Zlín, the regional capital of the Zlín Region, is situated on the river Dřevnice near the Vizovice Highlands, 230 metres above sea level. Northward, it is not far from the hills of the Hostýn-Vsetín Upland. The population of the town is about 77,000 people.
The first records about the Wallachian settlements date back to 1322. At the end of the 14th century Zlín already had a town status. The Zlín domain belonged to the Šternberks family who started building a fortress in Zlín. The domain changed its owners many times which, along with wars, resulted in damaging the castle that was totally ravaged by the Hungarian army. It was built again in the late 18th century, changed its owners several times and was eventually bought by the town of Zlín in 1929. There is the Museum of South-East Moravia there today, another place of the museum is in the Gothic castle in Malenovice which is a part of Zlín nowadays. The Roman Catholic Church of St. Philip and Jacob in Zlín dates back to the end of the 14th century and was rebuilt later. The new Salesian Church of Virgin Mary was finished in 2003.
The first Zlín manufacture was founded in 1779. In 1894, Tomáš Baťa opened his first shoe factory which made Zlín and its shoe industry as well as its unique architecture famous all over the world. In the 1930s, a modern centre was constructed with the participation of several significant architects, e. g. Jan Kotěra and Vladimír Karfík. The town was built in a functionalist style. The “Twenty-One” skyscraper, the seat of regional and financial authorities nowadays, offers exhibition of the town‘s life. At the end of World War II the town was bombed.
Close to Zlín, there are two interesting places: a well-known zoo in Lešná, and Štípa, a place of pilgrimage. Tomáš Baťa, the founder of the Tomáš Baťa company, who died in an air-crash in 1932, is buried in the local forest cemetery.
The Protestant tradition has a long history in Zlín. A Lutheran tradition prevailed but members of the Unity of Brethren lived there, too. The Thirty Years‘ War brought a hard time to the town. In 1644, five citizens were executed for their participation in the Wallachian uprising. Relief did not come until the issue of the Toleration Patent but nobody professed a Protestant faith in the town then. In 1922 a preaching station of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren (ECCB) congregation in Zádveřice was established in Zlín. The first house of prayer was opened six years later. Members of the growing congregation started to consider building a church. The plans were thought over very carefully and finally, the architect Vladimír Karfík, a chief designer of the Baťa company, was asked to carry out the project. The church was built on the steep land between Štefánikova and Slovenská Streets. The foundation stone of the building was laid on the 17th of July, 1935. In 1936, the Zlín preaching station was appointed a congregation of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren.
A new church built in a functionalist style within the Baťa conception of the town was ceremonially opened on Easter Monday, on the 29th of March, 1937. The pews in the main nave have a step-like design. The bell tower with the chalice dominates the building decorated by vertical rows of windows. The sign over the entrance says: “House of God is Sacred“. It is possible to say that the church in Zlín is a masterpiece of religious architecture of the interwar period. The rectory situated near the church and a beautiful garden complete its perfect look.