Editing Brno (section)

==History==
[[File:Mince 10Kč vzor 2003 rubová strana.jpg|thumb|left|120px|The 10&nbsp;[[Czech koruna|CZK]] coin (1993 design)]]
{{Main|History of Brno|Timeline of Brno}}
The Brno basin has been inhabited since [[Prehistoric Europe|prehistoric times]],<ref name="brnohist">{{cite web|url=http://www2.brno.cz/index.php?lan=en&nav01=2222&nav02=5&nav03=1555|title=History of the City of Brno|publisher=the Statutory city of Brno|access-date=30 September 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928112549/http://www.brno.cz/index.php?lan=en|archive-date=28 September 2011}}</ref> as seen in a 2024 discovery of at least 3 three mammoths bones and prehistoric tools dating back 15,000 years.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-11-11 |title=Skeletal remains of three mammoths discovered in Brno city centre |url=https://english.radio.cz/skeletal-remains-three-mammoths-discovered-brno-city-centre-8834259 |access-date=2024-11-19 |website=Radio Prague International |language=en}}</ref> The town's direct predecessor was a fortified settlement of the [[Great Moravia|Great Moravian Empire]] known as ''Staré Zámky'', which was inhabited from the [[Neolithic Age]] until the early 11th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.psh.ecn.cz/strany/mapa/14_stare_zamky.pdf|title=Naučná stezka Hády a údolí Říčky. Panel 14: Staré Zámky|publisher=ZO ČSOP Pozemkový spolek Hády|access-date=30 September 2011|language=cs|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718171447/http://www.psh.ecn.cz/strany/mapa/14_stare_zamky.pdf|archive-date=18 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In the early 11th century Brno was established as a castle of a non-ruling prince from the [[House of Přemyslid]],<ref name="brnohist"/> and Brno became one of the centres of Moravia along with [[Olomouc]] and [[Znojmo]]. Brno was first mentioned in Cosmas' ''[[Chronica Boemorum]]'' dated to the year 1091, when Bohemian king [[Vratislaus II of Bohemia|Vratislaus II]] besieged his brother [[Conrad I, Duke of Bohemia|Conrad]] at Brno castle.<ref>{{cite book|last=Čapka|first=František|title=Morava|series=Stručná historie států|year=2003|publisher=Libri|location=Praha|language=cs|isbn=80-7277-186-8|page=30|chapter=Ota Olomoucký a Konrád Brněnský}}</ref>

[[File:Znak Moravského markrabství.png|thumb|left|upright|120px|Coat of arms of the margraviate]]
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 [[Bohemia]]n ruler in [[Prague]]. The seats of these rulers and thus the "capitals" of these territories were the castles and towns of Brno, [[Olomouc]], and [[Znojmo]]. In the late 12th century, Moravia began to reunify, forming the [[Margraviate of Moravia]]. 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.{{clarify|date=May 2019}} However, Brno was the official seat of the Moravian Margraves (rulers of Moravia),<ref name="spilberkhist"/> and later its geographical position closer to [[Vienna]] also became important. Otherwise, until 1642 Olomouc had a larger population than Brno, and was the seat of the only [[Roman Catholic]] [[diocese]] in Moravia.

[[File:Veduta z obléhání Brna Švédy v roce 1645.jpg|thumb|Unsuccessful Swedish siege in 1645]]

In 1243 the small settlements grouped together to form one fortified settlement, and Brno was granted city royal privileges{{clarify|date=December 2013}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Brno history of the city |url=https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/-/media/files/schools/aad-lsa/00_brno-panels-all.pdf}}</ref> by the King, and thus recognized as a royal city. As throughout Eastern Central Europe, the granting of city privileges was connected with [[Ostsiedlung|immigration from German-speaking lands]]. In 1324 Queen [[Elisabeth Richeza of Poland]] founded the [[Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady, Brno|Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady]], which now houses her grave.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.opatbrno.cz/opat_hist_en.htm|title=Opatství svatého Tomáše na Starém Brně|access-date=3 October 2011}}</ref> In the 14th century, Brno became one of the centres for the Moravian regional assemblies, whose meetings alternated between Brno and Olomouc.<ref name="brnohist"/> 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, [[Jobst of Moravia]], was elected the [[King of the Romans]]. Brno was besieged in 1428 and again in 1430 by the [[Hussite]]s during the [[Hussite Wars]]. Both attempts to conquer the city failed.

