Břeclav (; german: Lundenburg) 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

Town parts of Charvátská Nová Ves and Poštorná are administrative parts of Břeclav.

Etymology

The town's name is derived from the Czech name of the founder of the local castle, Duke

Bretislav I Bretislav I ( cs, Břetislav I.; 1002/1005 – 10 January 1055), known as the "Bohemian Achilles", of the Přemyslid dynasty, was Duke of Bohemia from 1034 until his death. Youth Bretislav was the son of Duke Oldřich and his low-born concubin ...

. The former German name was probably derived from the name of a Slavic tribe which lived in the area.

Geography

Břeclav lies 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 ...

at the border with

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. It borders the Austrian town

Bernhardsthal Bernhardsthal is a town in the district of Mistelbach 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 th ...

. Břeclav lies northwest of the Slovak border at

Kúty Kúty, (german: Kutti; hu, Jókút) is a village and municipality in Senica District in the Trnava Region of western Slovakia. History The village was first mentioned in 1392 under the name Kuth. And in 1498 as Kwhty. Kút is equal to Corner ...

and about north of the Austrian capital

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

. Břeclav is situated in 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 ...

lowland in the warmest part of the country. It lies on the

Thaya The Thaya ( cs, Dyje ) is a river in Central Europe, the longest tributary to the river Morava. Its drainage basin is . It is ( with its longest source river German Thaya) long and meanders from west to east in the border area between Lower Au ...

River. There is wild thick

riparian forest A riparian forest or riparian woodland is a forested or wooded area of land adjacent to a body of water such as a river, stream, pond, lake, marshland, estuary, canal, sink or reservoir. Etymology The term riparian comes from the Latin word '' ...

composed of deciduous trees in the southern part of the municipal territory.

History

6th–10th centuries

The area was settled by first Slavic tribes already in the 6th century. In the late 8th century, a large Slavic gord, today called ''Pohansko'' (meaning "a paganish place"), was established southeast of the today's town. In the 9th century, it became a significant centre of

Great Moravia Great Moravia ( la, Regnum Marahensium; el, Μεγάλη Μοραβία, ''Meghálī Moravía''; cz, Velká Morava ; sk, Veľká Morava ; pl, Wielkie Morawy), or simply Moravia, was the first major state that was predominantly West Slavs, Wes ...

. An agricultural settlement probably existed in the area of Old Břeclav, and the gord served as a hiding place for its inhabitants. In the 10th century it was abandoned.

11th–15th centuries

After 1041, a border castle was established here by Duke

. The first written mention of Břeclav is from 1046, when it was referred by its Latin name ''Bretyzlawe''. In the second half of the 13th century, the castle was rebuilt to a massive Romanesque fortress. The castle often changed owners. At the beginning of the 15th century, it was acquired by the

House of Liechtenstein The House of Liechtenstein, from which the principality takes its name, is the family which reigns by hereditary right over the principality of Liechtenstein. Only dynastic members of the family are eligible to inherit the throne. The dynasty's m ...

. 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 ...

the castle became a military base of the

Hussites 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 Hussit ...

and the nearby settlement was looted. The inhabitants had to flee and founded a new market town below the castle on the other side of the Thaya river, called Nová Břeclav ("New Břeclav"). The original spot has been called Stará Břeclav ("Old Břeclav") since that time.

16th–19th centuries

In 1534, the Břeclav manor was acquired by the

Zierotin The House of Žerotín or House of Zierotin was a Czech noble family in the Lands of the Bohemian Crown, one of the oldest and most illustrious noble families from Bohemia and Moravia. The family was first mentioned around the year 1200 as ''B ...

s. The family rebuilt the castle to a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

residence, which also retained its military function. In the 16th century, the prosperity with flourishing agriculture, crafts and science occurred. The development ended with the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

. After the

Battle of White Mountain ), near Prague, Bohemian Confederation(present-day Czech Republic) , coordinates = , territory = , result = Imperial-Spanish victory , status = , combatants_header = , combatant1 = Catholic L ...

