Znaim

Title

Znaim

Very beautiful hand-coloured general view of the town of Znojmo (German: Znaim) in Czechia.

ca. 1845

Artist

Kunstanstalt Hildburghausen (1828-1874)

The German publishing company Bibliographisches Institut was founded 1826 in Gotha by Joseph Meyer, moved 1828 to Hildburghausen and 1874 to Leipzig. Its production over the years includes such well-known titles as Meyers Lexikon.

Historical Description

Znaim (Czech Znojmo) is one of the oldest towns in Moravia and is located in the south of the Czech Republic, near the Austrian border. The town was founded in the 11th century and, during the Middle Ages, was an important royal and frontier town of the Kingdom of Bohemia. Around 1226, Znaim was granted town rights and developed into a major trading center on the route between Vienna and Brno. In the Middle Ages, Znaim was the seat of a castle and a significant monastery. It is especially famous for the Romanesque Rotunda of St. Catherine from the 11th century, which features valuable wall paintings depicting scenes from Bohemian history. Over the centuries, Znaim was part of the Habsburg Empire and remained within Austria-Hungary until 1918. After the First World War, the town became part of the newly established Czechoslovakia. Today, Znojmo is a historic town with a well-preserved old town, medieval architecture, and a long-standing winemaking tradition.