Svitava river industrial educational trail

The history of První brněnská strojírna (“The First Brno Machine Works”) dates back to 1814, when a German-born entrepreneur Johann Reif redid the manufacturing program of his company.

The present-day Šmeral Brno Machine Works was founded in 1861 under the name of Ignaz storek’s grey cast iron foundry.

One of Brno’s largest textile mills was founded in 1881 under the name Kammgarn-Spinnerei.

At 68 Cejl Street, the vast complex of the original H. F. & E. Soxhlet textile mill from 1833-35 can still be found.

As early as the Middle Ages, Brno was a home to a Jewish community, based in the lower part of Masaryk Street around Františkánská Street and Římské Square.

Moritz Fuhrmann’s plush and faux fur (so-called krymr) factory was founded at 72 Cejl Street in 1872, however, Fuhrmann only bought it in 1895.

On a triangular plot of land between Cejl Street and the Svitava River, former textile factory complex, founded by Adolf Löw in the second half of the 19th century, can be seen.

In 1890, the Austrian Felt Mills Joint Stock Company was co-founded by B. Engel & Co., Adolf Löw & Son and Seidl & Jellinek.

Next to the Zábrdovice bridge over the Svitava River, on today’s construction materials store premises, a commemmoration of the defunct Brno-Tišnov railway line can still be found.

The present-day Zbrojovka (Brno Armory) complex was created in 1918 by converting the former Berans’ Söhne textile factory, standing on the banks of the Svitava River since 1894.

In the courtyard between Dukelská and Garguláková streets, a distinctive brick tower-like structure can be seen.