===17th century===
[[File:Veduta Brna se znakem Markrabství moravského, rok 1670.jpg|thumb|upright|Coat of arms of the Margraviate of Moravia in ''Book of the state of lords'' with the picture of Brno (1670)]]
In 1641, during the [[Thirty Years' War]], the Holy Roman Emperor and Margrave of Moravia [[Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor|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.<ref name="Garstein">{{cite book |title=Rome and the Counter-Reformation in Scandinavia: The age of Gustavus Adolphus and Queen Christina of Sweden, 1622–1656| first=Oskar|last=Garstein| publisher=BRILL|year=1992}}</ref> In 1642 Olomouc surrendered to the [[Swedish Army]], which occupied it for eight years.{{refn|This led to decline in population of Olomouc from over 30,000 people to mere 1,675 and total devastation of the city.|group="note"}} Meanwhile, Brno, as the only Moravian city which, under the leadership of [[Jean-Louis Raduit de Souches]], succeeded in defending itself from the Swedes under General [[Lennart Torstenson]] during the [[siege of Brno]] in 1645, 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, Holy Roman Emperor|Joseph II]] in 1782, and again in 1849 by the Moravian constitution.{{refn|However, Olomouc also had legal status of capital city, although this title was purely an honorary matter rather than a real role, sometimes it was referred to as "the Secondary Capital"<!-- CZ: "druhé hlavní město" -->.|group="note"}} Today, the Moravian Land Tables are stored in the [[Moravian Regional Archive]], and are included among the national cultural sights of the Czech Republic.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mvcr.cz/clanek/moravske-desky-zemske.aspx|title=Moravské desky zemské|publisher=Ministerstvo vnitra České republiky|access-date=3 October 2011|language=cs|archive-date=4 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004221923/http://www.mvcr.cz/clanek/moravske-desky-zemske.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:View of Brno in the year 1700.jpg|thumb|Brno c. 1700]]

During the 17th century [[Špilberk Castle]] was rebuilt as a huge baroque [[citadel]].<ref name="spilberkhist"/> Brno was besieged by the [[Prussian Army]] in 1742 under the leadership of [[Frederick the Great]], but the siege was ultimately unsuccessful. In 1777 the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Brno|bishopric of Brno]] was established by the [[Catholic Church]]; [[Mathias Franz Graf von Chorinsky Freiherr von Ledske]] was the first Bishop.<ref name="brnohist"/>{{refn|The cathedral of the bishopric of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Brno]], the [[Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul, Brno|Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul]], is depicted on the 10[[CZK]] coin.|group="note"}}

===19th century===
In December 1805 the [[Battle of Austerlitz]] 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]] spent several nights here at that time, and again in 1809.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brno.cz/turista-volny-cas/historie-mesta/historie-v-datech/|title=Brno – Historie v datech|access-date=28 September 2011|language=cs}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMBC6H_Napoleon_I_in_Moravias_capital_in_1809_Brno_Czech_Republic|title=Napoleon I. in Moravia's capital in 1809, Brno, Czech Republic - La Famille Bonaparte on Waymarking.com|access-date=28 September 2011}}</ref>

In 1839 the first train arrived in Brno from Vienna via the [[Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway]]. This was the [[Rail transport in the Czech Republic|beginning of rail transport in the current Czech Republic]] and [[Rail transport in Austria|Austria]].<ref name="thefirsttrain"/> In the years 1859–1864 the city fortifications were almost completely removed. In 1869 a [[horsecar]] service started to operate in Brno, the first [[Tram|tram service]] in what would later become the Czech Republic.<ref name="dpmbhistory"/>

[[Gregor Mendel]] conducted his groundbreaking experiments in [[genetics]] while he was a monk at [[St. Thomas's Abbey, Brno|St. Thomas's Abbey]] in Brno in the 1850s.

===20th century and Greater Brno===
[[File:Czechoslovakia IV.png|thumb|Lands and their capitals (underlined) of the [[First Czechoslovak Republic]]]]
[[File:Brno, hlavní nádraží a tramvaje.jpg|thumb|left|Main railway station in 1901]]

Around 1900 Brno, which consisted in administrative terms only of the central city area until 1918, had a predominantly [[Moravian Germans|German-speaking population]] (63%), as opposed to the suburbs, which were predominantly Czech-speaking.<ref name="Bruna">{{cite web|url=http://www.bruenn.eu/de/de_u_cr1.html|title=Die Stadt Brünn – offizielle Webseiten der BRUNA über die Stadt Brünn|website=bruenn.eu}}</ref> Life in the city was therefore bilingual, and what was called in German "Brünnerisch" was a mixed idiom containing elements from both languages.<ref name="Bruna"/>

