Bratrušov – Churches, Chapels and Landscapes of the Hrubý Jeseník

Bratrušov between the Foothills and Cultural Heritage

Bratrušov lies in the foothills of the Hrubý Jeseník in a valley along the upper course of the Bratrušovský potok stream. This gives the village a distinct character shaped by both the landscape and its established settlement pattern. The first written record dates from 1371. Bratrušov has an elongated settlement form along the road, with strip fields running behind the houses, which is typical of a German colonist village.

The Church of All Saints and Historic Architectural Forms

The Church of All Saints (Kostel Všech svatých) in Bratrušov is a late Renaissance church dating from 1603. It is a single-nave building with a polygonal termination and a hexagonal tower rising above the roof ridge. In 1833, it received an Empire-style vestibule. This building therefore combines several clearly distinguishable design elements: the late Renaissance basic structure, the unusual tower above the roof ridge and the later-added vestibule. Anyone wishing to discover architecture through concrete forms will find a particularly multi-layered connection to the village here.

The Chapel of St. Roch and the Memory of 1832

The Chapel of St. Roch is a freestanding, masonry single-nave building on a hill, with a rectangular nave and a semicircular apse. Its construction is most probably connected with the cholera epidemic in Bratrušov in 1832, in which 43 people died. Alongside its clearly described architectural form, the chapel therefore also has a historical connection to the village's history. For a cultural discovery in Bratrušov, it offers a different architectural impression from the Church of All Saints.

A Small Sacred Monument in the Empire Style

The Bratrušovská boží muka have been protected as a monument since 1958. They are a small sacred monument classified as being in the Empire style, whose construction dates back to 1833. As a small religious monument, it complements the church and chapel with another testimony to the local cultural history.

Hills and Natural Monuments

Specific landscape features include Pollnerova hrušeň, a protected solitary tree in the cadastral area of Bratrušov. It is a wild pear tree; on 12 May 2022, its trunk circumference measured 380 cm at a height of 1.3 m. Chmelná is one of the hills visible from a great distance from Bratrušov on the western and northwestern sides of the village. The same applies to Čapí vrch, which reaches 646 m there.

Walking and Cycling in the Project

The project “Chodník Bratrušov II. etapa – Cyklostezka se smíšeným provozem” is designated as a cycle path with shared use for pedestrians and cyclists. When choosing your accommodation, you can therefore first decide whether the village's history or the landscape should be the focus of your trip. For further research, Rájec, Nový Malín, Velké Losiny, Bludov, Velké Vrbno, Zborov, Bohdíkov and Hrabišín are also available.

For the broader travel overview: Okres Šumperk.