Brezno (; 1927–1948 ''Brezno nad Hronom'', german: Bries or ''Briesen'', hu, Breznóbánya) is a town in central
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 s ...
with a
population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
Slovak Ore Mountains
The Slovak Ore Mountains ( sk, Slovenské rudohorie , hu, Gömör–Szepesi-érchegység, german: Slowakisches Erzgebirge or Zips-Gemer-Erzgebirge) are an extensive mountain range within the Carpathian Mountains, located mostly in Slovakia's S ...
, both of which belong to the
Inner Western Carpathians
Divisions of the Carpathians are a categorization of the Carpathian mountains system.
Below is a detailed overview of the major subdivisions and ranges of the Carpathian Mountains. The Carpathians are a "subsystem" of a bigger Alps-Himalaya ...
. The town is situated on the right bank of the River Hron, which flows through town from the east, in the direction of the city of
Banská Bystrica
Banská Bystrica (, also known by other alternative names) is a middle-sized town in central Slovakia, located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Veľká Fatra, and the Kremnica Mo ...
, approximately west. The local climate in the basin is rather cold, with an annual average of and an annual precipitation of .
History
The area has been inhabited since prehistoric times, but the current town arose from an old Slovak settlement, next to which newly arrived German miners erected a typical market square in the early 13th century. The first written evidence of the town's existence is dated 1265 when King Béla IV of Hungary issued a charter for hunters from the area of
Liptov
Liptov () is a historical and geographical region in central Slovakia with around 140,000 inhabitants. The area is also known by the German name ''Liptau'', the Hungarian ''Liptó'', the Latin name ''Liptovium'' and the Polish ''Liptów''.
Etymo ...
, allowing them to use the woods around the settlement known as ''Berezuno''. The name is derived from the Slovak word "breza" for
birch
A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...
. In the nineteenth century Brezno was a typical, almost purely Slovak town and was one of the centers of the Slovak national movement.
After the
Second World War
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 opposin ...
the town developed into an industrial center. By far the largest industrial concern was Mostaren Brezno, a construction company which specialized in crane construction for the whole of Central Europe. Mostaren Brezno's restructuring in the early '90s caused high unemployment in the whole region. Since the late '90s, Brezno has built a large retail sector and promoted itself and the whole region as a tourist destination. Sports games and events such as the World Cup Biathlon and golf championships are held regularly.
Sports
The town's three sports clubs with the highest attendance are HC Brezno, FC Brezno and Biathlon Club Brezno. Other sports clubs include Volleyball Club Brezno, Cycle Club Brezno, and Swim Club Brezno.
The hockey club HC Brezno represents the town as part of the 1st senior league since the 2009/10 season. Therefore, the Brezno town council decided to reconstruct it's indoor stadium in 2009. During the reconstruction, new seats were added and the stadium was renamed the Brezno Arena; total capacity was increased to 2,500 seats.
Demographics
According to the 2013
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
, the town had 21,534 inhabitants.
According to the 2001 census 92.85% of the inhabitants were
Slovaks
The Slovaks ( sk, Slováci, singular: ''Slovák'', feminine: ''Slovenka'', plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovak.
In Slovakia, 4.4 mi ...
, 4.63%
Roma
Roma or ROMA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Roma, Queensland, a town
** Roma Airport
** Roma Courthouse
** Electoral district of Roma, defunct
** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council
*Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
, 0.80%
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, c ...
and 0.22% Hungarian. The religious makeup was 66.89%
Roman Catholics
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 ...
Ivan Bella
Ivan Bella (born 21 May 1964) is a Slovak Air Force officer who became the first Slovak citizen to fly in space. He participated in an eight-day joint Russian-French-Slovak mission to the Mir space station in 1999.
Education and military career ...
, cosmonaut
*
Ján Chalupka
Ján Chalupka (28 October 1791 - 15 July 1871) was a Slovak dramatist, playwright, publicist and Evangelical pastor.
Life
He was born in Horná Mičiná, into the family of Evangelical pastor Adam Chalupka, and was not the only member who cho ...
, writer
*
Pavol Habera
Pavol Habera (born Pavel Habera, 12 April 1962, in Brezno, Czechoslovakia), better known as Paľo Habera, is a Slovak singer, musician, composer, and musical actor. He gained popularity in the 1980s as the leader of the rock band TEAM and has s ...
, singer
*
Ottó Herman
Ottó Herman (26 June 1835 – 27 December 1914) was a Hungarian zoologist, ethnographer, archaeologist, and politician; a polymath recognized as a pioneer of Hungarian natural history research. He made numerous studies on Hungarian spiders, bir ...
, ornithologist
*
Jozef Karika
Jozef Karika (born November 15, 1978, in Brezno) is a Slovak experimental publicist and writer. He studied history and philosophy at Matej Bel's University in Banská Bystrica. He is the author of the bestseller ''In the shadow of Mafia''. He was ...
, experimental writer and publicist
*
Karol Kuzmány
Karol Kuzmány ( hu, Kuzmány Károly; 16 November 1806 in Brezno – 14 August 1866 in Štubnianske Teplice) was a prominent Slovak Lutheran pastor, writer, and theologian in the Kingdom of Hungary, with a focus on philosophy and aesthetics. H ...
Martin Rázus
Martin Rázus (pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or ...
, writer
*
Petr Sepéši
Petr is a Czech given name for males and a Czech surname. Petr is the Czech form of ''Peter''. For information on Petr as a first name, see Peter (given name).
Given name
* Petr Aven (born 1955), Russian billionaire banker, economist and politic ...
Dušan Švantner
Dušan Švantner is a member of Slovak National Party. He was a member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic from 1994 to 1998 and from 1998 to 2002. He was born in Brezno
Brezno (; 1927–1948 ''Brezno nad Hronom'', german: Bries or '' ...
Čačak
Čačak ( sr-Cyrl, Чачак, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Moravica District in central Serbia. It is located in the West Morava Valley within the geographical region of Šumadija. , the city proper has 73,331 inhabitants, wh ...
Nădlac
Nădlac (; sk, Nadlak; hu, Nagylak) is a town in western Romania, Arad County. A former part of the town lies across the border with Hungary; this village is called Nagylak. An international border town, Nădlac is the main border crossing into ...
, Romania
*
Nový Bydžov
Nový Bydžov (; german: Neubidschow) is a town in Hradec Králové District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone ...
, Czech Republic
Gallery
File:City centre brezno (8).jpg, Courthouse
File:City centre brezno (4).jpg,
Plague column
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pes ...
File:City centre brezno 4.jpg, Modern architecture
File:Brezno2.JPG, Catholic church and town museum