In 1919, after [[World War I]], two neighbouring towns, Královo Pole and Husovice, and 21 other municipalities were annexed to Brno, creating Greater Brno ({{langx|cs|Velké Brno}}). This was done to dilute the German-speaking majority of close to 55,000<ref name="Hahn"/> 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.<ref name="Hahn">Eva Hahn, Hans Henning Hahn: ''Die Vertreibung im deutschen Erinnern. Legenden, Mythos, Geschichte.'' Schöningh, Paderborn 2010, {{ISBN|978-3-506-77044-8}}, p. 370.</ref> Greater Brno was almost seven times larger, with a population of about 222,000 – before that Brno had about 130,000 inhabitants.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2018 |title=April 16th Marks 100 Years of "Greater Brno", When The City Added 23 Villages, Doubling Its Population |url=https://brnodaily.com/2019/04/16/news/april-16th-marks-100-years-of-greater-brno-when-the-city-added-23-villages-doubling-its-population/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spilberk.cz/?pg=zobraz&co=velke-brno|title=Výstava Velké Brno|access-date=2 October 2011|language=cs}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kirk.webzdarma.cz/statisticke_udaje_za_Zemi_Moravskoslezskou_k_roku_1930.pdf|title=Statistické údaje za Zemi Moravskoslezskou k roku 1930|access-date=2 October 2011|language=cs|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718191932/http://www.kirk.webzdarma.cz/statisticke_udaje_za_Zemi_Moravskoslezskou_k_roku_1930.pdf|archive-date=18 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://portal.gov.cz/wps/portal/_s.155/701?number1=&number2=&name=o+slou%C4%8Den%C3%AD+sousedn%C3%ADch+obc%C3%AD+s+Brnem&text=|title=Zákon č. 213/1919 Sb., o sloučení sousedních obcí s Brnem|access-date=2 October 2011|language=cs|archive-url=https://archive.today/20110520183437/http://portal.gov.cz/wps/portal/_s.155/701?number1=&number2=&name=o+slou%C4%8Den%C3%AD+sousedn%C3%ADch+obc%C3%AD+s+Brnem&text=|archive-date=20 May 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1921–1928, Brno was the capital of the administrative region of Land of Moravia (Czech: ''Země Moravská''). In 1928–1948, Brno was 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.<ref name="Hahn"/>

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-2004-0813-500, Deutsche Truppen in Brünn.jpg|thumb|Part of the civilian population welcomes German troops with the [[Nazi salute]] in Brno, 16 March 1939.]]
During the [[Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945)|German occupation of the Czech lands]] between 1939 and 1945, all Czech universities were closed by the Nazis, including those in Brno. The [[Masaryk University|Faculty of Law]] became the headquarters of the [[Gestapo]], and the university hall of residence was used as a prison. About 35,000 Czechs and some American and British [[prisoner of war|prisoners of war]] were imprisoned and tortured there; about 800 civilians were executed or died.<ref>{{cite web| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308040948/http://www.zasvobodu.cz/clanek.php?c=101 |title=Kounicovi koleje v Brně |url=http://www.zasvobodu.cz/clanek.php?c=101|work=zasvobodu.cz |archive-date=8 March 2008|access-date=30 January 2014|author=František Vašek|language=cs}}</ref> Executions were public.<ref>[http://www.moskyt.net/nase-sibenice-16-novodobe-veseni Leoš Drahota: Naše šibenice 16 – Novodobé věšení], {{ISSN|1213-6905}} "Exekuce v Kounicových kolejích byly veřejné, ale vstup byl možný, podobně jako v případě nějaké kulturní či sportovní akce, jen s platnou vstupenkou, prodávanou za tři marky."</ref>{{Unreliable source?|reason=It seems like a user-generated site based on original research by enthusiasts|date=March 2016}} The Nazis also operated a [[List of subcamps of Auschwitz|subcamp]] of the [[Auschwitz concentration camp]], which held mostly Polish prisoners,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://auschwitz.org/en/history/auschwitz-sub-camps/brnn/|title=Brünn|website=Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau|access-date=4 December 2021}}</ref> an internment camp for [[Romani people]] in the city,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=565|title=Internierungslager für Roma Brünn|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=4 December 2021|language=de}}</ref> and a [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labour]] "education" camp in the present-day district of Dvorska.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=2655|title=Arbeitserziehungslager Maxdorf|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=4 December 2021|language=de}}</ref>

