Brno – Page 4

Happy Fourth Birthday to my blog and an update on previous posts

Lapel badge for supporters of Karel Schwarzenberg © Ricky Yates

Today my blog celebrates its fourth birthday. I wrote my first ever post four years ago today – this post today is post number 213.

Whilst today is a day for a little celebration, I still am somewhat disappointed with myself. A year ago when writing a blogpost to mark the third birthday of my blog, I promised to write at least fifty-two posts during the following year that ended yesterday. I fell short – I only managed fifty.

It is not that I lack things to write about as I have at least four topics noted down for future posts. It is the problem of finding the time to sit down and compile a coherent post when I also have a rather important day-job to do. Of course, it isn’t a job but rather a vocation. And I hold an office rather than having a job description to fulfil. But I hope my blog readers understand what I mean.

I am also very aware that I’ve written about certain issues or events in the past, but never given a further update. So let me use this fourth anniversary post to correct that omission.

Czech Presidential Election

Further to my earlier post, the second round of voting took place on Friday 25th & Saturday 26th January. The outcome was a victory for Miloš Zeman, who gained just under 55% of the vote, with just over 45% going to Karel Schwarzenberg. Sadly the outcome has resulted in bitter recriminations and left a somewhat divided country.

Schwarzenberg polled extremely well in Prague taking two thirds of the vote. He also polled well in other major cities, especially Brno, and was very popular amongst educated young people. On the other hand, Zeman polled well in the rural area and smaller towns, and also in those areas where there was once heavy industry which now no longer provides employment to any great degree. In simple terms, those who have prospered in the last twenty years and those who through higher education, see good future prospects for themselves, voted for Schwarzenberg. Whilst those who have done less well since the Velvet Revolution in the rapid move to a market driven economy, voted for Zeman.

Recriminations have been around the tactics used by Zeman and his supporters, during the final days of the election campaign. These have been variously described as populist, nationalist and xenophobic. They included complaining that Schwarzenberg’s wife doesn’t speak Czech, (she is Austrian), that Schwarzenberg isn’t really a true patriot because he lived abroad during the time of the Communist regime, and over remarks he made about how the Beneš decrees, which resulted in the expulsion of the Sudetendeutsche in 1945, would now be regarded as ethnic cleansing.

The complaints from the Schwarzenberg camp about Zeman, relate to his personal character and those who supported his campaign. His campaign was well funded but without total clarity as to who did so. He is known to have connections with some Russians and other dubious characters and the fear is, that these supporters, will expect some form of financial payback during the next five years.

Zeman is also known as being a heavy smoker and heavy drinker. On the light-hearted side, I’ve already seen a photo-shopped image of him meeting my Queen with a cigarette in his hand, and asking for an ashtray 🙂 More seriously, he was filmed falling over whilst walking from where he was sitting watching the TV coverage of the counting of the votes, in order to give his first interview, once it had become clear he had won the election. Whether it was a genuine trip or the result of several shots of Becherovka is a matter of debate.

My latest run-in with Czech Bureaucracy

Today I resumed battle with Czech bureaucracy, in my attempt to exchange my current UK Driving Licence, for Czech Driving Licence. And I had fifty percent success!

By presenting a signed and stamped document on headed notepaper in the name of Farní obec Starokatolické církve pro verící anglického jazyka v Praze, the legal entity of my congregation with the Czech Ministry of Culture, in which I stated in Czech, that Sybille and I have permission to live in the Chaplaincy Flat where we have lived in for the past four and a half years, I successfully proved that this is my permanent family home. Success came because I was also able to also present a notarised copy of the congregation’s registration with the Czech Ministry of Culture, which shows me as the authorised person to sign on its behalf.

But at the same time, I was turned into a layman. Despite having my title of ‘Rev’ on two official documents, (driving licence and passport), of another EU state, I will not have ‘Rev’ in front of my name on my new Czech Driving Licence which will be issued to me on 21st February. I do find it very poor that, a nation for whom having academic titles in front of their names is so important, that they will not accept mine. I am given to understand that only Czech academic titles are acceptable. Clearly this is a decision made by JUDr Czech Bureaucrat. 🙁

I am hopeful that this will be my last run-in with Czech bureaucracy. However, if it is, I might struggle to find material for at least fifty more blog posts in the coming year 🙂

Christmas in Prague & Brno 2012

Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus © Ricky Yates — Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus in Námestí miru, Prague © Ricky Yates

Much as I dislike Christmas being brought forward into the Advent season, working with two expatriate congregations here in the Czech Republic means this inevitably has to happen. So many of our regular worshippers are absent at Christmas because they travel back to their respective home countries in order to spend the holiday season with their family and friends. But before setting off on their travels, many want to be able to participate in the Anglican tradition of a ‘Service of Lessons & Carols’, either in Prague or Brno.

