Vlasatice, is a village and municipality in the Brno-Country District of the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. The municipality covers an area of, and had a population of 807 as of July 2006. Vlasatice lies approximately south of Brno and south-east of Prague.
Geography
Vlasatice is located at the creek Miroslavka and is surrounded by hills formerly known as the 'Roßweide' and the 'Hochberge' in the North and by the so-called Croat mountains in the South. Neighboring villages are Pohořelice in the Northeast, Nová Ves in the East, Pasohlávky in the Southeast, Troskotovice in the Southwest, Trnové Pole in the West, and Branišovice in the Northwest.
History
From 1031 until 1305, Moravia was ruled by the Přemyslid dynasty. To improve the use of agricultural area and to gain higher yields, the Přemyslides were looking for colonists by offering them 10 years of tax free living. Up until the year 1150German colonists from Lower Austria settled around the area of Mikulov und Znojmo. Vlasatice is an Angerdorf, a Germanic type of village characterized by the houses and farmsteads being laid out around a central grassed area, the anger, a village green which was common land, owned jointly by the village community. German was spoken in Vlasatice until 1946, derived from a Central Bavarian dialect with the ui-slang indicates, that the settlers originally came from areas in Bavaria, from around the bishopry of Regensburg und Passau. The settlers brought a new way of doing agriculture, the so-called three-field system with crop rotation and new agricultural tools. Since 1276 the town of Vlasatice was in possession of the monastery of Rosa Coeli. From 1342 until 1633 the village had a system of High justice, in German as Blutgerichtsbarkeit, which is the highest penal authority, including capital punishment. The name of the town changed from "Wassatycz" via "Wasaticz" to "Bassatitz" in the 17th century, and from the late 17th century was known as "Wostitz". During the Hussite Wars, the castle in the village was conquered and occupied by Taborites. Around 1428, Catholic troops regained the castle. In 1538, the town was granted a market by Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor. A parish existed since 1276. Around the year 1560, Protestantism got a hold in Vlasatice. In the year 1567 a farmstead was founded by of Bretheren Hutterites. The Hutterites were eventually driven away in 1617 by Count von Thurn. Most of the Hutterites moved to Siebenbürgen, also known as Transsylvania. During 1618, all possessions were taken away from Count Thurn Thirty Year War and given to Cardinal Dietrichstein. Since 1622 the region was re-catholicized. During the Thirty Year War, the village was devastated by troops of the Holy Roman Emperor. Parish registers are known since 1631. An Online search can be done at the State Archiv of Brno. A digital heritage book of Vlasatice was published in 2010. After the Austro–Turkish War and the Great Turkish War only 23 of 75 farmsteads were still occupied in Vlasatice. In the years 1831 and 1866 an outbreak of cholera killed 180 people. As a result of the First World War the historical Austrian countries of Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia were ceded to the newly formed state of Czechoslovakia. The Second World War ended on May 8, 1945. All territories, commonly known as the Sudetenland given to Germany in 1939 as a result of the Munich agreement were returned to the State of Czechoslovakia. During the war 154 inhabitants lost their lives. In 1946 the majority of the villagers were driven away to Germany during the Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia as a result of the Beneš decrees. 160 ethnical Germans from Vlasatice/Wostitz, who fled to Austria at the end of the war, were granted citizenship there. Nine individuals emigrated to Canada, five to the USA, three to Australia und Switzerland, two to Sweden and one each to Argentina, France, Italy und England. Only a few of the original villagers remained in Vlasatice, mostly due to their bi-ethnic Czech and German background. Starting in 1946 Vlasatice was repopulated with ethnic Czechs by the new government.
