Široká Niva

Široká Niva
Široká Niva
Municipality
	[mapframe not available on SimWiki] Interactive map of Široká Niva
	Coordinates: 50°4′3″N 17°29′7″E / 50.06750°N 17.48528°E
Country	File:Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic
Region	Moravian-Silesian
District	Bruntál
First mentioned	1420
Area
• Total	37.29 km2 (14.40 sq mi)
Elevation	368 m (1,207 ft)
Population (2026-01-01)
• Total	544
• Density	14.6/km2 (37.8/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	793 16
Website	www.siroka-niva.cz

Široká Niva (until 1952 Bretnov; German: Breitenau) is a municipality and village in Bruntál District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 500 inhabitants.

Administrative division

Široká Niva consists of three municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census):^[2]

Široká Niva (468)
Pocheň (22)
Skrbovice (38)

Etymology

The name literally means 'wide floodplain' in Czech.

Geography

Široká Niva is located about 8 kilometres (5 mi) north of Bruntál and 54 km (34 mi) north of Olomouc. It lies in the Nízký Jeseník range. The highest point is the hill Zlatý kopec at 693 m (2,274 ft) above sea level. The Opava River flows through the municipality.

History

The first written mention of Markvartice is from 1278 and the first written mention of Bretnov is from 1420. Pocheň was established in 1668. Skrbovice was founded by the Teutonic Order in 1678. In 1949, the municipalities of Markvartice, Bretnov and Skrbovice (including the hamlet of Pocheň) were merged. The new municipality was renamed to its current name Široká Niva in 1952. Today Markvartice is only a local name of a small part of Široká Niva.^[3]

Demographics

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1869	1,980	—
1880	2,220	+12.1%
1890	2,143	−3.5%
1900	1,820	−15.1%
1910	1,758	−3.4%

Year	Pop.	±%
1921	2,058	+17.1%
1930	1,704	−17.2%
1950	1,219	−28.5%
1961	922	−24.4%
1970	795	−13.8%

Year	Pop.	±%
1980	634	−20.3%
1991	582	−8.2%
2001	573	−1.5%
2011	569	−0.7%
2021	528	−7.2%

Source: Censuses^[4]^[5]

Transport

Široká Niva is located on the railway line Vrbno pod Pradědem–Milotice nad Opavou.

Sights

The main landmark of Široká Niva is the Church of Saint Martin. It was built in the Baroque style in 1718–1721.^[6]

Notable people

Anton Zimmermann (1741–1781), Slovak composer
Rudolf Koppitz (1884–1936), Austrian photographer

References

↑ "Population in municipalities as at 1. 1". DataStat. Czech Statistical Office. 2026-05-18.
↑ "Public Census 2021 – basic data". Public Database (in čeština). Czech Statistical Office. 2022.
↑ "Historie obce" (in čeština). Obec Široká Niva. Retrieved 2026-08-26.
↑ "Historický lexikon obcí České republiky 1869–2011" (in čeština). Czech Statistical Office. 2015-12-21.
↑ "Population Census 2021: Population by sex". Public Database. Czech Statistical Office. 2021-03-27.
↑ "Obec Široká Niva" (in čeština). Sdružení obci Vrbenska. Retrieved 2023-10-30.

External links

Official website

[1] "Population in municipalities as at 1. 1". DataStat. Czech Statistical Office. 2026-05-18.

[2] "Public Census 2021 – basic data". Public Database (in čeština). Czech Statistical Office. 2022.

[3] "Historie obce" (in čeština). Obec Široká Niva. Retrieved 2026-08-26.

[4] "Historický lexikon obcí České republiky 1869–2011" (in čeština). Czech Statistical Office. 2015-12-21.

[5] "Population Census 2021: Population by sex". Public Database. Czech Statistical Office. 2021-03-27.

[6] "Obec Široká Niva" (in čeština). Sdružení obci Vrbenska. Retrieved 2023-10-30.

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