Since commencing regular monthly services in Brno at the beginning of 2012, we have consistently held them on the second Sunday evening of each month. So it seemed right to make the service due on Sunday 9th December, a ‘Service of Lessons & Carols’, a year on from our first ever Brno service in December 2011. And to be further consistent, we held the service in the little Czechoslovak Hussite Church Betanie / Bethany we have been using throughout 2012, rather than returning to the Betlémský Kostel / Bethlehem Chapel where we held the first ever Brno service.

This year’s service was very much a home-grown one, rather than being laid on by members of the Prague congregation. But I was most grateful to my Church Treasurer Gordon Truefitt, who kindly volunteered to travel down with me to Brno following our 11.00 Eucharist in Prague, to give me both company and support. Gordon read a couple of the lessons, sang ‘gold’ in our rendition of ‘We three kings of Orient are’, and as a good treasurer, also took up the collection!

Gordon and I drove down to Brno in my car as I’ve been doing each month since July. Outside of Prague, there was snow on the fields which looked particularly beautiful in the late afternoon sunshine. However, the Prague- Brno motorway itself was completely clear of snow and we reached Brno in very good time. Following the service and some excellent post-service seasonal refreshments kindly laid on by Katka Bánová, Gordon and I returned to the car with light snow falling. But as we left Brno and headed back towards Prague, so the snow got heavier.

Both Prague and Brno lie in river valleys – Prague is on the Vltava River whilst Brno is situated at the confluence of the Svratka and Svitava rivers. But whilst the Vltava flows into the Labe which becomes the Elbe once over the German border, and eventually enters the North Sea, the waters of the Svratka and Svitava head in the opposite direction, eventually entering the Danube which flows out into the Black Sea. Dividing these two major drainage basins are the Vysocina range of hills.

Crossing these hills, the outside temperature dropped from -2° to -6° and the snow got thicker and heavier. Despite the presence of several snow ploughs, one of which nearly tried to clear me from the motorway 🙁 , driving became extremely difficult. Numerous trucks had ground to a halt, unable to cope with climbing up the steeper parts of the motorway. I cannot recall driving in such severe weather conditions for more than thirty years. We did eventually make it back to Prague still in one piece. But a journey that normally takes just over two hours, instead took three and a half hours.

Christmas Tree in Staromestské námestí / Old Town Square © Ricky Yates — Christmas Tree in Staromestské námestí / Old Town Square, Prague © Ricky Yates

The following weekend, we held our Prague ‘Service of Lessons & Carols’ on the evening of Sunday 16th December. This is the only occasion each year when we hold two services on a Sunday in Prague. Inevitably, some people therefore opt out of the morning Eucharist in order to attend Lessons & Carols in the evening. However, both services were still well supported.

In the evening, we were joined by a small choir from the International Women’s Association of Prague (IWAP). Two of the choir members, Caroline and Celieta, are also regular members of our congregation. But the IWAP choir did give a wonderful lead to our congregational carols as well as contributing two individual choir items. Afterwards, we all enjoyed mulled wine, mince pies and other seasonal refreshments in the Church Hall across the road from the Church in Klimentská 18.

I remarked last year, that Christmas Day falling on a Sunday, as it did in 2011, was ‘Every clergyperson’s delight’. But because of this year being a leap year, Christmas Day in 2012 fell on a Tuesday. This is probably best described as ‘Every clergyperson’s nightmare’ as it meant Church services on three successive days. However, this is where I really benefited from the help and support of others.

On Sunday 23rd December, the Fourth Sunday of Advent, my recently licensed Reader Jack Noonan was the preacher at our 11.00am Eucharist, reflecting on the example and role of Mary, the mother of Jesus. And at our Midnight Eucharist the following day – Christmas Eve, my Presbyterian ministerial colleague Rev’d Dr Karen Moritz was the preacher, giving an exposition of the mystery of the Incarnation as described in John 1. 1-14. So I only had to preach one sermon, on Christmas Day morning, speaking about the message of the angel to the shepherds – ‘to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord’.

