appeared on the streets in 1869; this was the first operation of

horse-drawn tram A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered (usually horse) tram or streetcar. Summary The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, w ...

s in the modern-day Czech Republic. The local public transport system is interconnected with regional public transport in one integrated system (IDS JMK), and directly connects several nearby municipalities with the city. Its main operator is the Brno City Transport Company (DPmB), which also operates a mostly recreational ferry route at the

Brno Dam Lake The Brno Reservoir, previously known as the Kníničky Reservoir ( cs, Brněnská přehrada, also known as ''Prýgl'' in Hantec slang) is a reservoir on the Svratka (river), Svratka River at the northwest edge of the city of Brno, Czech Republic. ...

. A tourist

minibus A minibus, microbus, minicoach, or commuter (in Zimbabwe) is a passenger-carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, ...

provides a brief tour of the city. In 2011, the city announced plans to build a

metro system Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...

light rail system to alleviate overcrowding of trams and to reduce congestion on the surface. Railway transport began operating in the city in 1839 on the Brno–Vienna line, the first operating railway line in the modern-day Czech Republic. Today, Brno is a transnational railway hub, with nine stations for passenger traffic. The current

main railway station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

is the central hub of regional train services, used by about 50,000 passengers every day, with around 500 trains passing through. The station is currently operating at full capacity; the main station building is outdated and lacks sufficient operating capacity, but the construction of the new station has been postponed several times for various reasons. A

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

over whether to move the station was held on 7 and 8 October 2016, coinciding with regional elections. Brno is also an international road transport crossroads. There are two

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

s on the southern edge of the city: the D1 leading to

Ostrava Ostrava (; pl, Ostrawa; german: Ostrau ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic, and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 280,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four riv ...

and

, and the D2 leading to Bratislava. Not far from the city limits is the D52 motorway leading to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Another planned motorway, the D43, will connect Brno to northwestern Moravia. The city is gradually building the large city ring road (road I/42). Several road tunnels have been built at Pisarky, Husovice, Hlinky and Královo pole, and more are planned. Due to the congestion in private transport, the city is continuing to try to build more parking ramps, including underground, but these efforts have not always been successful. Air transport is enabled by two functional airports. The public international airport, Brno-Tuřany Airport, saw a sharp increase in passenger traffic up to 2011, however the number of passengers has since been in decline, especially during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, with the only remaining scheduled flights being to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The airport also serves as one of the two bases for police helicopters in the Czech Republic. The other airport, Medlánky Airport, is a small domestic airport serving mainly recreational activities such as flying

hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries ...

s, gliders or aircraft

RC model A radio-controlled model (or RC model) is a model that is steerable with the use of radio control. All types of model vehicles have had RC systems installed in them, including ground vehicles, boats, planes, helicopters and even submarines and ...

s. Cycling is widespread in Brno due to lowland nature of the landscape. Existing tracks for cycling and roller skating in 2011 totalled approximately , and are gradually being expanded. There is also one long

bikeway Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by Motor vehicle, motorists are also cycling infrastructu ...

leading to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, approximately long. Several hiking trails of the Czech Tourist Club also pass through Brno.

Notable people

(1822–1884), scientist; lived and died in Brno * Ernst Mach (1838–1916), physicist, philosopher * Maria Neruda (1840–1920), violinist * Ludwig Strakosch (1855–1919), operatic baritone *

Adolf Loos Adolf Franz Karl Viktor Maria Loos (; 10 December 1870 – 23 August 1933) was an Austrian and Czechoslovak architect, influential European theorist, and a polemicist of modern architecture. He was an inspiration to modernism and a widely- ...

(1870–1933), architect *

Erich Wolfgang Korngold Erich Wolfgang Korngold (May 29, 1897November 29, 1957) was an Austrian-born American composer and conductor. A child prodigy, he became one of the most important and influential composers in Hollywood history. He was a noted pianist and compo ...

(1897–1957), composer, conductor *

Ladislav Vácha Ladislav Vácha (21 March 1899 in Brno – 28 June 1943) was a Czech gymnast and Olympic champion competing for Czechoslovakia. He competed at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, where he received a bronze medal in ''rope climbing'' and '' ...

(1899–1943), gymnast *

Hugo Haas Hugo Haas (19 February 1901 – 1 December 1968) was a Czech film actor, director and writer. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1926 and 1962, as well as directing 20 films between 1933 and 1962. Life and career Haas was born in B ...

(1901–1968), actor, director *

Jan Gajdoš Jan Gajdoš (27 December 1903 – 19 November 1945) was a Czech gymnast, representing Czechoslovakia. He competed in two Olympic Games and five gymnastics World Championships. Competitive career His first Olympics was in 1928, where he took silv ...

(1903–1945), gymnast * Georg Placzek (1905–1955), physicist * Kurt Gödel (1906–1978), philosopher, mathematician, physicist *

Bohumil Hrabal Bohumil Hrabal (; 28 March 1914 – 3 February 1997) was a Czech writer, often named among the best Czech writers of the 20th century. Early life Hrabal was born in Židenice (suburb of Brno) on 28 March 1914, in what was then the province ...

(1914–1997), author *

Vítězslava Kaprálová Vítězslava Kaprálová (; 24 January 191516 June 1940) was a Czech composer and conductor of 20th-century classical music. Life and career Vítězslava Kaprálová was born in Brno, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Czech Republic), a daughte ...