, the Břeclav manor was confiscated to Zierotins. In 1638, the Liechtensteins bought the devastated manor. The Jewish community was first documented in the 16th century, however, the first

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

came here probably in the 14th or early 15th century. The Jewish population became extinct during the Thirty Years' War. New Jewish settlers came in 1650. The post-war recovery was slow. In 1742, Břeclav was destroyed by a large fire. Until the 1830s, both Břeclav and Old Břeclav were insignificant agricultural small

market towns A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

and together had about 3,000 inhabitants. In 1836–1839, the railway from Brno to Vienna was built and the economic development started. Lumber and food factories were established, and the population began to grow. In 1872, Břeclav was promoted to a town.

Modern history

In 1919, three original municipalities merged (Břeclav, Old Břeclav and Jewish Municipality of Břeclav). In 1938–1945, Břeclav was a part of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, although the town's population was mostly Czech-speaking. The Jewish community disappeared as a result of the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

. The German population was expelled after

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 opposin ...

. In 1974, Poštorná and Charvátská Nová Ves, which were parts of

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

until the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, were joined. Northern edge of Břeclav was heavily damaged by the

2021 South Moravia tornado A rare, violent, and deadly long-tracked tornado struck several villages in the Hodonín and Břeclav districts of the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic in the evening of 24 June 2021, killing six people and injuring at least ...

Demographics

Transport

Břeclav railway station is an important hub in the

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

network. It is located at the intersection of the routes to and from Brno –

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

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 rive ...

–

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...

(

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

–

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

(

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 ...

) and

Hohenau an der March Hohenau an der March ( cs, Cáhnov, sk, Cahnov) is a town in the district of Gänserndorf in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, close to Vienna and the borders with the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Geography The town lies on the river Morava ...

– Vienna (Austria). In addition, a local railway to

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 R ...

also branches out from the station. There is a rail border crossing Břeclav/Bernhardsthal to Austria. The D2 motorway, linking Brno with the Slovak border, and further with Bratislava, passes through the northern part of the town.

Sights

The Břeclav Castle was rebuilt into its current

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 ...

artificial ruins Artificial ruins or imitation ruins are edifice fragments built to resemble real remnants of historic buildings. Artificial ruins became fashionable in German interpretations of baroque and English gardens, like the Ruinenberg. The ruins are ...

form in the first half of the 19th century. It was rebuilt by the Liechtensteins during the establishment of

Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape The Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape (also Lednice–Valtice Area or Lednice–Valtice Complex, cs, Lednicko-valtický areál) is a cultural-natural landscape complex of in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It comprises the mu ...

. Today it is owned by the town. One of its towers serves as an observation tower. The parish Church of

Saint Wenceslaus Wenceslaus I ( cs, Václav ; c. 907 – 28 September 935 or 929), Wenceslas I or ''Václav the Good'' was the Duke ('' kníže'') of Bohemia from 921 until his death, probably in 935. According to the legend, he was assassinated by his younger ...

on the T. G. Masaryka Square is a contemporary architecture from 1992 to 1995 on the spot of a Baroque one destroyed in World War II. The second parish church is the Church of the Visitation of Our Lady in Poštorná. it is a unique neo-Gothic structure with a

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

built in 1895–1898 with use of special bricks from local factory. The old small synagogue from 1697 was replaced by a larger building in 1868. In 1888, it was renovated in the

neo-Romanesque Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

style and with

Moorish Revival Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th centur ...

elements inside. Nowadays it houses a part of the town museum. The Jewish cemetery was founded in the 17th century. The oldest from the 300 preserved tombstones is from the 18th century. The former Jewish school (today called Liechtenstein's House) in the middle of the former Jewish ghetto serves as a main building of the town's museum and gallery. The western and southern rural part of Břeclav lies in the

, which has been a UNESCO

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 ...

since 1996. One of its main features, located in Břeclav's territory, is the Apollo Temple. It was built by design of

Joseph Kornhäusel Josef Georg Kornhäusel (13 November 1782, in Vienna - 31 October 1860, in Vienna) was an Austrian architect of the first half of the 19th century. He primarily employed the contemporary style of Neoclassical architecture, moving to the Biederme ...

in 1817–1819. Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape also includes Pohansko, an archaeological site from Great-Moravian times in the middle of the riparian forests. The archaelogical findings are presented in the Pohansko Castle. This small hunting castle was built here by the Liechtensteins in the

Empire style The Empire style (, ''style Empire'') is an early-nineteenth-century design movement in architecture, furniture, other decorative arts, and the visual arts, representing the second phase of Neoclassicism. It flourished between 1800 and 1815 durin ...

in 1810–1812. In the Pohansko area is also the small Light Fortification Museum in a renovated bunker.

