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Language and visitors

Stará Oleška from the hills above Huntírov © Ricky Yates

There are two questions I am regularly asked in comments on this blog, by email, or on Facebook. One is, ‘Are there many English-speakers where you’re now living?’ The other is, ‘Does the area get many visitors?’ This post is my attempt to answer both these questions.

Stará Oleška has had many visitors over the five months I’ve now lived here. This is because the village is home to three camping & caravan sites – Autokempink Ceská Brána, Autokemp Aljaška and Camp Pod lesem; and two pensions – Pension Vyhlídka and Penzion Rosalka. Many of those who come are Czech, from right across the country. But there are also many foreign visitors, most notably Germans, together with Dutch, Flemish-speaking Belgians and Danes.

Why do Germans visit? There are numerous reasons.

Proximity – In a straight line, Stará Oleška is little more than ten kilometres from the Czech-German border. However, you cannot drive or walk there in a straight line because of the hills and mountains in-between. Instead, it takes about half-an-hour to drive from the Schmilka-Hrensko border crossing that lies alongside the point where the Elbe becomes the Labe. And plenty of Germans from nearby Pirna, Dresden and Meissen do come, judging by the registration plates of vehicles passing through the village, along with those from major centres slightly further afield such as Leipzig and Chemnitz.

Price – Petrol, cigarettes, beer and eating out are all cheaper than in Germany. Some Germans cross the border just to fill up and buy supplies. But it does mean that a weekend, long weekend or week’s visit can be had at a considerable lower cost than if spent in Germany.

Heimat – A word that is almost impossible to fully translate into English! The usual translation is ‘homeland’, but it has a far deeper meaning. For many Germans, travelling to the Böhmische Schweiz/Bohemian Switzerland is revisiting the Heimat.

Therefore if local Czech people have a second language it is almost always German. Menus in Bar-Restaurants are in Czech and German. Staff working in these establishments have to have at least basic German as visiting Germans usually don’t speak a word of Czech, beyond knowing that ‘beer’, (or Bier 🙂 ), is ‘pivo‘.

With regard to language, most visiting Germans also have the annoying habit of greeting people on entering a restaurant, or meeting fellow walkers on waymarked footpaths, with either ‘Guten Tag‘ or ‘Hallo‘, with absolutely no recognition that they are no longer in Germany. I always reply very firmly with ‘Dobrý den‘, sometimes following it up with, ‘Wir sind in der Tschechischen Republik, nicht in Deutschland‘. The reactions are interesting 🙂

The other typical German assumption is not to bother to exchange currency, believing that they can always pay in Euro, rather than in Czech crowns. Most hotels, restaurants and many shops are happy for them to do so. But sometimes German laziness can be costly.

Bar-Restaurace U Soni was using an exchange rate of CZK 24.00 to EUR 1.00 over the summer. The current official exchange rate is around CZK 25.50 to EUR 1.00 so I think they were being perfectly fair as they will be charged by their Czech bankers, for banking foreign currency. I know, as each time the Frauenkirche in Dresden reimburse me for my travel expenses, I lose CZK 100 for the privilege of having Euro paid into my Czech bank account 🙁

But when exploring this area a year ago, I had lunch in a bar-restaurant in nearby Ceská Kamenice. This is the scan of my bill. The Euro price at the bottom has been calculated at an exchange rate of CZK 20.00 to EUR 1.00. At that time, the correct exchange rate was nearly CZK 27.00 to EUR 1.00!

One final story about visiting Germans and currency. On Saturday 23^rd September, I attended a most enjoyable classical concert in Kostel sv Václava, Srbská Kamenice. The entrance fee was a very modest CZK 100. The male half of an older German couple immediately in front of me at the Church door, produced a fifty Euro note from his wallet & expected change!!!!!!

What about visiting Dutch, Flemish-speaking Belgians and Danes? Why do they come?

My usual answer to this question is because they have no hills or mountains in their own countries 🙂 Actually, the Flemish-speaking Belgians do; but they would have to travel to Wallonia and speak French 🙁

All three nationalities love caravanning and camping and so the facilities here are perfect for their needs. And for all of them, it only takes one long day’s drive to get here.

As with the Germans, the other important factor is price. Nearly everything is cheaper here than in their home countries. For a Dane, used to paying around DKK 45.00, (over CZK 150.00), for 0.5l of beer, being charged CZK 22.00 in Bar-Restaurace U Soni for the same quantity of liquid refreshment, is like being in heaven 😀

But then comes the question of language. Because very few people, other than their fellow citizens, speak their native tongue, Dutch, Flemish-speaking Belgians and Danes recognise that to communicate when outside of their home countries, they need to speak another language. And for nearly all of them, it is second language English. But that is where they sometimes come unstuck as very few people here speak English!

