ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA	CZECH REPUBLIC
Jihomoravský kraj	South Moravia (Brno) region
Okres: Znojmo

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Znojmo began to develop around a castle founded in the 11th century by the Přemyslides, Margraves of Moravia. Already in 1226 the village obtained the freedom of the city as the first town in Moravia. Přemysl Ottokar II, King of Bohemia, who in 1251 had been elected Duke of Austria, was defeated in 1278 by the German King Rudolf I of Habsburg in the battle of Dürnkrut and Jedenspeigen. Ottokar II was buried in Znojmo and his body remained here until 1296. Privileges relating to wine trading and export were granted to Znojmo by Johann of Luxembourg, King of Bohemia, in 1326 and Emperor Karl IV in 1375. During the Hussite Wars the town remained faithful to the Bohemian King and Roman-German Emperor Sigmund of Luxembourg who died here in 1437. After the battle of Wagram in 1809 between Napoleon and Archduke Karl of Austria the armistice was signed at Znojmo, followed by peace talks in Ungarisch-Altenburg (Mosonmagyaróvár, H) and the Peace of Schönbrunn in Vienna.

The parish church of St. Nicholas (kostel sv. Mikuláše) [right no. 329: top] high on the hill above the river Dyje (Thaya) was erected in gothic style between 1338 and 1440. The church tower was added in 1848.

Next to the south side of St. Nicholas, the chapel of St. Wenceslav (Sv. Václav) [the low red roof to the left of St. Nicholas in no. 329] contains a splendid gothic net vaulting.

The railway bridge [left] over the river Dyje was constructed in 1871 as part of the railway line (Nordwestbahn) from Vienna via Stockerau, Hollabrunn, Retz and Znojmo (Znaim) to Jihlava (Iglau), Havlíčkův Brod (Deutsch Brod), Kolín (Kolin), Mladá Boleslav (Jungbunzlau) and Děčín (Tetschen). The bridge (height 45 m, length 220 m) was the world's tallest railway bridge of that time. The railway company remained private until 1908 and lost much of its importance after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1918. From 1945 on the line was cut by the Iron Curtain. The connection between Retz and Znojmo was reopened in 1990.

Tasovice (Taßwitz), a few kilometers east of Znojmo, is the birthplace of Clemens Maria (really Johannes) Hofbauer (1751–1820). He was a baker's apprentice in Znojmo in 1767–1769 before becoming a catholic priest in 1785. From 1808 he worked in Vienna where he introduced the order of the Redemptorists. He influenced many romantic artists and writers and also reformed the religious life of his time be introducing new ways of pastoral care such as the religious press. He was canonized in 1909 and is the patron saint of Vienna.