Notable people

* Julius Lieban (1857–1940), Austro-German operatic tenor *

Rudolf Carl Rudolf Carl (19 June 189915 January 1987) was an Austrian actor who appeared in more than 150 German language films between 1934 and 1969. He also directed two films '' Der Leberfleck'' and '' Dort in der Wachau''. Selected filmography * '' Poli ...

(1899–1987), Austrian actor *

Zdeňka Pokorná Zdeňka Pokorná (6 April 1905 – 3 March 2007) was a Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak teacher and patriot. She was hailed on her 90th birthday as the "living conscience of the century" by the Czech Government. She opposed the House of Habsburg, Habs ...

(1905–2007), resistance fighter *

František Kobzík František Kobzík (22 March 1914 – 7 May 1944) was a Czech rower. He competed in the men's eight event at the 1936 Summer Olympics. On the onset of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, Kobzík left the country. He joined the Frenc ...

(1914–1944), rower and soldier *

Jan Švéda Jan Švéda (5 November 1931 – 14 December 2007) was a Czech rower who competed for Czechoslovakia in the 1956 Summer Olympics and in the 1960 Summer Olympics. He was born in Břeclav Břeclav (; german: Lundenburg) is a town in the South ...

(1931–2007), rower, Olympic medalist * Václav Pavkovič (1936–2019), rower, Olympic medalist *

Friedrich Kratochwil Friedrich Kratochwil (born 1944 in Břeclav, Moravia) is a German university professor who studied at the University of Munich before migrating to the United States, then subsequently returning to Europe. He received a PhD from Princeton Universi ...

(born 1944), German political scientist and professor *

Ivan Kučírek Ivan Kučírek (25 November 1946 – 5 February 2022) was a Czech cyclist. He competed at the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich ...

(born 1946), cyclist

Twin towns – sister cities

Břeclav is twinned with: *

Andrychów Andrychów ( la, Andrichovia, list=no, german: Andrichau, list=no, hist. also ''Andrychau'') is the largest town in Wadowice County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland. The town is located in the Little Beskids, in the historical region of Lesse ...

, Poland *

Brezová pod Bradlom Brezová pod Bradlom (german: Birkenhain; hu, Berezó) is a town in the Myjava District, Trenčín Region, western Slovakia, at the western foothills of the Little Carpathians, in the Myjavské Kopanice region. History The territory of Brezová ...

, Slovakia *

Lysá nad Labem Lysá nad Labem (; german: Lissa an der Elbe) is a town in Nymburk District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 9,700 inhabitants. It is situated on the Elbe river. The town centre is well preserved and is protected b ...

, Czech Republic * Nový Bor, Czech Republic *

Priverno Priverno is a town, ''comune'' in the province of Latina, Lazio, central Italy. It was called ''Piperno'' until 1927. It has a station of the Rome-Naples railway mainline. Nearby is the Monti Lepini chain. It was the birthplace of the canonist Regi ...

, Italy *

Trnava Trnava (, german: Tyrnau; hu, Nagyszombat, also known by other alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, to the northeast of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of a ''kraj'' (Trnava Region) and of an '' okres'' (Trna ...

, Slovakia

Partner towns

Břeclav also cooperates with: * Šentjernej, Slovenia *

Zwentendorf Zwentendorf an der Donau is a small market municipality in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is located at , in the Tulln Basin on the southern bank of the Danube. The place attained public attention as the site of the only Austrian nuclear ...

, Austria

Gallery

2007-05 Břeclav 13.jpg, Main post office Břeclav, Church in Poštorná.JPG, Church of the Visitation of Our Lady in Poštorná 2007-05 Břeclav 18.jpg, Chapel of Saints Cyril and Methodius 2007-05 Břeclav 06.jpg, Chapel of Saint Rochus Apollonův chrám (Apollo-Tempel) by Pudelek.JPG, Apollo Temple

References

External links

*
Official tourist portal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Breclav Populated places in Břeclav District Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Moravian Slovakia Austria–Czech Republic border crossings