(1915–1940), composer, conductor *

Zvi Dershowitz Zvi Dershowitz (born May 4, 1928) is an American rabbi, and is currently Rabbi Emeritus at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles. Early life Dershowitz was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia in 1928. In 1938, just 33 days before the Nazis invaded, Dersho ...

(born 1928), American rabbi *

Milan Kundera Milan Kundera (, ; born 1 April 1929) is a Czech writer who went into exile in France in 1975, becoming a naturalised French citizen in 1981. Kundera's Czechoslovak citizenship was revoked in 1979, then conferred again in 2019. He "sees himself ...

(born 1929), author * Woody Vasulka (1937–2019), Czech-American artist * Rudolf Potsch (born 1937), ice hockey player * Jiří Daler (born 1940), cyclist * Lubo Kristek (born 1943), artist * Jiří Pospíšil (1950–2019), basketball player * Jan Stejskal (born 1962), footballer * Roman Kukleta (1964–2011), footballer * Robert Kron (born 1967), ice hockey player *

(1968–2017), tennis player * Jaromír Blažek (born 1972), footballer *

Magdalena Kožená Magdalena Kožená (also Lady Rattle; ; born 26 May 1973) is a Czech mezzo-soprano. Early life Kožená was born in Brno in Czechoslovakia. Both her parents had come originally from Bohemia, to the west. She was born one of the two daughters o ...

(born 1973), opera singer * Libor Zábranský (born 1973), ice hockey player and coach * David Kostelecký (born 1975), sports shooter * Adam Svoboda (1978–2019), ice hockey player * Miroslava Knapková (born 1980), rower * Jan Polák (born 1981), footballer *

(born 1987), tennis player *

Karel Abraham Karel Abraham (born 2 January 1990) is a retired motorcycle racer from the Czech Republic. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from to , riding in the 125cc, 250cc, Moto2 and MotoGP classes, with the exception of 2016, when he raced in ...

(born 1990), motorcycle racer * Jiří Procházka (born 1992), mixed martial artist; lives in Brno *

Adam Ondra Adam Ondra (born February 5, 1993) is a Czech professional rock climber, specializing in lead climbing and bouldering. In 2013, ''Rock & Ice'' described Ondra as a prodigy and the leading climber of his generation. Ondra is the only male athlete t ...

(born 1993), rock climber *

Nicole Melichar Nicole Melichar-Martinez (née Melichar; cz, Nicole Melicharová, ) is an American tennis player who specializes in doubles. She has won twelve doubles titles on the WTA Tour and one WTA 125 doubles title as well as two singles and seven double ...

(born 1993), American tennis player

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Brno is twinned with: * Bratislava, Slovakia *

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, United States *

Debrecen Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and ...

, Hungary * Kaunas, Lithuania *

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

, England, United Kingdom *

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

, Germany *

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

, Poland * Rennes, France * Sankt Pölten, Austria * Stuttgart, Germany

Cooperation agreements

Brno also cooperates with: *

Daejeon Daejeon () is South Korea's fifth-largest metropolis, with a population of 1.5 million as of 2019. Located in the central-west region of South Korea alongside forested hills and the Geum River, the city is known both for its technology an ...

, South Korea *

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...

, Ukraine – twinning approved in 2022 *

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

, Netherlands *

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria

Nearby cities

This tool shows only cities with population over 300,000 in radius of .

Gallery

Brno View from Spilberk 131.JPG, A view from the Špilberk Castle Petrov from Hybešova 2.JPG, Petrov cathedral Brno - Náměstí Svobody I.jpg, The Liberty Square, in the Middle Ages it was the main square Brno - Biskupský dvůr I.jpg, The Bishop's Palace towards the Cathedral Ulice Veveří v Brně I.jpg, Tivoli Brno, park Koliště, vodotrysky před divadlem (6908).jpg,

Brno - Hotel Grand 2015 obr1.jpg, Hotel Grand Brno - Žulové hodiny.jpg, Brno astronomical clock Masarykova street in Brno.jpg, Masarykova Street Brno-Líšeň - Líšeňský zámek ve Staré Líšni focený od Kostelíčku (2).jpg, Líšeň Castle Mesto Brno - nadvori Nove radnice v Brne pri pohledu ze schodiste.jpg, New Town Hall Pražákův palác III.jpg, Moravian Gallery – Pražák Palace Brno - Denisovy sady, obelisk obr2.jpg, Denis Gardens with obelisk Mesto Brno - hrad Spilberk.jpg, Špilberk Castle Brno Skořepka Agudas achim 3.jpg, Functionalist Agudas Achim Synagogue by Otto Eisler Ústřední autobusové nádraží Brno obr1.jpg, Central Bus Station

Notes

References

Bibliography

* *Filip, Aleš (2006). ''Brno - city guide''. Brno: K-Public. *Gödel, Alois (2006). " Brünn 1679-1684", Brno: ITEM. *Procházka, Jiří.(2008)." 1683. Vienna obsessa. Brunna" Brno ITEM.

External links

Official websiteOfficial tourism website
{{Authority control Brno-City District Cities and towns in the Czech Republic

Names

History

17th century

19th century

20th century and Greater Brno

Geography

Climate

Cityscape

Administration

Demographics

Culture

Sights

Festivals

Theatres

Local legends

Museums, libraries, and galleries

Education

Sports

Transport

Notable people

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Cooperation agreements

Nearby cities

Gallery

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links