Several times this past summer, when sitting on the terrace at Bar-Restaurace U Soni, I have heard Dutch/Flemish/Danish people say in English, what they want to drink. In Prague, that would be fine, but not in the Böhmische Schweiz/Bohemian Switzerland. Other than ‘beer’, because it sounds the same as ‘Bier‘ in German, they are not understood. Instead, they have to resort to third, or even fourth language German, bearing in mind that Flemish Belgians and many Dutch people, are often also fluent in French.

Several times this past summer, I have been quite proud of myself by helping convert second language English, into my best bar-restaurant Czech, in order to help Dutch/Flemish/Danish visitors to obtain what they want.

So to further answer the first question at the beginning of this post, there are very few English speakers living in this part of the Czech Republic. I have now met a small number when doing business in Decín, usually people who have spent time working or studying in the UK or the USA. But because very few native English-speakers visit this area, people who speak fluent English are very few and far between.

Kostel sv Martina/St Martin’s Church, Markvartice

Today saw the reconsecration of Kostel sv Martina/St Martin’s Church in the nearby village of Markvartice. For the somewhat irreligious Czech Republic, renovating an abandoned Church building and bringing it back into liturgical use, is quite an event.

Whilst there has been a Church on the current site since the thirteenth century, the building in its present baroque appearance, dates from a rebuilding between 1701-04. It started falling into disrepair following the end of the Second World War, a result of the expulsion of the majority Sudetendeutsche population in 1945-6 and the communist takeover of power in Czechoslovakia, shortly afterwards.

The Church was last used for liturgical worship in 1966. By the late 1980s, all that was left standing were the perimeter walls – all of the roof had collapsed. Apparently, in 1989, the communist authorities issued an order for the demolition of the building, but fortunately, the Velvet Revolution took place before the order could be carried out.

Work to restore the Church began fifteen years ago, in 2002. Whilst funds to carry out the restoration have been raised locally, considerable finance has come from various German Roman Catholic dioceses. There has also been financial support from the regional government and from the Czech Ministry of Culture. This governmental support whilst welcome, is more about preserving what is seen as the country’s cultural and architectural heritage, rather than directly supporting the Roman Catholic Church.

Markvartice is about eight kilometres by road from Stará Oleška. Earlier this week, after I first read about today’s reconsecration, I drove across there to visit the Church. Last minute work to get everything ready for today’s celebrations, was taking place, but I was able to explore and take the photographs that follow.

Interior of Kostel sv Martina/St Martin’s Church © Ricky Yates

As you can see, the very baroque interior has been completely restored to a very high standard and a modern forward altar and lectern installed. One rather ‘interesting’ feature is the coloured light under the front of the new altar. It changes between the different liturgical colours, avoiding the need for different coloured altar frontals 🙂

Inscription over chancel arch © Ricky Yates

The inscription above the chancel arch clearly reflects the fact that German was the language of the majority population at the beginning of the eighteenth century until 1945.

A rather elaborate pulpit from which to preach 🙂

The churchyard on the north side of the Church, has been almost completely cleared with the damaged remains of memorials, moved and placed alongside the boundary wall.

John 14. 6 in German & Czech © Ricky Yates

However, this memorial, with its bilingual inscription underneath a large cross, has been renovated and preserved. It is also an example of how much longer it takes to say something in German than in most other languages 🙂

Statue of the Virgin Mary being carried in procession © Ricky Yates

Today’s celebrations began with this statue of the Virgin Mary being carried in procession through the village. The procession started at the railway station, located at the southern end of the village, and proceeded to the Church, located at the northern end.

At the head of the procession, along with a processional cross and four banners, was a small brass band who I’m almost certain had travelled from Germany. There was quite a German presence with many German registered cars parked in the various temporary car parks that had been set up.

Hence this bilingual sign! There were also coaches which had brought people from elsewhere in the Czech Republic, particularly from Moravia which is the more Roman Catholic end of the country. Therefore whilst the Church was packed for the 11.00 mass of reconsecration, I do wonder how well attended it will be by local people, Sunday by Sunday, once all the visitors have left.

Making progress

Yesterday, I made major progress in bringing order to the garden and outbuildings of my new home. In less than an hour, Jan with his van, assisted by a friend, removed a whole load of items left behind by the previous elderly owners, all of which were of no use to me. I hope the ‘before and after’ photographs which follow, will illustrate the progress that has been made.

