Hodonín (; ) is a town 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 24,000 inhabitants.
Geography
Hodonín is located about southeast 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 ...
, on the border with
Slovakia
Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, 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 west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...
. It lies in a flat landscape of the
Lower Morava Valley. It is situated on the right bank of the
Morava River, which forms here the Czech-Slovak border. The western municipal border is formed by the
Kyjovka River, which supplies a set of eight fishponds there.
History
The castle in Hodonín was founded sometime in the 11th century. However, the document from 1046 which was the oldest mention of the castle, is demonstrably a forgery.
The first written credible mention of Hodonín is from 1169. In 1228, it became a town. During the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...
the town was severely damaged and the population decreased. In the 18th century a local castle was rebuilt to a tobacco factory, whose production helped repopulate the town. The railway to Hodonín was built in 1841, and extended to
Holíč in 1891.
Hodonín was the first Czech town to be liberated from
Nazi Germany occupation at the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The battle for the town that was part of the
Bratislava–Brno offensive, began on 11 April 1945, after the
Red Army captured the nearby Holíč. Soviet troops crossed the Morava River and advanced toward Hodonín, supported by fighter planes that had already bombed German defenses and retreating units in the area. After approximately 24 hours of fighting, Soviet forces overcame the German resistance, and by 8 p.m. on 12 April, the town was fully liberated.
The northern part of the municipal territory, especially the hamlet of Pánov, retirement home and the
Hodonín Zoo, was severely damaged by the
2021 South Moravia tornado.
Demographics
Economy
In the vicinity of the town there is an
oil field
A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the prese ...
and a stratum of
lignite. Lignite was mined here from the beginning of the 19th century until 2009.
The largest industrial employers based in the town are Delimax (manufacturer of
delicatessen and fish products) and
MND (oil and gas producer).
Transport
The I/55 road (the section from
Břeclav
Břeclav (; ) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 25,000 inhabitants. Located at the Czech-Austrian state border and near the Czech–Slovak state border, it is an important railway hub.
Administrative divis ...
to
Uherské Hradiště
Uherské Hradiště (; ) is a town in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 25,000 inhabitants. The agglomeration with the two neighbouring towns of Staré Město (Uherské Hradiště District), Staré Město and Kunovice has over ...
) passes through the town. There is a road border crossing and a railway border crossing, leading to neighbouring
Holíč.
Hodonín is located on the intraregional railway lines Břeclav–
Olomouc
Olomouc (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants, making it the Statutory city (Czech Republic), sixth largest city in the country. It is the administrative centre of the Olomouc Region.
Located on the Morava (rive ...
and
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 ...
–Hodonín. There is also the line from Hodonín to
Vrbovce in Slovakia.
Sights
The main sights are the Church of Saint Lawrence and the town hall, both located on the town square. The church is originally a Gothic structure from the first half of the 13th century, rebuilt in the Baroque style in 1780–1786. The town hall was built in the
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...
style in 1902–1904, by architect Ernst von Gotthilf in 1902–1904. Its tower is open to the public as a lookout tower.
The
Hodonín Zoo was founded in 1977 and it is one of the smallest and youngest zoos in the country.
The history of local oil extraction, lignite mining and related technological processes are presented in the Museum of Oil Extraction and Geology.
Notable people
*
Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850–1937), politician, the first president of
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
*
Henry Kučera (1925–2010), linguist and pioneer of
computer linguistics
*
Václav Nedomanský (born 1944), ice hockey player
*
Zdeněk Škromach (born 1956), politician
*
Karel Komárek (born 1969), entrepreneur and philanthropist
*
Dana Čechová (born 1983), table tennis player
*
Vítězslav Veselý (born 1983), javelin thrower
*
Michal Kempný (born 1990), ice hockey player
*
Erik Daniel (born 1992), footballer
Twin towns – sister cities
Hodonín is
twinned with:
*
Holíč, Slovakia
*
Jasło, Poland
*
Skalica
Skalica (, , Latin: ''Sakolcium'') is the largest town in Skalica District in western Slovakia in the Záhorie region. Located near the Czech Republic, Czech border, Skalica has a population of around 15,000.
Etymology
The name is derived from Slo ...
, Slovakia
*
Trebišov
Trebišov (; ; ) is a small industrial town in the easternmost part of Slovakia, with a population of around 25,000. The town is an administrative, economic and cultural center with machine (Vagónka) and building materials industries.
History
Th ...
, Slovakia
*
Zistersdorf, Austria
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodonin
Cities and towns in the Czech Republic
Populated places in Hodonín District
Moravian Slovakia