Czech Republic - Brno

Brno is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, located in the southeast of the country.

It was founded in 1243, although the area had been settled since the 5th century. Brno is the capital of the South Moravian Region as well as the seat of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic, the Supreme Court, the Supreme Administrative Court, the Supreme Prosecutor's Office and the Ombudsman. Traditionally, it has served as the capital of the historical land Moravia.

Old stories from Brno:

What was happening at the New Town Hall

The whole of the west front of the Dominican square is taken up by the Baroque building of the Land House, nowadays the New Town Hall. It used to be said that on certain days the halls on the second floor would be brightly lit, and those who were unafraid could see strangely dressed people there walking about wringing their hands. They were said to be the Moravian Lords who, before the battle of the White Mountain, had deliberated whether or not they should take part in a rebellion against the Emperor. Moreover, the second outer gate of the building, the one furthest from the church, was not allowed to be opened. Whoever did so would be punished. Once, however, two girls who cleaned the rooms of the town hall did not take this advice, for they wanted to see for themselves whether these stories were true. Having secretly taken the key, they set off in the night for the gate along with their boyfriends. When they finally succeeded in opening it, an icy wind blew upon them and the boy who first opened the gate received two blows to the head and fell to the ground, unable to move. That was enough for all of them, and nobody has tried to repeat this act ever since. Others talked about the heavy steps that could be heard from the beautiful corridor around the garden when a member of the town hall staff was to die. A very strong man in ancient clothes would step out of the corridor, so huge that he would walk as if his feet were made of stone, making booming sounds with every step. Coming out of the corridor he would take a walk about the courtyard, sometimes looking through the porter`s window. Then he would return to the corridor and disappear somewhere within. The clerks also knew that on certain days of November nobody was allowed to stay in the offices after six o`clock in the evening. Woe to anyone who stayed late! Something unseen would start to wander through the rooms, throwing papers off the desks and hats from their stands. Terrible sounds and moaning would resonate, and the doors would even open by themselves. Once there were many such rumors, but today they are widely forgotten.