Slavonice

Town

Peace Town Square

Flag	Coat of arms

Country

Commune

Municipality

Elevation

512 m (1,680 ft)

Coordinates

48°59′51″N 15°21′05″E / 48.99750°N 15.35139°ECoordinates: 48°59′51″N 15°21′05″E / 48.99750°N 15.35139°E

Area

45.72 km² (17.65 sq mi)

Population

2,671 (2007-12-31)

Density

58/km² (150/sq mi)

First mentioned

1260

Mayor

Josef Urban

Timezone

CET (UTC+1)

- summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

Postal code

378 81

Location in the Czech Republic

Statistics: statnisprava.cz

Website: www.slavonice-mesto.cz

Slavonice (Czech pronunciation: [ˈslavoɲɪtsɛ]; German: Zlabings) is a town situated in the southwest of Moravia on the border with South Bohemia, Czech Republic, about a kilometre from the Austrian border with about 2,700 inhabitants. While historically the town belongs to Moravia, it is now part of the South Bohemian Region.

The town has a traditional medieval renaissance city centre with Sgraffito covered buildings dating from the 14th to 16th centuries, the oldest dating to 1545. The Sgraffito are the second oldest in the Czech Republic, with older existing only in Prague from 1544. The renaissance character of the town is due to a period of extreme wealth in the 14th to 16th century when Slavonice was an important town on the route from Prague to Vienna. When the route was relocated to the north, passing through Znojmo the town's source of wealth dried up as the local farming and forestry activities could never generate enough income. The town is therefore very much preserved in its renaissance look.

The town and the surrounding countryside were lightly fortified in the period leading up to the Second World War. Some of these small bunker complexes have been repaired and refurbished, with mock battles of Wehrmacht and Czechoslovak forces taking place in summer. The area and defences were never used against the Third Reich as the town and region had to be surrendered to the Third Reich following the Munich Agreement.

The original German-speaking population was expelled in June 1945 following the Second World War.

Being so close to the Austrian border, Slavonice was heavily affected by the creation of the Iron Curtain during the period of Communism. The nearby hamlet of Maříž was emptied of its inhabitants during the Communist era in an effort to prevent people from living anywhere near the border with non-Communist Austria (the current inhabitants could stay but no new residents could move in and property could not be sold or inherited).

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Wikipedia