Brünn

Title

Brünn

View of the city of Brno in Czechia with Petrov Hill, dominated today by the slender towers of St. Peter and Paul Cathedral. Špilberk Castle is visible in the background on the left. In the foreground, a steam locomotive travels across a railway bridge.

ca. 1850

Artist

Payne (1812-1902)

Albert Henry Payne (1812-1902) was an English engraver, painter, illustrator, and publisher. Payne came to Germany at a young age. From 1839 he worked as a steel engraver, painter and illustrator in Leipzig. In 1845 he founded the publishing house Englische Kunstanstalt with E. T. Brain, which he took over alone in 1846. It was one of the first printing companies to settle in the graphic quarter of Leipzig.

Historical Description

Brno is the second largest city in the Czech Republic after Prague. The early historical settlement of Eburodunum, mentioned in the work of Ptolemy, was probably located in the present-day city area. Brno Castle was built between 1021 and 1034, and from 1349 Brno was the seat of the Margraves of Moravia. In 1641, Brno replaced Olomouc as the capital of Moravia, and during the Thirty Years' War, Brno was unsuccessfully besieged by the Swedish General Lennart Torstensson in 1643. About a hundred years later, in 1742, the First Silesian War brought Prussian troops to the city. In 1805, the Battle of Austerlitz between the Austrian and Russian armies on the one hand and the army of French Emperor Napoleon I on the other took place near the town. On Napoleon's orders, Brno's fortifications lost their function as fortresses, but were preserved as buildings. Around 1900, Brno's population was predominantly German-speaking, but life in Brno was bilingual, and “Brünnerisch” can be understood as a mixture of the two languages.