Jan/Feb 00 - Český Krumlov, Czech Rep.
This place has a reputation as THE best town to visit for young travelers to Europe, and why not? It's gorgeous with perfectly preserved gothic, renaissance and baroque architecture, and a Unesco site; it's surrounded by the Vltava which loops around the city which in turn spreads @ the 2nd largest castle in Bohemia sitting high on a cleft promontory, itself an imposing, unusual beauty of a time-capsule; it presents great views (incl. this here), and it's affordable with good food and great Czech beer. I spent a few days here. Even though I was here in the wrong season, I met a large number of anglophone tourists incl. a bunch from Australia and a couple of girls from P.E.I. of all places. We all had supper one night in Krčma v Satlavské Ulici (I think, going from the photos of the place online), a restaurant with a medieval theme in what might have once been a wine cellar or a powder magazine (a windowless brick room with long tables and candles under a low, arched brick ceiling). We ate well and drank much mead. (That might've been my introduction to mead?) Delicious!
- Český Krumlov, "the settlement, arose beneath the castle, which was built from @ 1240 by a local branch of the noble Vítkovci family. ... Located at a ford of an important trade route in the Kingdom of Bohemia, a settlement arose soon afterwards below the castle. The Czech name Krumlov is documented as early as 1259. In 1302 the Vítkovci line became extinct and King Wenceslaus II ceded the town and castle to the Rosenberg family. Peter I of Rosenberg (d. 1347), the Lord Chamberlain of King John of Bohemia, lived here and had the present upper castle erected in the early 14th century. The majority of inhabitants were German-speaking at that time, having migrated from neighbouring Austria and Bavaria. In the late 15th century, when gold was found next to the town, German miners came to settle, which further shifted the ethnic balance. In 1602 William's brother Peter Vok of Rosenberg (1539-1611) sold Krumlov to the Habsburg emperor Rudolf II, who gave it to his natural son Julius d'Austria. Following the Bohemian Revolt and the Battle of White Mountain in 1620, Emperor Ferdinand II gave Krumlov to the noble House of Eggenberg. From 1719 (when the Eggenberg line died out) until 1947 the castle belonged to the House of Schwarzenberg. In 1910, there were 8,662 inhabitants in 'Krummau an der Moldau', incl. 7,367 Germans and 1,295 Czechs. ... By the end of 1918 the Czechoslovak army had occupied the region, which became part of Czechoslovakia. In 1938 it was annexed by Nazi Germany, as part of the Reichsgau Oberdonau unit of Sudetenland under the Munich Agreement. After WWII the town's German-speaking population was expelled and the town was returned to Czechoslovakia."
- This was the first in quite a number of cities or towns that I toured this trip which had been built and were long inhabited by Germans who'd been forced out sometime in the last century or 2, and are inhabited today by Slavs or Romanians, including nearby Český Budejovic, Levoca and Bardejov in Slovakia (also Unesco sites), and Bistrita, Sighisoara, Biertan, Dupus, Sibiu, Sebes, Medias, Brasov and Prejmer in Romania. Most (all?) are impressive time capsules.
- I bought a guidebook for the town, walked all @ in a self-guided tour, took in the churches and a series in a list of renaissance and baroque houses from street to street, some sgraffitoed, others with well-preserved exterior frescoes, and toured an exhibit of works by the Austrian expressionist painter and frequent visitor, Egon Schiele. The main sight to see is the castle, unusually large for a town this size and which contains over 40 bldg.s. It was closed for the season, but when I walked up through a series of elaborate courtyards to the entrance a construction or maintenance worker kindly took me in to show me 2 of the more beautiful and famous rooms, incl. the 'Masquerade hall', its walls covered in frescoes with scenes of jesters and performers, people in costume, wearing masks, etc. "In 1748, the Viennese painter Josef Lederer decorated the walls of the Hall with figures of theatrical themes, thus the name." www.castle.ckrumlov.cz/docs/en/zamek_3nadvori_histma.xml (I'll scan and upload a photo I took in it sometime.) I tried to give the kind man a tip but he wouldn't take any $$.
- www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y90jGN1Q0jo
- I've read that the castle is home to the best preserved baroque theatre in the world in its original form (and 1 of only 4 surviving in Europe), which dates from 1767 and hosts performances for the public only twice a year.
- From here to Český Budejovice (pron. Chesky Byoo-day-oh-vitz).
