Brtnice

Brtnice consists of ten municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census):^[2]

The name is derived from the Old Czech word brtě, i.e. 'apiaries'. It was the place where apiaries stood.^[3]

Brtnice is located about 11 kilometres (7 mi) southeast of Jihlava. It lies in the Křižanov Highlands. The highest point is at 663 m (2,175 ft) above sea level. The Brtnice River flows through the town.

The first written mention of Brtnice is from 1234, when it was donated to the convent in Předklášteří by King Wenceslaus I. From 1410 until 1623, it was owned by the Brtnický branch of the Waldstein family. During their rule, Brtnice prospered and the castle was built. In 1588, a church, that time consecrated to Saint Matthias, was built next to the castle.^[3]

After 1623, Brtnice was acquired by the Italian noble family of Collalto, which owned it until 1945. This family also cultivated Brtnice. The family had built a monastery and had rebuilt the castle, interiors of the church, and houses on the square in the Renaissance and Baroque styles.^[3]

Brtnice was promoted to a town in 2000.^[3]

There are no railways or major roads passing through Brtnice. The II/405 road connects the town with Jihlava.

The historic centre and the main square are divided by the Brtnice River. There are two Baroque bridges over the river. One of the bridges, the so-called Jewish Bridge, connected the town with the Jewish quarter and is only half decorated with statues.^[6] Apart from the bridges, the main landmark of the square Náměstí Svobody is the Renaissance town hall from 1580.^[7]

The large birth house of the architect Josef Hoffmann on the town square belongs to main tourist destinations.^[6] Following a 1992 exhibition in Brtnice on Hoffmann's work mounted by the town and MAK in Vienna, the house was turned into a permanent exhibition space.^[8] From 2006, the building has been administered by the Moravian Gallery in Brno, with the assistance of MAK.^[9]

Near the square is the Church of Saint James the Great. It is a simple Baroque church, built in 1776–1784, which replaced an older medieval church. The church contains valuable artworks.^[10]

The Brtnice Castle is located on a hill above the town centre. It is a unique large complex of Renaissance castle with Baroque modifications from 1650–1655, surrounded by Gothic fortifications, with English style castle park founded in 1817. The castle contains expositions on medieval torture and history of plague epidemics.^[11] Next to the castle complex is the former Minim monastery with Church of Blessed Giuliana of Collalto.

The ruin of the Rokštejn Castle is located near the Panská Lhota village. This early Gothic castle was conquered and demolished in the 15th century by Matthias Corvinus and his army.^[6]

• Hermann of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich (1838–1899), German nobleman and politician
• Josef Hoffmann (1870–1956), Austrian architect
• Gustav Haloun (1898–1951), sinologist
• Baruch Kurzweil (1907–1972), Israeli literary critic
• William Pachner (1915–2017), American painter
• Zdeněk Měřínský (1948–2016), archaeologist and historian; died here

Brtnice is twinned with:^[12]

• Orpund, Switzerland