Brněnec

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title: "Brněnec" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["villages-in-svitavy-district"] topic_path: "general/villages-in-svitavy-district" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brněnec" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
name	Brněnec
settlement_type	Municipality
image_skyline	Brněnec, hlavní ulice.jpg
image_caption	Main street
image_flag	Brněnec flag CZ.svg
image_shield	Brněnec CoA CZ.svg
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name
subdivision_type1	Region
subdivision_name1	Pardubice
subdivision_type2	District
subdivision_name2	Svitavy
pushpin_map	Czech Republic
pushpin_relief	1
pushpin_map_caption	Location in the Czech Republic
coordinates
established_title	First mentioned
established_date	1557
area_total_km2	6.30
elevation_m	370
population_as_of	2025-01-01
population_footnotes
population_total	1217
population_density_km2	auto
timezone1	CET
utc_offset1	+1
timezone1_DST	CEST
utc_offset1_DST	+2
postal_code_type	Postal code
postal_code	569 04
website
::

Administrative division

Brněnec consists of four municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census):

Brněnec (391)
Chrastová Lhota (68)
Moravská Chrastová (728)
Podlesí (24)

Geography

Brněnec is located about 15 km south of Svitavy and 45 km north of Brno. It lies in the Svitavy Uplands. The highest point is at 555 m above sea level. The municipality is situated at the confluence of the Svitava River and the stream Chrastovský potok; the built-up area is located in the valleys of these two watercourses. The Svitava River forms here the historical border between Bohemia and Moravia.

History

Next to an old trade route, the settlement of Moravská Chrastová was founded after 1200 by monks from the monastery in Litomyšl. Moravská Chrastová was first mentioned in a document from 1323. The first written mention of Brněnec is in the act of partition of the Svojanov estate from 1557. Until the 18th century, it was a part of Bělá nad Svitavou. After the Löw-Beer family founded here a textile factory, the importance of Brněnec grew.

In 1938, the municipality was annexed by Nazi Germany and administered as part of the Reichsgau Sudetenland. After World War II, the Germans were expelled.

Schindler factory

Main article: Brünnlitz labor camp

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Schindlers_factory_Brnenec_CZ_2004b.JPG" caption="Schindler's factory in 2004"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Vitka_2019_(1)_01.jpg" caption="The premises of the factory in 2019"] ::

The Löw-Beer Jewish family founded a textile producing company in the 1810s, and in 1855 rebuilt an old paper mill in Brněnec into the textile factory. In 1938, it was taken over by Germans.

In 1944, Oskar Schindler relocated his German Enamelware Factory and the associated prison camp of 1,200 Jewish forced labourers from Kraków to a munitions factory acquired by him in Brněnec. The Jewish workforce thus escaped transport to the extermination camps and was liberated along with the rest of the municipality on 10 May 1945 by the Red Army, after the factory had been fully operational for seven months.

Demographics

|align=none|cols=3 |1869|784 |1880|977 |1890|1470 |1900|1675 |1910|1929 |1921|1618 |1930|1866 |1950|1308 |1961|1471 |1970|1556 |1980|1608 |1991|1559 |2001|1427 |2011|1298 |2021|1211 |source=Censuses}}

Transport

The I/43 road (part of the European route E461) from Brno to Svitavy passes through the municipality.

Moravská Chrastová is located on the railway line heading from Brno to Česká Třebová.

Sights

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Moravská_Chrastová,_evangelický_kostel_z_boku.jpg" caption="Evangelical church"] ::

The most important monument is the Evangelical church in Moravská Chrastová. It was built in the Arts and Crafts style in 1889. Other sights include the Chapel of Saint Isidore in Moravská Chrastová from 1855 and a belfry in Brněnec.

In 2025, the Museum of Survivors was opened in Brněnec. The opening date was chosen to coincide with the celebrations marking eighty years since the end of World War II.

Notable people

František Bartoš (1905–1973), composer, music critic and musicologist
Oskar Schindler (1908–1974), German industrialist and humanitarian; worked here

References

(2025-05-16). "Population of Municipalities – 1 January 2025". [[Czech Statistical Office]].
(2022). "Public Census 2021 – basic data". [[Czech Statistical Office]].
"Historie". Obec Brněnec.
"Soubor bývalé textilní továrny". National Heritage Institute.
Day, Matthew. (2016-08-17). "Czech factory once home to 1,200 Jews saved by Oskar Schindler to be turned into a Holocaust museum". The Telegraph.
(2015-12-21). "Historický lexikon obcí České republiky 1869–2011". [[Czech Statistical Office]].
(2021-03-27). "Population Census 2021: Population by sex". [[Czech Statistical Office]].
"Detail stanice Moravská Chrastová". [[České dráhy]].
"Evangelický kostel". National Heritage Institute.
(2025-05-12). "From Schindler's factory to Holocaust memorial: Museum of Survivors officially opens in Brněnec". [[Czech Radio]].

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::