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Krnov (; , or Krnów) is a town in Bruntál District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. The town is known for the production of the cola-based drink Kofola.
The northern part of the territory with the town proper lies in the Zlatohorská Highlands, the western and the southern part lie in the Nízký Jeseník range. A small part on the southeast extends into the Opava Hilly Land. The highest point is the hill Bednářský vrch at above sea level.
Krnov was a part of Duchy of Troppau until 1377, when the Duchy of Krnov separated and the town became its capital. Krnov prospered, guilds were established and textile crafts developed. In 1523, the Duchy of Krnov was acquired by the Hohenzollern family. They had built a castle here and during their rule, the town achieved its greatest prosperity and population growth.
The prosperity ended with the Thirty Years' War. The battles caused the town to decline and subsequently stagnate. After the war, the duchy was acquired by the House of Liechtenstein who began the re-Catholicization of the entire duchy. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the town stagnated economically, but several Baroque monuments were created here. After the War of the Austrian Succession, Krnov became a border town. In 1779, a large fire destroyed almost the entire town.
The development of the town was restored by the industrial revolution in the 19th century. Textile factories began to be established, and within a few decades Krnov more than doubled its population. The railway, which was opened in 1872, also helped the development.
According to the Austria-Hungary census of 1910, the town had 16,681 inhabitants. The census had asked people for their native language; 15,390 (98.4%) were German-speaking and 247 (1.5%) were Czech-speaking. Jews were not allowed to declare Yiddish language, thus most of them declared German as their native language. The most populous religious groups were Roman Catholics with 15,290 (91.7%), followed by Protestants with 885 (5.3%) and the Jews with 459 (2.8%).Ludwig Patryn (ed): Die Ergebnisse der Volkszählung vom 31. Dezember 1910 in Schlesien, Troppau 1912.
From 1938 to 1945 it was occupied by Germany and administered as a part of the Reichsgau Sudetenland. During World War II, the Germans operated a Gestapo prison and four forced labour subcamps of the Stalag VIII-B prisoner-of-war camp in the town. After the war, the German population was expelled, in accordance to the Potsdam Agreement.
In 1948, refugees from Greece fleeing as a result of the Greek Civil War came into Czechoslovakia, and in Krnov and its surroundings they formed a significant community. They successfully assimilated, and although most of them returned to their homeland after 1975, several hundred of them still remain.
In 2024, Krnov was damaged by the Central European floods.
One of the largest local companies was Rieger–Kloss, which manufactured . It was founded in 1873 and production has continued to the present, but after financial problems, it went into insolvency in 2018 and production was stopped.
The road border crossings Krnov-Horní Předměstí / Ciermięcice, Krnov / Pietrowice, and Chomýž / Chomiąża are located in the municipal territory.
The Krnov Synagogue is the only synagogue in the region which survived to this day in its original form. The interior is the Moorish Revival style. Today it serves as an exhibition and concert hall.
The Church of Saint Martin in the historic centre was first documented in 1281. The wooden church was replaced by the current stone one at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries. The second tower was added in the 16th century. The high towers were part of the town's defense system. One of the towers is open to the public as a lookout tower.
The Church of Saint Benedict consists of a rotunda from the 13th century and a church without a tower. The interior is decorated with valuable frescoes from the period between the 13th and 15th centuries.
The Baroque complex of the Franciscans monastery with the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary was built after 1779, when the original Gothic buildings were destroyed by a fire. The monastery was abolished in 1950 and restored in 1989.
Krnov Castle was built in 1531–1535. Today it serves commercial purposes and as an administrative seat, only the courtyard is freely accessible.
An important technical monument is the former spinning mill and warehouse of the Alois Larisch factory with a sample workshop, including a set of machinery. It is a Neoclassical building from 1922, protected as a national cultural monument.
On the hill is also a high observation tower, constructed in 1902–1903. It is a stone romantic building topped by a lookout with a battlement. In the second part of the Cvilín hill is the ruin of the Cvilín Castle. It was built before 1253 and destroyed during the Thirty Years' War.
==Gallery==
Demographics
Economy
Krnov is known for the production of cola-based drink Kofola by the eponymous company, which is the largest industrial employer based in the town.
Transport
Krnov is located on the Ostrava–Olomouc and Krnov–Głuchołazy railway lines. The town is served by has railway stations, Krnov and Cvilín.
Sights
The landmark of the town square is the Neorenaissance town hall. It was built in 1901–1903 on the site of an old town hall from the 16th century. It has a richly decorated high tower, which is a copy of the Währing town hall tower. The town hall was designed by Leopold Bauer, native of Krnov. The second urban landmark is the town savings bank, connected with the town hall. The Art Nouveau-Baroque building with a richly structured façade was built in 1906–1907.
Cvilín
Cvilín is hill known as a pilgrimage site with the Church of Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows and Stations of the Cross. The church was built in 1722–1727 and replaced the wooden chapel, which did not have enough capacity for the number of believers participating in the pilgrimage. It is one of the most important Baroque monuments in the region. Since 2018, it has been protected as a national cultural monument.
Notable people
Twin towns – sister cities
Krnov is Sister city with:
External links
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