Zlín

Zlín (in 1949–1989 Gottwaldov; zliːn; Zlin) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 74,000 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Zlín Region and it lies on the Dřevnice river. It is known as an industrial centre. The development of the modern city is closely connected to the Bata Shoes company and its social scheme, developed after World War I. A large part of Zlín is urbanistically and architecturally valuable and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Zlín is made up of 16 urban parts and villages: Zlín Prštné (Zlín II) Louky (Zlín III) Mladcová (Zlín IV) Příluky (Zlín V) Jaroslavice (Zlín VI) Kudlov (Zlín VII) Malenovice (Zlín VIII) Chlum Klečůvka Kostelec Lhotka Lužkovice Salaš Štípa Velíková There are several legends about the origin of the name of the city, according to which it was derived from slín (i.e. "marl") or zlaté japko (i.e. "golden apple"). However, the name Zlín was most likely derived from the old personal Slavic name Zla, Zlen or Zleš. From 1949 to 1989, the city was renamed Gottwaldov after the first communist president of Czechoslovakia Klement Gottwald. On 1 January 1990 the city's name was changed back to Zlín. Zlín is located about east of Brno. The city is situated on the Dřevnice river. Zlín is entirely located in the Vizovice Highlands. The highest point of the municipal territory is the top of the hill Tlustá hora with an elevation of . The first written mention of Zlín is from 1322, when it was acquired by Queen Elizabeth Richeza. In that time, Zlín was already a market town and served as a craft guild centre for the surrounding area of Moravian Wallachia. From 1358, the Zlín estate was owned by Bishop Albrecht of Šternberk and soon became the seat of the Moravian branch of the Šternberk family. In 1397, the town privileges of Zlín were extended and Zlín became a town. This significantly helped the economic development of Zlín. The Hussite Wars badly affected properties of the Sternbergs and they were forced to sell Zlín in 1437.