Between 1941 and 1942, [[Holocaust train|transport]]s from Brno deported 10,081 Jews to [[Theresienstadt concentration camp|Theresienstadt (Terezín) concentration camp]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Brno - jewish heritage, history, synagogues, museums, areas and sites to visit |url=https://jguideeurope.org/en/region/czech-republic/moravia/brno/ |access-date=2024-10-31 |website=JGuide Europe |language=en}}</ref> At least another 960 people, mostly of [[Anti-miscegenation laws#Nazi Germany|mixed race]], followed in 1943 and 1944. After Terezín, many of them were sent to [[Auschwitz concentration camp]], [[Minsk Ghetto]], [[Rejowiec, Lublin Voivodeship|Rejowiec]] and other [[Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe|ghetto]]s and [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camp]]s. Although Terezín was not an [[extermination camp]], 995 people transported from Brno died there. Only 1,033 people returned after the war.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://is.muni.cz/th/109786/ff_m_b1/Brnenske_transporty_zidu_1941-1945.pdf |title=Poslední nástupiště Brněnské transporty židů v letech 1941–1945  |author=Klementová, Táňa |year=2010 |access-date=5 May 2014}}</ref>

Industrial facilities such as the [[Zbrojovka Brno|Československá zbrojovka]] arms factory and the Zweigwerk [[aircraft engine]] factory (which became Zbrojovka's subsidiary [[Zetor]] after the war) and the city centre were targeted by several [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] [[bombardment]] campaigns between 1944 and 1945. The air strikes and later artillery fire killed some 1,200 people and destroyed 1,278 buildings.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://is.muni.cz/th/40313/ff_m/ |title=Spojenecké nálety na Brno v letech 1944–1945 |author=Vlček, Martin |date=24 May 2008 |access-date=4 May 2014}}</ref> After the city's occupation by the [[Red Army]] on 26 April 1945<ref>{{cite web|url=https://encyklopedie.brna.cz/home-mmb/?acc=profil_udalosti&load=3994|title=Encyklopedie dějin města Brna|date=2 May 2019|website=encyklopedie.brna.cz}}</ref> and the end of the [[World War II|war]], ethnic German residents were [[Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia|expelled]]. In the [[Brno death march]], beginning on 31 May 1945, about 27,000 German inhabitants of Brno were marched {{convert|64|km|0|abbr=off}} to the Austrian border. According to testimony collected by German sources, about 5,200 of them died during the march.<ref>Bundesministerium für Vertriebene, Flüchtlinge und Kriegsgeschädigte & Theodor Schieder eds.: Die Vertreibung der Deutschen aus Ost-Mitteleuropa. Vorarbeiten Fritz Valjavec. Teil 4: Die Vertreibung der deutschen Bevölkerung aus der Tschechoslowakei. Bonn, 1957, 2 Bände.</ref> Later estimates by Czech sources put the death toll at about 1,700, with most deaths due to an epidemic of [[shigellosis]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oGmTs2SceAgC&pg=PA206|title=Redrawing Nations: Ethnic Cleansing in East-Central Europe, 1944–1948|first1=Philipp|last1=Ther|first2=Ana|last2=Siljak|date=2019|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-7425-1094-4}}</ref>

After the reestablishment of an [[Third Czechoslovak Republic|independent Czechoslovak state]] after [[World War II]], President [[Edvard Beneš]] 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]].<ref>Applebaum, Anne (2012). ''[[iarchive:ironcurtaincrush00appl 0/page/120/mode/2up|Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944–1956]]''. New York US: Doubleday. p. 120. {{ISBN|978-0-385-51569-6}}</ref> After the [[1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état]], the [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic]] abolished Moravian autonomy and Brno thus ceased to be the capital of Moravia.<ref name="zakon2081948">{{cite web|url=http://aplikace.mvcr.cz/archiv2008/sbirka/1948/sb101-48.pdf|title=Zákon 208/1948 Sb. o krajském zřízení|access-date=2 October 2011|language=cs|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928133220/http://aplikace.mvcr.cz/archiv2008/sbirka/1948/sb101-48.pdf|archive-date=28 September 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.esipa.cz/sbirka/sbsrv.dll/sb?CP=1948s280&DR=SB|title=280/1948 Sb. Zákon o krajském zřízení|access-date=2 October 2011|language=cs}}</ref> Since then Moravia has been divided into administrative regions, with Brno the administrative centre of the [[South Moravian Region]].<ref name="zakon2081948"/>

In 1960s and 1970s, large panel [[housing estate]]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.