The Anabaptist communities | PřF

Mapping the Anabaptist communities of Moravia in the 16th and 17th century

The aim of this project is to map the dynamics of the Anabaptist settlement in Moravia in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Anabaptists came from German-speaking regions and formed a culturally and ethnically distinct minority that made significant contributions to the history of Moravia. Although this community is no longer present in in our territory, the influence of Anabaptist activity in Moravia is re-emerging, particularly in villages with a well-developed tradition of winemaking. The aim of this project is to make detailed information about the activities of this community in Moravia available to the general public in a broad historical and social context.
The project will enable the creation of an open database and an interactive map of Anabaptist settlements in Moravia. Through this database, it will be possible to systematize the existing knowledge about particular Anabaptist settlements and to analyze the interrelationships between settlements, as well as to trace the interconnections of religious, economic and biological conditions. The database will contain information about settlement topography, chronology, size, their economic orientation and the religious confession that shaped the rules of their coexistence. The database will also make it possible to record and associate anthropological research findings with the origins of the Anabaptists. The interactive map will allow the display of entered data in a spatio-temporal model of the Anabaptist settlements and will include a number of additional elements such as visualizations of selected objects and findings.
Through the use of multivariate statistical analyses, relationships between data from written sources and those generated through scientific methods will enable complex reconstructions of the dynamics of the Anabaptist settlements in Moravia and interactions with surrounding countries.

The project is supported by the Ministry of Culture within the NAKI III: Programme for Supporting Applied Research in the Field of National and Cultural Identity (2023–2030).

Current news

405th Anniversary of the Bloodshed in Pribice

405 years have passed this July since one of the most tragic events connected to the end of the Anabaptist settlement in South Moravia; the masacre of the Hutterites in Přibice by a mercenary battalion during the Thirty Years' War.
Over fifty people gathered on Saturday 16th August 2025 to commemorate the occasion. After a guided tour of the presumed site of the original settlement and of the excavation site of the cemetery, they attended a short lecture followed by the opening of an exhibition presenting the history of Anabaptist settlements in South Moravia and the results of current excavation efforts and consequent analyses.

Trip to the Haban Museum

On September 12, 2023, members of the research groups from Department of History and Department for Study of Religions visited the Haban Museum in Veľké Leváre, Slovakia. The aim of the trip was to explore remnants of the Anabaptist settlement there – i. e. architecture, material culture and written sources that might be relevant for the project research.

Meeting in Přibice

On Thursday, August 24th, 2023, the Department of Anthropology organised a scientific and social meeting in Přibice on the occasion of conclusion of the 6th season of anthropological and archeological excavation research of the Anabaptist burial site there, which is carried out in cooperation of Department of Anthropology and Brno City Museum.

Not only the members of the project research groups, but also other people interested in the project were present. Participants explored the site, including few excavated skeletons, and received briefings on the results of the past season research.

The meeting was also an opportunity for further discussion on future perspectives of the research.

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