Bystřice pod Hostýnem

Bystřice pod Hostýnem (Bistritz am Hostein) is a town in Kroměříž District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 8,000 inhabitants.

Administrative parts
The villages of Bílavsko, Hlinsko pod Hostýnem, Rychlov and Sovadina are administrative parts of Bystřice pod Hostýnem.

Geography
Bystřice pod Hostýnem is located about 23 km northeast of Kroměříž and 19 km north of Zlín. It lies in the Moravian-Silesian Foothills. The Bystřička stream flows through the town. Hostýn hill, whose name is included in the name of the town, is located south of the town outside of the municipal territory, but a contour line below the hill at 460 m above sea level is the highest point of Bystřice pod Hostýnem.

History
The first written mention of Bystřice is from 1368, when the settlement was acquired by Boček I of Poděbrady. A fortress was first mentioned here in 1440. From 1650 to 1827, the estate was owned by the Rottal family. The last owners were the Loudouns, the descendants of Ernst Gideon von Laudon, who held the castle until 1933.

In the mid-19th century, a spa was here. In 1861, German industrialists Michael Thonet and his son August established the largest factory for bentwood furniture in Europe here. Industrialization meant the greatest economic development of Bystřice pod Hostýnem and the influx of new inhabitants. In 1864, the municipality was promoted to a town. The railway was built in 1882.

Economy
The bentwood furniture factory Thonet, founded in 1861, still operates and is the oldest factory of its kind in the world. It is one of the largest industrial employers in the region. In 1953, the company was renamed TON (Továrny na ohýbaný nábytek, i.e. "bentwood furniture factories").

Transport
Bystřice pod Hostýnem is located on the railway line Rožnov pod Radhoštěm–Kojetín.

Sights
The local Gothic fortress was rebuilt into a Renaissance castle probably in the mid-16th century. After it was damaged by fire, it was reconstructed in 1616. In the mid 18th century, two Neoclassical wings were added to the old castle. The last building modification was the extension of the so-called toilet tower in 1889. Today the Bystřice pod Hostýnem Castle is property of the town and is houses the town museum, cultural spaces, and part of the municipal office.

The Church of Saint Giles was built in 1744. The church was painted and frescoed by Jano Köhler, but only some of the original paintings have been preserved.

Notable people

 * František Sušil (1804–1868), priest and folk music collector; died here
 * Jakob Ehrlich (1877–1938), early Zionist leader
 * Bohuslav Fuchs (1895–1972), modernist architect; worked here
 * Jaroslav Kozlík (1907–2012), educator, theorist of education and volleyball player
 * Šárka Jelínková (born 1968), politician

Twin towns – sister cities
Bystřice pod Hostýnem is twinned with:
 * 🇩🇪 Salzkotten, Germany
 * 🇮🇹 San Giovanni al Natisone, Italy