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About Czech Republic

     The Czech Republic (IPA: /ˈtʃɛk riˈpʌblɨk/) (officially Czech: Česká republika (help·info), short form in Czech: Česko, IPA: [ʧɛsko]) is a landlocked country in Central Europe and a member state of the European Union. The country has borders with Poland to the north, Germany to the northwest and west, Austria to the south, and Slovakia to the east. The capital and largest city is Prague (Czech: Praha), a major tourist destination. The country is composed of the historic regions of Bohemia and Moravia, as well as parts of Silesia.

     The Czech lands were under Habsburg rule from 1526, later becoming part of the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary. The independent republic of Czechoslovakia was created in 1918, following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire after World War I. After the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, disillusion with the Western response and occupation by the Red Army, the Communist party gained the majority in 1946 elections. Czechoslovakia was a Communist state from 1948 until the 1989 Velvet Revolution. On 1 January 1993, the country peacefully split into the Czech and Slovak republics.

     The Czech Republic is a pluralist multi-party parliamentary representative democracy. President Václav Klaus is the current head of state. The Prime Minister is the head of government (currently Mirek Topolánek). The Parliament has two chambers — the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004. It is also a member of the OECD, the Visegrád group and the Council of Europe.

About Kromeriz

     Kroměříž ['kromɲɛr̝iːʃ] (German: Kremsier) is a city in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. The town's main landmark is the Baroque Kroměříž Bishop's Palace, where some scenes from Amadeus and Immortal Beloved were filmed. The adjacent Lustgarten, or Pleasure Park, is one of the World Heritage Sites.

     City was found in 1260 from Bruno ze Schauenburku, bishop of Olomouc. Bishops of Olomouc built in city representative summer-house (famous Kroměříž Bishop's Palace, later Archbishop's Palace) and transfer here part of administration of diocese. The city was badly damaged in Thirty Years' War, two times was plundered from Swedish troops (1643 and 1645) and after this Black Death came. Bishop Karel II. z Lichtenštejna rebuilt city and palace after war. Constitutive Imperial Congress was sitting in Kroměříž in 1848.

Famous people :

• Heinrich Ignaz Biber (1644 - 1704), composer and violinist
• Václav Talich (1883 - 1961), conductor
• Jaroslav Koutecký (1922 - 2005), chemist
• Karel Kryl
• Jan Milíč z Kroměříže (d. 1374), ideal predecessor of Jan Hus; initiated the practice of preaching in the Czech language in Prague.

    Kroměříž is also a birthplace of Max Švabinský (born Sept. 17, 1873, died Feb.10, 1962), one of the most important Czech painters of the last century. A permanent exhibition called Max Švabinský Memorial can be seen in the Museum of Kroměříž Region (Czech: Muzeum Kroměřížska), located in the lower part of Big Square (Velké náměstí), near the entrance to the Bishop's Palace.