Coat of arms of Brezno

(Slovak: Brezno, German: Bries/Briesen) is a town in Slovakia. It is an ancient mining town, once famous for its gold, silver and iron mining. Today it is the seat of the Brezno District of the Banská Bystrica Region. It includes the districts of Bujakovo, Predné Halny, Mazorníkovo, Rohožna, Vrchdolinka and Zadné Halny.

Coat of arms
Coat of arms of Brezno, Ferdinand III, Vienna 12 February 1650. Ferdinand III confirms the privileges of the town, which it had acquired from previous rulers. He also confirmed the coat of arms of Ferdinand II (11 July 1627).

Location

It is located 43 km east of Banská Bystrica, on the banks of the Garam River; the center of the Upper Garam Basin.

Origin of its name
The Slovak noun brezno means birch grove in Hungarian. The suffix of its name refers to the local ore mining.

History

The area of Breznóbánya has been inhabited since ancient times, and Late Bronze Age finds have been found on the outskirts of the city.

The present-day settlement was founded by Germans who settled here after the Tatar invasion. It was first mentioned in 1265 in a charter of Béla IV. It received its privileges from King Louis the Great in 1380, when it was mentioned under the name “Brizna”. In 1488 it received the right to hold a fair. In 1517 it was burned down by the Dóczys of Zvolen. Its development was particularly promoted by mining. In 1655 it became a free royal city, but lost this title in 1770. In the 17th century, artisan guilds were formed, and from the 18th century, an iron industry began to develop. In 1779, it was devastated by a great fire, in which most of the buildings in the city center burned down.

At the end of the 18th century, András Vályi wrote about it as follows: “BREZNOBÁNYA. Briesen, Brezno. Free Royal Mining Town in the County of Zólyom, four miles from Schelmecz Mining, liberated by King LAJOS I in 1380, and in 1588 it was surrounded by stone walls with five gates, and became a free Royal Town in 1655. It used to have good mines, and the houses of some miners can still be seen outside the Town, which belong to the outer Town; its inhabitants are Catholics and Evangelicals, notable schools are taught by the Piarist Fathers, the inhabitants are partly masters, partly farmers, both farming and keeping sheep, and trading in their goods, notably cheeses, and “The cottage cheese, which is taken to distant lands by those who like it, is mediocre, second-class.”

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Text source: Wikipedia