The City
Brno is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, with a population of almost 400.000, and is the country's judiciary and trade-fair centre. The first written record of Brno dates from the ninth century. City rights were acquired in 1243. After successfully defending the city against the Swedes 350 years ago (in 1643--45 during the Thirty Years' War), Brno became the capital of Moravia. The nineteenth century was a period of technological progress and development for Brno. It became one of the most prominent industrial centres in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was in Brno that J. G. Mendel formulated his theory of heredity, V. Kaplan produced the first water turbine and Leos Janacek composed his musical works. Milan Kundera wrote his first novels here. Brno is the place of birth of Kurt Goedel -- a major 20th century scientist of international standing.
The Czech Republic consists of Bohemia in the north and Moravia in the south, with Brno the capital of the latter. It had been a royal city since 1347. There are six Universities in Brno.
Historical and artistic places of interest in Brno include:
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Brno castle, called Spilberk
- Veveri castle - photos
- The Old and New City halls
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The "Bishops' Church of St Peter & St Paul"
- The Augustine monastery, with St Thomas' Church and crypt of Moravian margraves
- Capuchin monastery with crypt
- The Church of St James
- The famous Villa Tugendhat (currently closed for reconstruction), designed by Mies van der Rohe
- Many other important examples of Czech architecture between the wars (1918-38).
Touristical interests in the immediate surroundings of Brno are:
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the Moravian Karst with Macocha Chasm and Punkva caves
- the site of the "Battle of the Three emperors" (Napoleon, Alexander I of Russia, and Franz Joseph of Austria), known as the Battle of Austerlitz
- the chateau of Slavkov (Austerlitz)
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the Pernstejn Castle
Time Zone and Climate
The Czech Republic is on Central European Summer Time (MET DST), two hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT+2) during the Daylight Saving Time period. The average temperature for September is between 15-20 degrees celsius. The weather is normally warm and sunny.
