This second city in the Czech Republic after the capital Prague is certainly not second in terms of dark tourism, in fact it offers at least as much as its bigger, more touristy counterpart, so it's well worth the trip.
Given this history it is perhaps not surprising that Brno used to have a German-speaking majority. In WWII , Brno, like the rest of the Czech lands, was occupied by Nazi Germany , and it was also during that time that its sizeable Jewish community was largely rounded up and deported in the Holocaust , first to Theresienstadt and from there onwards mainly to Auschwitz.
Given the proximity to the city where I live, Vienna , I had long wanted to make a short trip to Brno, especially to see the Capuchin Crypt , as the only time I was there before was just for a birthday party and it was also out of season, so I missed out on that attraction.
But in early August I finally made it back to Brno and had two intense and interesting days exploring the city. But with disciplined mask-wearing, frequent hand-sanitizing and generally trying to keep a distance it was manageable.
St James Ossuary. Just to the north of the Old Town, on Moravia Square, stands the monument to the Red Army, commemorating the liberation of the city from Nazi occupation towards the end of WWII , though as this was soon followed by Soviet domination throughout the Cold-War era, this monument is quite unloved by locals.
