Czech Republic Guide
North Moravia
Krnov
As if to underline the arbitrary nature of the region's current borders, the railway line from Jeseník passes in and out of Polish territory en route to KRNOV (Jägerndorf), famous for its Rieger-Kloss organ factory – the largest in Europe – established here in 1873. The town was flattened in World War II and the current population of 26,000 is only two-thirds of the town's prewar level – but it's still worth a brief stopover if you're heading for Opava or into Poland just 3km away.
From the town's otherwise nondescript main square, Hlavní náměstí, two buildings stand out: the salmon-pink-and-white radnice from 1902, topped by an excitable clock tower, modelled on the one in the Viennese suburb of Währing and decorated with patterned tiling; and the late-nineteenth-century spořitelna, a savings bank in two shades of green. Beyond the Atlantes who guard the entrance to the latter, you can see the beautifully restored foyer and staircase, its stained glass, ironwork and plastering smothered in Art Nouveau floral motifs. On the ground floor is the Dynasty café and restaurant, restored and slightly modernized, but with enough of its original fittings – brass chandeliers, wooden panelling and so forth – to give some idea of its glory days. To the west, on Zámecké náměstí, one side of the street features an unusual arcade held up by round, squat pillars, while beyond, to the north, lies the so-called Švedská zed' (Swedish Wall), a short, surviving stretch of the town's fortifications with decorative Renaissance battlements, later used in the unsuccessful defence of the town against the Swedes during the Thirty Years' War.
Krnov's main train station is 1km west of the centre along Mikulášská, though most trains heading to or from Opava and Ostrava also stop at Krnov-Cvilín, about 500m northeast of the centre down Hlubčická. The tourist office, at Hlavní náměstí 25 (mid-May to mid-Sept Mon– Fri 8am–6pm, Sat & Sun 9am–2pm; mid-Sept to mid-May Mon– Fri 9am–5pm, Sat 9am–1pm; 
554 614 612, 
www.krnov.mic.cz ), can help you find private rooms. Otherwise, the best accommodation option is the Hotel Pepa, Zámecké náměstí ( 554 611 005, www.pepa.hotel-cz.com ; Price: 1501-2000Kč), offering plain en suites in a historical town house. For a taste of un-renovated Communist-era kitsch, try Hotel Praha ( 554 610 741, www.praha.hotel-cz.com ; Price: 501-1000Kč), west of the historical core at Revoluční 10.