ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA	CZECH REPUBLIC
Moravskoslezský kraj	North Moravia and Silesia (Ostrava) region
Okres: Karviná

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Bohumín (German: Oderberg) is situated at an elevation of 198 m on the right bank of the river Odra close to the border to Poland. The municipality, consisting of Nový Bohumín (Neu Oderberg), Starý Bohumín (Alt Oderberg), Skřečoň (Skretschon), Záblatí (Sablath), Pudlov (Pudlau), Šunychl (Schönichel) and Vrbice (Wirbitz), has a population of about 21,000 (2017).

Bogun was first mentioned in 1256. In 1523, the domains were fiefed off to the Margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach, whereupon the name changed to Oderberg. In 1622, the domains reverted to Austrian rule and came in possession of the Henckel von Donnersmarck family (1636 Imperial barons, 1661 Bohemian counts). After the First Silesian War, following the Piece of Vienna (1742), the domains were partitioned between Prussia and Austria; the town and castle remained in the Austrian part. After the Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire a modern municipal division was introduced in the re-established Austrian Silesia. The town became a seat of a legal district at first in the Friedek (Frýdek, today part of Frýdek-Místek) and since 1868 in the Freistadt (Frýštát, today part of Karviná) political district. After the division of Silesia, Bohumín in 1920 became part of Czechoslovakia. Following the Munich Agreement, Bohumín and the Zaolzie region were annexed by Poland in October 1938. The town was then annexed by Nazi Germany at the beginning of World War II. After the war it was restored to Czechoslovakia and the remaining German population was expelled.

Nový Bohumín

While the old town (now Starý Bohumín) was close to the river, the new town, Oderberg-Bahnhof (today Nový Bohumín), developed around the railway station of the 'Kaiser-Ferdinands-Nordbahn' located about 4 km southeast.

The Kaiser-Ferdinands-Nordbahn (KFNB; Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway) was the first steam railroad of Austria and was initiated by Baron Salomon Rothschild. The first section between Floridsdorf (today part of Vienna) to Deutsch-Wagram was opened in 1837, the terminal in Vienna was opened in 1838. The section from Deutsch-Wagram via Břeclav (Lundenburg) to Brno (Brünn) was finished in 1839. The line from Břeclav via Přerov (Prerau), Ostrava (Ostrau), and Bohumín to Kraków (Krakau) was then completed in 1846. The privately owned company operated in a strictly profit-oriented way so that comfort was completely absent at first (the Austrian writer Franz Grillparzer once bitterly complained about the uncomfortable journey from Bohumín to Vienna). In 1869, however, the Nordbahn was the first line to introduce toilets on the trains. The staff also was payed badly so that the abbreviation KFNB jokingly was explained as "kein Fleisch, nur Brot" ('no meat, just bread'). On the other hand, the trains were well-known for their punctuality ('punctual as the Nordbahn' was a frequently-used figure of speech). The company was nationalised in 1907.

The Roman Catholic Church of the Divine Heart of the Lord [left, no. 339: background] was built in 1892–1894 in Neo-Gothic style. Plans for enlarging the church by the addition of two side naves, were presented in 1946; the project, however, was abandoned as it was not possible after the Communist coup of 1948. In 1949 only a few minor adjustments were made to the interior of the church according to the project. In 2002, the church was listed as a cultural monument.

[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohumín, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohumín; https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiser_Ferdinands-Nordbahn; https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kostel_Božského_srdce_Páně_(Bohumín)]