In 1919, after World War I, two neighbouring towns, Královo Pole and Husovice, and 21 other municipalities were annexed to Brno, creating Greater Brno (). This was done to dilute the German-speaking majority of close to 55,000 by the addition of the Czech communities of the city's neighborhood. Included in the German-speaking group were almost all of the 12,000 Jewish inhabitants, including several of the city's better known personalities, who made a substantial contribution to the city's cultural life. Greater Brno was almost seven times larger, with a population of about 222,000 – before that Brno had about 130,000 inhabitants.