Bà Âeclav (; ) 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 CzechâÂÂSlovak state border, it is an important railway hub.
BÃ Âeclav consists of three municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census):
The town's name is derived from the Czech name of the founder of the local castle, Duke Bretislav I. The former German name was probably derived from the name of a Slavic tribe which lived in the area.
Bà Âeclav is located about southeast of Brno, at the border with Austria. It borders the Austrian town Bernhardsthal. Bà Âeclav lies about northwest of the Slovak border at Kúty and about north of the Austrian capital Vienna.
BÃ Âeclav lies in the Lower Morava Valley lowland in the warmest part of the country. The Thaya River flows through the town. There is wild thick riparian forest composed of deciduous trees in the southern part of the municipal territory.
The area was settled first by Slavic tribes in the 6th century. In the late 8th century, a large Slavic gord, today called Pohansko (meaning 'a paganish place'), was established southeast of today's town. In the 9th century, it became a significant centre of Great Moravia. An agricultural settlement probably existed in the area of Old BÃ Âeclav, and the gord served as a hiding place for its inhabitants. In the 10th century it was abandoned.
After 1041, a border castle was established here by Duke Bretislav I. The first written mention of BÃ Âeclav 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.
During the Hussite Wars the castle became a military base of the Hussites 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 Bà Âeclav ("New Bà Âeclav"). The original spot has been called Stará Bà Âeclav ("Old Bà Âeclav") since that time.
In 1534, the BÃ Âeclav estate was acquired by the Zierotin family. The family rebuilt the castle to a Renaissance 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. After the Battle of White Mountain, the BÃ Âeclav estate was confiscated to the Zierotins. In 1638, the Liechtensteins bought the devastated estate.
BÃ Âeclav's Jewish community was first documented in the 16th century, although some individual Jews may have arrived earlier, in the 14th or early 15th centuries. The Jewish population became extinct during the Thirty Years' War. New Jewish settlers came in 1650.
The post-war recovery was slow. In 1742, Bà Âeclav was destroyed by a large fire. Until the 1830s, both Bà Âeclav and Old Bà Âeclav were insignificant agricultural small market towns and together had about 3,000 inhabitants. In 1836âÂÂ1839, the railway from Vienna to Brno was built and the causing the start of the economic development. Lumber and food factories were established, and the population began to grow. In 1872, Bà Âeclav was promoted to a town.
The Jewish industrialist Kuffner family played a pivotal role in the development of the town. In 1862, they established a sugar factory that grew to become the largest in Austria-Hungary. The Kuffner family contributed to the town's infrastructure by sponsoring the construction of the Jewish synagogue and cemetery.
With the dissolution of Austria-Hungary after World War I, the area (including the neighbouring municipalities of Poà ¡torná and Charvátská Nová Ves, which were mostly Czech speaking, but had been parts of Lower Austria until the 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye) became part of newly independent Czechoslovakia. In 1919, three formerly separate municipalities merged (Bà Âeclav, Old Bà Âeclav and Jewish Municipality of Bà Âeclav).
From 1938 to 1945, Bà Âeclav was annexed by Nazi Germany. The Jewish community disappeared as a result of the Holocaust. After World War II, the German speaking population was expelled. In 1974, Poà ¡torná and Charvátská Nová Ves were incorporated into the town. From 1976 to 2006, Ladná was also an administrative part of Bà Âeclav.
The northern edge of BÃ Âeclav was heavily damaged by the 2021 South Moravia tornado.
The D2 motorway, linking Brno with the Czech-Slovak border and further with Bratislava, passes through the northern part of the town.
Bà Âeclav railway station is an important hub in the railway network. It is located at the intersection of the routes to and from BrnoâÂÂPrague, OstravaâÂÂKraków/Katowice (Poland), KútyâÂÂBratislava (Slovakia) and Hohenau an der MarchâÂÂVienna (Austria). In addition, a local railway to Znojmo also branches out from the station. There is a rail border crossing Bà Âeclav/Bernhardsthal to Austria.
Bà Âeclav was known for the professional football club SK Tatran Poà ¡torná. In 1995âÂÂ2000, it played in the Czech National Football League. In 2012, it was dissolved. Today the town is home to the club MSK Bà Âeclav, playing in lower amateur tiers.
A motorcycle speedway track existed in front of BÃ Âeclav Castle. It was constructed in the mid-1960s, but the racing ended due to a ban in 1975.
The Bà Âeclav Castle was rebuilt into its current neo-Gothic artificial ruins form in the first half of the 19th century. It was rebuilt by the Liechtensteins during the establishment of LedniceâÂÂValtice Cultural Landscape. Today it is owned by the town. One of its towers serves as an observation tower.
The parish Church of Saint Wenceslaus 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 Poà ¡torná. it is a unique neo-Gothic structure with a cupola built in 1895âÂÂ1898 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 style and with Moorish Revival 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 Bà Âeclav lies in the LedniceâÂÂValtice Cultural Landscape, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. One of its main features, located in Bà Âeclav's territory, is the Apollo Temple. It was built by design of Joseph Kornhäusel in 1817âÂÂ1819.
LedniceâÂÂValtice Cultural Landscape also includes Pohansko, an archaeological site in the middle of the riparian forests from Great-Moravian times. The archaeological findings are presented in the Pohansko Castle. This small hunting castle was built here by the Liechtensteins in the Empire style in 1810âÂÂ1812. In the Pohansko area is also the small Light Fortification Museum in a renovated bunker.
BÃ Âeclav is twinned with:
Bà Âeclav also cooperates with Nový Bor in the Czech Republic, à  entjernej in Slovenia and with Zwentendorf in Austria.