The historical evolution of Český Krumlov gardens and parks from the year 1939 to the present
The period of the Second
World War put an end to the centuries-long fruitful, albeit
occassionally rocky co-existence of Germans and Czechs in the
border regions of Czechoslovakia including Český Krumlov.
Unfortunately this also manifested itself in the state of the
municipal and private greens, parks and gardens. Mostly this
concerned commemorative objects with German texts or monuments
remembering important personalities of German origin. Such
structures were either damaged or demolished. This was partially
due to the fact that the same thing happened during the war from
the Germans towards the Czechs (for instance the removal of the
commemorative plaque of the Czech Jesuit Jiří Bílek of
Bílenberk from the prelature in the year 1938). Commemorative
objects were also damaged in the municipal park and in the park at
the cemetery.
The following 50 year period left its insensitive mark particularly on the appearance of the Deer Gardens due to the construction of a concrete swimming pool (resp. a fire reservoir), and later by the building of a bus station including waiting room buildings on the surface of the former botanical garden. The old prelate garden perished during the construction of a bypass communication road in the sixties.
Its Baroque arbour was
demolished, and its south-eastern part was separated from the
garden area for the purposes of the new road. The rest of the
original garden was turned into a small park with a view on the
Town
Park.At the end of the sixties, the reconstruction of the
castle
garden began according to a project of ing. Ivo Hofman, the
intense execution of which caused a strong conflict of opinion
among the Český Krumlov citizens. The intensive reconstruction
works were finished in the beginning of the eighties with the
unclear future of the revolving
auditorium in front of the Summerhouse
Bellarie. While the suburbs of Český Krumlov saw the emergence
of vast new apartment complexes with newly founded public green
areas, the historically based collection of gardens and parks
mainly situated in the historical centre of the town gradually
dilapidated. Some gardens were developed as suitable building areas
or used in some other utilitarian way. With the construction of
panel houses at lower Plešivec and at Špičák, entire historical
suburban areas, including gardens, disappeared without a trace.
During the forty years after WWII more than one hundred historical
houses were destroyed in the Český Krumlov suburbs, often
historically very valuable. The demolitions tended to be executed
without any documentation.
For example, the project for the erection of the monument
"Commemorative of the Liberation" at the site of the parking lot in
the Deer
Garden (which was later situated in the Municipal park as the
"Commemorative of the fight and victory over fascism") included a
1975 decision to permit the construction of a replacement parking
lot on the surface of the horticulture institute under the post
office, i.e. on the surface of the former virginal gardens (see the
gardens
of the former Clarissian convent). With the construction of the
parking lot in 1977, a more than 500 year old garden perished. The
Municipal Park also suffered in the seventies and eighties not only
by a lack of care, but by the placement of the "Commemorative of
the fight and victory over fascism" into its central space. By this
time, the park with its music pavillion was already registered as
an immobile cultural monument. Despite the resistance of the
employees of the historical monument administration, the
commemorative was realised in the year 1989(!) and resulted in a
fundamental change of the disposition of the park, to the
disturbance of the original historical composition, and the
disappearance of the original footpath network.
In the beginning of the nineties, also in spite of the protests of the monument-conscientious public, the construction of the vast parking area of the Deer Garden was completed, thereby sealing the fate of the already devastated former botanical gardens and of the western part of the garden (the former game parks).
The exceptional status of the town of Český Krumlov, earned not only by its inclusion onto the prestigious UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage List in the year 1993, but mainly by the steadfast activity of the town council shines through in the continuously improving state of its gardens and parks. The ongoing work on the strategic plan for municipal development and the preparation of a new regional plan, let us hope, will help preserve the extraordinary historical and artistic value of the Český Krumlov historical gardens and parks for the many years to come.
Further information:
- The historical evolution of Český Krumlov gardens and parks in the 14th and 15th centuries (Gothic period)
- The historical evolution of Český Krumlov gardens and parks in the reign of the last Rosenbergs (Renaissance and Mannerism period)
- The historical evolution of Český Krumlov gardens and parks under the administration of the emperor in the years 1601 - 1622 (Mannerism period)
- The historical evolution of Český Krumlov gardens and parks in the period of the reign of the princes of Eggenberg in the years 1622 - 1719 (Mannerism period and the beginnings of the Baroque)
- The historical evolution of Český Krumlov gardens and parks in the reign of the first two generations of the princes of Schwarzenberg in the years 1719 - 1782 (Baroque and Rococo period)
- The historical evolution of Český Krumlov gardens and parks in the years 1782 - 1850 (Classic and Romantic period)
- The historical evolution of Český Krumlov gardens and parks in the years 1850 - 1939 (Historic period and modern times)