Jan/Feb 00 - Český Krumlov, Czech Rep.
This place has a reputation as THE best town to visit for young travelers to Europe, and why not? It's gorgeous with perfectly preserved gothic, renaissance and baroque architecture, and a Unesco site; it's surrounded by the Vltava which loops around the city which in turn spreads @ the 2nd largest castle in Bohemia sitting high on a cleft promontory, itself an imposing, unusual beauty of a time-capsule; it presents great views (incl. this here), and it's affordable with good food and great Czech beer. I spent a few days here. Even though I was here in the wrong season, I met a large number of anglophone tourists incl. a bunch from Australia and a couple of girls from P.E.I. of all places. We all had supper one night in Krčma v Satlavské Ulici (I think, going from the photos of the place online), a restaurant with a medieval theme in what might have once been a wine cellar or a powder magazine (a windowless brick room with long tables and candles under a low, arched brick ceiling). We ate well and drank much mead. (That might've been my introduction to mead?) Delicious!
- Český Krumlov, "the settlement, arose beneath the castle, which was built from @ 1240 by a local branch of the noble Vítkovci family. ... Located at a ford of an important trade route in the Kingdom of Bohemia, a settlement arose soon afterwards below the castle. The Czech name Krumlov is documented as early as 1259. In 1302 the Vítkovci line became extinct and King Wenceslaus II ceded the town and castle to the Rosenberg family. Peter I of Rosenberg (d. 1347), the Lord Chamberlain of King John of Bohemia, lived here and had the present upper castle erected in the early 14th century. The majority of inhabitants were German-speaking at that time, having migrated from neighbouring Austria and Bavaria. In the late 15th century, when gold was found next to the town, German miners came to settle, which further shifted the ethnic balance. In 1602 William's brother Peter Vok of Rosenberg (1539-1611) sold Krumlov to the Habsburg emperor Rudolf II, who gave it to his natural son Julius d'Austria. Following the Bohemian Revolt and the Battle of White Mountain in 1620, Emperor Ferdinand II gave Krumlov to the noble House of Eggenberg. From 1719 (when the Eggenberg line died out) until 1947 the castle belonged to the House of Schwarzenberg. In 1910, there were 8,662 inhabitants in 'Krummau an der Moldau', incl. 7,367 Germans and 1,295 Czechs. ... By the end of 1918 the Czechoslovak army had occupied the region, which became part of Czechoslovakia. In 1938 it was annexed by Nazi Germany, as part of the Reichsgau Oberdonau unit of Sudetenland under the Munich Agreement. After WWII the town's German-speaking population was expelled and the town was returned to Czechoslovakia."
- This was the first in quite a number of cities or towns that I toured this trip which had been built and were long inhabited by Germans who'd been forced out sometime in the last century or 2, and are inhabited today by Slavs or Romanians, including nearby Český Budejovic, Levoca and Bardejov in Slovakia (also Unesco sites), and Bistrita, Sighisoara, Biertan, Dupus, Sibiu, Sebes, Medias, Brasov and Prejmer in Romania. Most (all?) are impressive time capsules.
- I bought a guidebook for the town, walked all @ in a self-guided tour, took in the churches and a series in a list of renaissance and baroque houses from street to street, some sgraffitoed, others with well-preserved exterior frescoes, and toured an exhibit of works by the Austrian expressionist painter and frequent visitor, Egon Schiele. The main sight to see is the castle, unusually large for a town this size and which contains over 40 bldg.s. It was closed for the season, but when I walked up through a series of elaborate courtyards to the entrance a construction or maintenance worker kindly took me in to show me 2 of the more beautiful and famous rooms, incl. the 'Masquerade hall', its walls covered in frescoes with scenes of jesters and performers, people in costume, wearing masks, etc. "In 1748, the Viennese painter Josef Lederer decorated the walls of the Hall with figures of theatrical themes, thus the name." www.castle.ckrumlov.cz/docs/en/zamek_3nadvori_histma.xml (I'll scan and upload a photo I took in it sometime.) I tried to give the kind man a tip but he wouldn't take any $$.
- www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y90jGN1Q0jo
- I've read that the castle is home to the best preserved baroque theatre in the world in its original form (and 1 of only 4 surviving in Europe), which dates from 1767 and hosts performances for the public only twice a year.
- From here to Český Budejovice (pron. Chesky Byoo-day-oh-vitz).