Ořechov () is a municipality and village in

Brno-Country District Brno-Country District () is a Okres, district in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the city of Brno. The most populated town of the district is Kuřim. The district is made up of 187 municipalities, which is the highes ...

in the

South Moravian Region The South Moravian Region (; , ; ), or just South Moravia, is an Regions of the Czech Republic, administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the south-western part of its historical region of Moravia. The region's capital is Brno, th ...

of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. It has about 2,900 inhabitants.

Geography

Ořechov is located about southwest of

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

. It lies in the

Bobrava Highlands Bobrava () is a rural locality (a selo) and the administrative center of Bobravskoye Rural Settlement, Rakityansky District, Belgorod Oblast Belgorod Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an oblast) of Russia. Its admi ...

. The highest point is at above sea level. The municipality is situated on the right bank of the Bobrava River.

History

The first written mention of Ořechov is in a deed of the Rajhrad monastery from 1234. There were originally three villages in the area of today's municipality: Ořechov, Ořechovičky and Tikovice. In 1378, the area was divided into several parts, which had different owners. Most of the area was owned by the Royal Capital Chapter of St. Peter and Paul in Brno. The villages recovered, but further damage occurred during the

Battle of Austerlitz The Battle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805/11 Frimaire An XIV French Republican calendar, FRC), also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most important military engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle occurred near t ...

in 1805 and during the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War (German: ''Preußisch-Österreichischer Krieg''), also known by many other names,Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Second War of Unification, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), ''Deutsc ...

in 1866. On 18–24 April 1945, Ořechov was the site of one of the largest tank battles of World War II, when the armies led by

Ferdinand Schörner Ferdinand Schörner (12 June 1892 – 2 July 1973) was a German military commander and convicted war criminal, who held the rank of ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (Field Marshal) in the ''Wehrmacht'' of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was the on ...

on the German side and

Rodion Malinovsky Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky (; ; – 31 March 1967) was a Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union. He served as Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union from 1957 to 1967, during which he oversaw the strengthening of the Sov ...

on the Soviet side clashed. 1,452 members of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

fell during the fighting. During the first half of the 20th century, the villages of Ořechov, Ořechovičky and Tikovice urbanistically fused. In 1946, they were merged into one municipality. Today they form one indivisible unit.

Demographics

Transport

There are no railways or major roads passing through the municipality.

Culture

Every year, the municipality organizes celebrations of the anniversary of liberation by the Red Army. As part of these celebrations, a reconstruction of the tank battle is taking place with the participation of historical tanks.

Sights

The Church of Saint George has a medieval core from the 12th or 13th century and belongs to the oldest churches in

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

. It was rebuilt to its present Baroque form in 1725 by Moritz Grimm. The Church of All Saints is a large Neo-Romanesque building. It was built in 1899–1900 on the site of an old demolished church, first documented in 1317. A cultural monument is the Red Army Cemetery, where members of the Red Army killed in the 1945 tank battle were buried.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Orechov Villages in Brno-Country District