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F
OR A CITY WITH A POPULATION OF 400,000,
Brno has inspired its fair share of great minds.
Founder of genetics Gregor Mendel, musical
composer Leoš Janácek and architect Ludwig Mies van
der Rohe all created their best works there. Every year,
tens of thousands of students move to the happening
university town not only to get an education, but also
to enjoy its playful and youthful atmosphere.
“Brno is like a wet paper towel where you put a seed
to sprout,” says a local journalist Honza Bocek. So join
the smart crowd and get inspired in Brno, a town that
has less of the touristy atmosphere and glitz that you
see in the larger and better known Prague.
But when you’re there, several times you’ ll want to
ask: “Are you kidding me?” Some of it is rather odd.
The city has a neat historical centre crowned by
Špilberk castle and the cathedral of St Peter and Paul,
but the most loveable thing about Brno is that the
place simply doesn’t take itself seriously.
Since 2010, a six-metre tall clock has been located in
the central square. According to the official version, it is
a bullet-shaped memorial commemorating the Swedish
siege of 1645. But come on, just look at it. Is a bullet
really the first thing that comes to your mind? And
shouldn’t a clock show what time it is?
And that’s not the only childish joke spicing up
the streets of Brno. In the spring of 2012, one of the
students of the Faculty of Fine Arts attached a urinal to
the alma mater ’s front wall. This playful piece of art,
supposedly fully functional, has been disturbing and
amusing passers-by ever since. Actually, students
are the most important part of Brno’s creative DNA.
Streets around colleges are painted with “graduation
graffitis” celebrating those who’ve made the grade.
The young folks organise spectacular college dorm
light shows, carry out water gun battles in downtown
fountains, use the town’s two narrow rivers for
canyoning and make money in various innovative ways,
for example by transporting people around the city
centre in chair-based rickshaws late at night.
Now for some grown-up delights. The region of
Southern Moravia is known for its wines. You can taste
them and buy a bottle as a souvenir in Vinná Galerie
(16 Lužánecká Street) or Petit Cru (11 Údolní Street).
If you are rather into beer, craft breweries Pegas (in
the basement of Hotel Pegas, 4 Jakubská Street),
U Richarda (7 Údolní Street) or the more distant
Líšenský Pivovar (5 Kotlanova Street in Líšen quarter)
will give you the genuine sensation of Czech beer – for
only €1.50 a pint.
How about some coffee? You’ ll appreciate the
caffeine boost. A 300-year-old tradition of roasting
and drinking coffee makes Brno a caffeine capital of
central Europe, along with Vienna. But there is one
big difference to the sleepy café culture of the nearby
Austrian city. In Brno, cafés are lively meeting points
ABOVE:
ENJOY THE REST
OF THE SUMMER SUN, OR
VISIT STYLISH CZECH
PUB STOPKOVA PLZENSKA
PIVNICE ON CESKA STREET
FEATURE
BRNO
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012
WIZZ MAGAZINE
45
4CORNERS, RIA NOVOSTI