Bruntál

Bruntál is a town in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic, set in a valley of the Nízký Jeseník range on the stream Černý potok, about 45 kilometres north of Olomouc and 55 kilometres northwest of Ostrava in the historical region of Czech Silesia. It has roughly 15,000 inhabitants (14,791 in 2026). The town was founded around 1213 as a mining town, was among the first settlements in the Czech lands to receive Magdeburg rights and long served as an appellate court for towns in northern Moravia. Its historic centre is protected as an urban monument zone and the best-known landmark is Bruntál Castle. The German name is Freudenthal, meaning valley of joy. Its extinct volcano Uhlířský vrch rises within the municipal territory, and the town lies on the crossroads of the I/11 and I/45 roads and on the Ostrava-Olomouc railway line.