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 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.