The Znojmo town hall tower is situated in the city of Znojmo

Znojmo

Znojmo is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic, near the border with Lower Austria, connected to Vienna by railway and road . The royal city of Znojmo was founded shortly before 1226 by King Ottokar I on the plains in front of Znojmo Castle...

, a historic city in Moravia

Moravia

Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...

, Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

.

The tower

Tower

A tower is a tall structure, usually taller than it is wide, often by a significant margin. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires....

 was contracted by Znojmo counselors in 1445 and was built by a local stonemason Nicholas of Edelspitz (Sedlešovice) from 1445-1448. The unique slim tower has a complex, elegant roof construction containing two galleries with characteristic Gothic

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

 spires.

From the top of the galleries in the tower both the inside and outside of the city could be viewed, giving much needed warning of an advancing enemy.

In a soviet air-raid during the Second World War, the tower was hit by a falling bomb. The bomb slithered off the roof of the tower, destroying the old town hall below. The destroyed building was later developed in the communist era into a controversial concrete department store.