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My Village, Town My
Prušánky is a small village in the edge of Hodonín district. It lies just between two district
towns, Hodonín and Břeclav. Prušánky was founded many years ago by German tribe called
Prusové. They built a small wooden village called Prusy. But there was a disaster and more than
half of houses burnt in the fire. The settlement was recalled as Prusanky, which meant small Prusy.
By the developing of Czech language, also this name developed from Prusanky to today’s name
Prušánky.
Prušánky is a quite small village. It has about 2 500 inhabitants and covers the area of 10 sq.
km. There is a basic school, kindergarten, petrol station, culture house, lodge, church and chapel.
There are also a social building with municipal office, post, small library, GP office, gynaecologist
office and cosmetics. There is a self-service shop, variety store, greengrocery, cloth-shop and
several pubs. Near Prušánky is a small village of wine cellars called Nechory. Prušánky is
surrounded by lots of vineyards, where are people working after they come back from their jobs.
There are also seven wine-firms. There are also some other firms. One of them is built on the place
of former small chateau and it called Cekona. Another firm is well known all over the Czech
republic. It called Fruiko and makes soft drinks.
Through Prušánky flow a small brook called Prušánka and there is also one small pond. Our
outdoor swimming pool is now out of order and it served as a barrel for local fire brigade. There are
no forests or woods near Prušánky. They were cut off, because people wanted to gain the good and
fertile soil.
Hodonín is a district town with about 30 000 inhabitants. It lies in wine-growing Lower
Moravian dale 60 km Southeast of the south Moravian metropolis Brno, on the Czech and Slovak
frontier with the river Morava as a natural boundary.
The history of the town Hodonín and this region is long. It goes back to 8th and 9th centuries
when the first Slavic State – “The Empire of Great Moravia” was formed on our territory. Hodonín
was founded around 1030 as a part of system of fortification against Hungarian raids. The first
written note about Hodonín was made in the year 1046. The town was built around a castle. It was
surrounded by walls with two gates. Also a Jewish town with a Jewish cemetery was placed here.
Since the beginning of the 13th century was Hodonín a king’s town. Also St. Laurence church was
founded in this century. The town has a right to execute, to make beer and many others. It had its
own mill, malt house and brewery. Near the town were ponds and some of them remaining till our
century. In 16th century Hodonín lost the label king’s town and became just an ordinary town. The
castle was rebuilt in a Gothic style and then in Renaissance chateau. In 18th century Jewish had to
leave Hodonín, which became and industrial centre with brick factory, textile factory, tobacco
factory and many others. These days there aren’t many historical memories in Hodonín, because the
most of them were destroyed during the First and the Second World War. But some remains. It is
Art Gallery, which was built by Union of Moravian Artists in 1913. It contains pictures and
paintings of our famous artists (Joža Úprka) and many expositions are held here. Here is also a new
established museum T. G. Masaryk Museum. Hodonín is the birthplace of T. G. Masaryk (7th March
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1850 – 14th September 1937), the founder of the Czechoslovak State. Many villages around
Hodonín are associated with the youth of TGM, particularly Čejkovice. There is the house, where he
spent his childhood. His statue is situated opposite the Art Gallery. A small Baroque Castle in
Hodonín serves as a TGM museum now. Among other historical monuments belongs St. Lawrence
Baroque Church, Neo-gothic town hall, small Baroque Chapel (there is an exposition room).
The first industrial enterprise was a tobacco factory (1783), that was housed in the Hodonín
castle. Industry developed farther in the end of the 19th and early 20th century. It was connected with
the building of the Northern Ferdinand Railway and overall boom of transport. At that time a sugar
factory, a bakery, brickworks, a foundry, plywood and veneer factory, a diary and a cannery for fruit
and fish were built. The rich sources of minerals were used for the exploitation of lignite, petroleum
and natural gas. After WWI a hydroelectric and thermal power stations were built. The mineral
water spring has bee used since 1979 for motion organ treatment in Hodonín spa.
The modern face of the town is marked by new housing estates. You can find here two
houses of culture, there are held only small performances and concerts. There is also a cinema, two
swimming pools (outdoor and indoor), winter hall (today it is out of order and town market is held
there), several football playgrounds, rowing club, several fitness centres, bowling, tennis courts,…
There is also a small zoo and several hotels and other types of accommodation. It is also the centre
of schools. There are five basic schools, a grammar school, a business academy, technical college
and several vocational schools.
The most visited part of Hodonín is shopping street called Národní třída. You can find there
a lot of shops with various goods. You can do your shopping also in other parts and streets
(Bažantnice, IRO, Centrum,…)Hodonín is an important industrial and business centre and an
important transport crossroad. In surroundings of Hodonín are grown a lot of fruits and vegetable,
crops, sugar beet, maize, sunflower,… Hodonín is very polluted and dirty town because of heavy
traffic and industry. A lot of people have problems with their health. There is also a hospital and
policlinics.
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