Hodonín (; german: Göding) is a town 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 ...

. It has about 24,000 inhabitants.

Administrative parts

Hodonín is made up of only one administrative part.

Geography

Hodonín is located about southeast of

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 the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

, on the border with

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

. It lies in a flat landscape of the

Lower Morava Valley The Lower Morava Valley ( cs, Dolnomoravský úval, Jihomoravská pánev; sk, Dolnomoravský úval; german: Nieder March Talsenke) is a geomorphological formation (special type of valley) in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It is formed by the ...

. It is situated on the right bank of the Morava River, which forms here the Czech-Slovak border. The western municipal border is formed by the Kyjovka River, which supplies a set of eight ponds.

History

The castle in Hodonín was founded sometime in the 11th century. However, the document from 1046 which was the oldest mention of the castle, is demonstrably a forgery. The first written credible mention of Hodonín is from 1169. In 1228 it became a town. 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 batt ...

the town was severely damaged and the population decreased. In the 18th century a local castle was rebuilt to a tobacco factory, whose production helped repopulate the town. The railway to Hodonín was built in 1841, and extended to

Holíč Holíč (until 1946 "Holič", german: Weißkirchen (an der March) / Holitsch, hu, Holics) is a town in western Slovakia. History The oldest archaeological findings in the area date from the Neolithic, and there are findings from the Bronze Age, ...

in 1891. The northern part of the municipal territory, especially the hamlet of Pánov, retirement home and the Hodonín Zoo, was severely damaged by the

2021 South Moravia tornado A rare, violent, and deadly long-tracked tornado struck several villages in the Hodonín District, Hodonín and Břeclav District, Břeclav districts of the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic in the evening of 24 June 2021, kil ...

Demographics

Economy

In the vicinity of the town there is an

oil field A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presen ...

and a stratum of

lignite Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...

, which was formerly transported to the town of Otrokovice, a few kilometers from the city of

Zlín Zlín (in 1949–1989 Gottwaldov; ; german: Zlin) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 73,000 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Zlín Region and it lies on the Dřevnice river. It is known as an industrial centre. The development of the ...

, by the

Baťa Canal Baťa Canal (in Czech ''Baťův kanál'' or ''Průplav Otrokovice-Rohatec'') is a navigable canal on the Morava river in the Czech Republic. The water canal was built during 1934-38 and today it serves mainly for recreational cruises. History ...

, which was built by the

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

entrepreneur Tomáš Baťa and now operates as a tourist attraction. The largest industrial employers based in the town are MND (oil and gas producer) and Delimax (manufacturer of

delicatessen Traditionally, a delicatessen or deli is a retail establishment that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessen originated in Germany (original: ) during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the m ...

and fish products).

Transport

There is a road border crossing and a railway border crossing, leading to neighbouring

Sights

The main sights are the Church of Saint Lawrence and the town hall, both located on the town square. The church is originally a Gothic structure from the first half of the 13th century, baroque rebuilt in 1780–1786. The town hall was built in the

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

style in 1902–1904, by architect Ernst von Gotthilf in 1902–1904. Its tower is open to the public as a lookout tower. The Hodonín Zoo was founded in 1977 and it is one of the smallest and youngest zoos in the country.

Notable people

Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Tomáš () is a Czech and Slovak given name, equivalent to the name Thomas. It may refer to: * Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850–1937), first President of Czechoslovakia * Tomáš Baťa (1876–1932), Czech footwear entrepreneur * Tomáš Berdy ...

(1850–1937), politician, the first president of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

Henry Kučera Henry Kučera (15 February 1925 – 20 February 2010), born Jindřich Kučera () was a Czech-American linguist who pioneered corpus linguistics, linguistic software, a major contributor to the ''American Heritage Dictionary'', and a pioneer in t ...

(1925–2010), linguist and pioneer of computer linguistics *

Václav Nedomanský Václav Nedomanský (born 14 March 1944) is a Czech former ice hockey forward. Nedomanský is best known as the first Czech hockey player to defect to North America to play. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2019. He is also a memb ...

(born 1944), ice hockey player *

Zdeněk Škromach Zdeněk Škromach (born 31 December 1956) is a Czech politician, who served as the vice-president of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic The Senate (), literally "Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic", is the upper ...

(born 1956), politician *

Karel Komárek Karel Komárek (born 15 March 1969) is a Czech businessman worth $8.18 billion as of February 2023. He is one of the wealthiest Czech citizens and the founder of the investment company KKCG. Early life Komárek was born in Hodonín, Czech Repub ...

(born 1969), entrepreneur and philanthropist * Dana Čechová (born 1983), table tennis player *

Vítězslav Veselý Vítězslav Veselý () (born 27 February 1983) is a Czech javelin thrower. He won two bronze medals at the Olympic games, in 2012 and 2020. Career He finished ninth at the 2002 World Junior Championships. He threw a personal best throw of 81.20 ...

(born 1983), javelin thrower *

Michal Kempný Michal Kempný (born 8 September 1990) is a Czech professional ice hockey defenceman who is currently playing with HC Sparta Praha in the Czech Extraliga (ELH). Kempný formerly played in the National Hockey League (NHL) and won the Stanley C ...

(born 1990), ice hockey player

Twin towns – sister cities

Hodonín is twinned with: *

, Slovakia *

Jasło Jasło is a county town in south-eastern Poland with 36,641 inhabitants, as of 31 December 2012. It is situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (since 1999), and it was previously part of Krosno Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is located in Lesse ...

, Poland *

Skalica Skalica (german: Skalitz, hu, Szakolca, Latin: ''Sakolcium'') is the largest town in Skalica District in western Slovakia in the Záhorie region. Located near the Czech border, Skalica has a population of around 15,000. Etymology The name is de ...

, Slovakia *

Trebišov Trebišov ( hu, Tőketerebes; german: Trebischau; russian: Требишев) is a small industrial town in the easternmost part of Slovakia, with a population of around 25,000. The town is an administrative, economic and cultural center with machi ...

, Slovakia *

Zistersdorf Zistersdorf is a town in the district of Gänserndorf in the Austrian state of Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the ...

, Austria

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hodonin Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Populated places in Hodonín District Moravian Slovakia