Circular saw with ‘rain cover’ © Ricky Yates

Just under two weeks after moving to my new home in Stará Oleška, I wrote a post entitled, ‘Plenty to keep me occupied‘. In that post, I pointed out this ancient electrically driven circular saw for cutting logs, sitting in the middle of the back garden and wondered how on earth I would get it removed. Well yesterday, Jan using his electric metal cutter, removed the heavy engine from one side of the contraption. Then he and his colleague, aided by a trolley, were able to wheel the two parts out of the garden and into their van.

Where the ancient circular saw once stood © Ricky Yates

Here is where it once stood – now just an area of long grass and several centimetres of sawdust 😉

In that same post was this photograph of what I call my wood shed, showing a whole variety of ‘interesting’ items, stuffed into one end of the shed.

As this photograph shows, these ‘interesting’ items are now gone. There is still plenty of sorting out to do, but what is left is wood in some shape or form. Some pieces will be useful for future construction projects such as forming the framework for a concrete path. The rest will eventually be sawn up and become fuel for the wood burning stove which will be my main source of heating in the forthcoming winter.

Lean-to storage unit in May 2017 © Ricky Yates

What I didn’t illustrate in that previous post was the half completed lean-to storage unit on one side of the house. This is what it looked like back then.

Lean-to storage unit minus junk © Ricky Yates

This is what it looks like now. Once I’ve removed some remaining loose timber into the wood shed, then I plan to lay a proper concrete floor. After that, I hope to be able to hang the door that is already sitting there, propped up on one side, and create a dry and secure home for my mower and garden tools.

For his labours, I paid Jan CZK 1000, just under £35.00 at current exchange rates. Whilst I’m sure he will be able to re-sell some of the bits and pieces, I still felt I got very good value for money.

1930s border fortifications

Concrete bunker near Srbská Kamenice © Ricky Yates

In the area a few kilometres north of my home in Stará Oleška, are a whole series of border fortifications, which date from period 1935–1938. They were built in response to the rise to power of Adolf Hitler, as I explained in greater detail over four years ago, in a post about similar fortifications in the Orlické hory.

Soon after Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, he started making demands for the incorporation of German minorities into a ‘Greater Germany’, in particular the Sudetendeutsche residing in Sudetenland – that part of Czechoslovakia containing a majority ethnic German population. This alarmed the Czechoslovak government who began to make defensive plans to counteract any future Nazi invasion attempt. These concrete bunkers are the result of those plans.

‘Museum of Czechoslovak permanent fortifications built in the years 1935 – 1938’ © Ricky Yates

As I explained in that earlier blog post, the whole issue of Sudetenland and the Sudetendeutsche, came to a head at the Munich Conference, held at the end of September 1938. In an effort to appease Hitler and avoid conflict, the then British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, along with his French counterpart Édouard Daladier, signed the infamous ‘Munich Agreement’, giving Hitler control of the Sudetenland. All this was done without the Czechoslovak government being consulted or represented at the conference.

As a result, all these border fortifications were never used for the purpose for which they were built. Despite Hitler promising that the the annexation of the Sudetenland would be the end of German territorial expansion, six months later, his forces occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia.

This display board explains all about these structures, in Czech and German, including a plan of one of the bunkers, together with a map showing where they were constructed, across Czechoslovakia.

Below are photographs of three more bunkers that I’ve passed whilst walking through this area.

Concrete bunker near Dolský mlýn© Ricky Yates

Concrete bunker between Kunratice & Jetrichovice © Ricky Yates

Whilst this one below, located between Srbská Kamenice and Všemily, has been restored to how it would looked when first constructed.

Restored concrete bunker located between Srbská Kamenice and Všemily © Ricky Yates

For a week during early August, it was open every day to visitors. The young couple who were camping alongside it and welcoming anyone who came to visit, got quite a surprise when I, an English-speaker, turned up 🙂

Interior of the restored bunker © Ricky Yates

This is a photograph I was able to take of the rather cramped interior. Below is a display of period weapons laid out on the ground outside of the bunker.

Some aspects of village life in Stará Oleška

I promised back in May that, having moved from Prague to Stará Oleška, I would now write and reflect on my new life in North Bohemia. So here is a post about some of the practical aspects of village life, often in stark contrast to my experience during the previous eight and a half years of living in Prague.

Public transport

Stará Oleška lies on the 436 bus route which provides a service from the village, into the centre of Decín, terminating at the main railway station – Decín hl.n. In the opposite direction, it is possible to travel further into the hills to Jetrichovice and occasionally slightly further, to Vysoká Lípa.

