Buildings around the main train station in Brno are to be designated as a cultural monument

Brno - The Brno branch of the National Heritage Institute wants to declare the complex of buildings of the former freight railway station in the area of today’s main station in Brno as a cultural monument. This includes, for example, the Malá Amerika warehouse, the former coal station, the bridges over Hybešova, Křídlovická, and over the Svratka, said the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Culture, Simona Cigánková, to ČTK.

The ministry is conducting administrative proceedings, but the date for its completion cannot be estimated. "This is complicated by the still unclear situation regarding possible options for relocating or reconstructing and completing the Brno main station and the ongoing preparations for the modernization of the entire railway junction," Cigánková stated.

The main station building is already a cultural monument, and now it would be joined by other structures. In addition to the large ones, this also includes the former freight depot, the locomotive shed, the water tower, a turntable for locomotives, and cast-iron columns. These are 19th-century structures related to the beginnings of railway operations in Brno. For example, the viaducts date from 1838.

The Railway Infrastructure Administration (SŽDC) is preparing for repairs at the Brno station, given that the modernization or construction of a new one is not in sight and the location of the new station is still unclear. If the Ministry of Culture were to declare the mentioned objects as a monument, it would cause complications, according to Miroslav Konečný, the Brno director of SŽDC. Repairs would have to adhere to the historical form, making them more expensive and longer. "For example, the bridge over Hybešova is riveted. This technique has not been used for 60 to 70 years," Konečný said. Therefore, it is only mastered by a limited group of people.

Brno was the first large city in the Czech lands to have railway tracks from the steam railway, which happened in 1839 when the first train arrived from Vienna. It was not until six years later that it reached Prague.