The Český Krumlov Region in Literature

The beginning of literary activity in the Český Krumlov region went back to the pre-Hussite period (13th - 14th century) and it is connected primarily with the monasteries in Vyšší Brod and Zlatá Koruna and their monastic libraries, and secondly with an upsurge of the Witigonen.

In the middle of the 14th century, under Peter I. von Rosenberg, a significant monument of the old law prose was written, called The Rosenberg Book.

Under the last Rosenbergs Český Krumlov became a cultural centre where Václav z Rovného established his extensive library and where many well-educated men lived, also among the middle classes. Václav Březan, the author of The Rosenberg Chronicle also lived here. Šimon Lomnický z Budče studied at the Latin school. The theatre was also performed at the court of the Rosenbergs.

Bohuslav Balbín was a very significant personality of literature of the period after the battle of Bílá Hora (he lived in Český Krumlov from 1664 - 1665).

The 19th century is characterised (according to the structure of nationality) with the upsurge of writers from the Český Krumlov region who wrote in the German language. One of them - Adalbert Stifter, a native of Horní Planá - was remembered in history of world literature.

The most significant native of the Czech revivalist literature is Josef Vlastimil Kamarýt, who came from Velešín.

The significant personalities of the Czech literature only peripherally belong to the region, mostly because they spent some time here and they wrote some works about local places giving the impression of a beautiful countryside and very rich history (for example Eliška Krásnohorská, Otakar Mokrý, etc.).

The situation had not even changed very much in the 20th century. The most significant native of this region became a philologist Karel Hrdina, (he was born in Černice). Many of the significant Czech writers just passed through Český Krumlov and other places of the region to get the themes for their work from these short visits. The most frequent topics of these works (poems and prose) are the last Rosenbergs and the whole period of the 16th century.

Not even the present time is promising to produce literature in the region. We are still waiting for a great native or author who could produce themes from the Český Krumlov region of a really high standard ...

(hj)

Further information :
Distinguished Personalities in the Český Krumlov Region - chapter Literature