In typical Czech fashion, the first bus of the day arrives in Stará Oleška at 04.43 and will deliver any passengers into Decín some thirty minutes later. The Czech Republic still has a culture of starting work very early in the morning which this service is clearly designed to meet. How well used it is I do not know as I’ve never been up at that ungodly hour to see 😉 However, I have heard it pass my house more than once – from my bed 🙂

Then throughout the day, there are regular services, allowing people to go shopping in Decín and return home an hour or two later. But unfortunately, you cannot have a night out on the town and get back to Stará Oleška by public transport. The last bus of the day leaves Decín at 18.43. And the fare for Stará Oleška – Decín? CZK 21, slightly less than one euro..

A nice touch that I have observed, in marked contrast to the UK, is the willingness of bus drivers to drop passengers off at the most convenient point, not necessarily an official bus stop. There is a home for adults with learning disabilities here in Stará Oleška and some of the residents travel into Decín for sheltered employment, returning on the bus in the early afternoon. The bus always stops to drop them off at the top of the driveway to the home, rather than taking them on round the corner, to the next stop. Likewise, when I was travelling on the bus through the neighbouring village of Nová Oleška, the driver stopped a couple of times to drop returning schoolchildren, directly in front of their homes.

On some services, clearly indicated on the timetable, provision is made for the transport of bicycles in the form of this trailer, towed behind the bus. It allows people to go biking in the hills without having to cycle all the way back to return to civilisation!

Veselé pod Rabštejnem railway station © Ricky Yates

Stará Oleška does not have its own railway station, but there is one, two kilometres from the village centre, provided you are prepared to walk 🙂 It takes a lot longer to get there by road. Taking the blue waymarked route, alongside the large lake, Olešský rybnik, and continuing up the hill, on the footpath, through the forest, will bring you to Veselé pod Rabštejnem station. For the train to pick you up, you have to stand on the platform and put your hand out. If you want to get off, press the buzzer on-board to tell the driver to stop.

Train at Veselé pod Rabštejnem station © Ricky Yates

Ceská pošta van heads off having delivered my post © Ricky Yates

Postal service

As in Prague, there is postal delivery here in Stará Oleška, once a day, Monday to Friday. But that is where the similarity ends!

Living in the Chaplaincy Flat in Prague, I would frequently get a chit in our mail box on the ground floor of our block, saying that there was an item that needed to be signed for, or a package that was too big for our mail box, that I had to go to the Post Office to collect. The chit always stated that our post lady had tried to deliver the item but there was no one at home to receive it when she called. This of course, was a complete lie. Usually one or both of us were at home, but the post lady chose not to bother to try and deliver the item as it was much easier not to carry it and instead, just put a note in the mail box.

My shiny new mail box on the front gate of Stará Oleška 44 © Ricky Yates

The contrast here in Stará Oleška could not be greater. If there is an item to be signed for, when the post lady arrives outside the front gate in her Ceská pošta van, she gives a couple of blasts on the horn. When I reach the front gate, she is there with her clip board, indicating where I have to sign. Once signed, the item is handed over with a smile. Only when I genuinely have not been at home, has a chit been left in my mail box. The post lady also dresses in typical Czech fashion, wearing her blue and yellow pin striped Ceská pošta polo shirt, teamed with a matching blue mini skirt 🙂

Even when I do have to go to the Post Office, there is a great contrast. In Prague, after taking a numbered ticket, I frequently had to wait up to thirty minutes before being served. Whilst here, I do have a slightly longer journey to the Post Office in Markvartice, once arrived, there is rarely more than one person in front of me and collection is completed in a few minutes.

Refuse truck parked up around the back of Bar-Restaurace U Soni © Ricky Yates

Refuse collection

My grey wheelie bin for household rubbish, is emptied weekly, late each Wednesday afternoon. But as the refuse truck passes along my street, it first has to stop at Bar-Restaurace U Soni, ostensibly to collect their rubbish. The truck is driven around the back to where the bins are, but is then parked up there for at least the next half hour.

As far as I can observe, the three-man crew are then duly fed and watered at what I would describe as the Stammtisch (German), Stammstul (Czech), a table set up around the back of the premises, where the male half of the couple who own the business, often sits in the evening, having a few beers with his close friends. Whether the refuse truck crew are fed and watered free-of-charge, or in return for certain favours such as collecting commercial refuse and deeming it household waste, I do not know. But it could really only happen in a small village 🙂