Whilst having two supportive preachers made my role easier, I did still experience one of those moments for which no training at theological college can ever properly prepare you. At our Midnight Eucharist on Christmas Eve, a British lady, visiting her son who has been living and working in Prague for the past five years, tripped over the chancel step on her way up to receive Communion and fell, seriously banging her head on the stone slabs of the chancel floor.

Fortunately, Sybille as a trained nurse was on hand to help and Honza, Czech husband of American Church Council Secretary Tasci, got on his mobile phone and was promptly able in Czech, to summon an ambulance. But I decided it was best to end the service without singing the final carol, (much to the confusion of the organist who was unaware of what had happened), and within a few minutes, blue lights were flashing outside the Church and two paramedics were striding in.

The good news is that, following a medical examination and an x ray, the lady was given the all clear by a Doctor at a nearby hospital. But she did take home an unusual souvenir from Prague in the form of a large bruise on her forehead 🙁

Our worship on the morning of Christmas Day was thankfully, slightly less eventful. The congregation was a mixture of visitors, long-standing Church members, and several Czech married to English-speaker families with their bilingual children. Therefore, although we are an English-speaking congregation, we did end our worship by singing a carol in Czech, ‘Narodil se Kristus Pán‘ – ‘Christ the Lord is born, let us rejoice’.

A weekend in Brno

Brno Church 1 — Sv Jakuba / Church of St James, Brno © Ricky Yates

As I explained in my previous post, we spent the last weekend of our recent holiday, in Brno, the second-largest city in the Czech Republic. Brno is just over 200 kilometres south-east of Prague and is situated at the confluence of the Svratka and Svitava rivers. With a population of about 400,000, the city is about one third of the size of the Czech capital.

Within the historic centre of Brno, there are a whole variety of different Churches. The one pictured on the left here, is dedicated to Sv Jakuba / St. James and is a fine example of baroque architecture. According to my ‘Brno City Guide’, the top of the spire is 92 metres high.

We were pleased to be able to walk around the interior of the Church and observe the very high pillars which in turn, support a fine vaulted roof. Being a Church dedicated to St. James, we were not surprised to find a photographic display of a group of parishioners who had made the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela a few years previously. But they clearly had started walking to Santiago at some point in Spain, unlike their mediaeval forebears, whose pilgrimage would, no doubt, have begun at the west door of this Church!

Brno Church 2 — Cervený kostel /Red Church, Brno © Ricky Yates

The Church pictured on the right is known as Cervený kostel or in English as ‘The Red Church’. It is one of several similar red brick Churches that can be found in various parts of the Czech Republic, all dating from the second half of the nineteenth century. They were built following a ‘Toleration of Protestants’ act of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the 1850s, which for the first time allowed protestant groups to build and own church buildings which actually looked like Churches with towers or spires and bells.

When first built, this Church was used for worship by German-speaking Lutherans. There was a large German-speaking population in Brünn, (as German-speakers still call Brno), until the expulsion of the Sudetendeutsche in 1945 following the end of the Second World War. It now belongs to the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, the largest Protestant denomination in the Czech Republic who came into being in December 1918, when the Czech-speaking Lutheran Church amalgamated with the Czech-speaking Presbyterian/Reformed Church.

Below is pictured the Roman Catholic Cathedral Church of St. Peter and St. Paul. Although situated on the site of previous Churches dating from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the building obtained its current Neo-Gothic appearance when it was reconstructed in the early years of the twentieth century.

Brno Church 3 — The Cathedral Church of St. Peter & St. Paul, Brno © Ricky Yates

Brno Castle 1 — Entrance to Špilberk Castle, Brno © Ricky Yates

Immediately west of the historic centre of Brno, is a rocky outcrop on which stands Hrad Špilberk / Špilberk Castle. Founded in the second half of the thirteenth century, the castle has been altered, extended and rebuilt many times since. It also has a chequered history, (please excuse the pun), which in many ways, reflects the experience of the Czech people over the centuries. One of its many claims to fame is resisting a siege lasting four months, by Swedish troops in 1645, thus changing the eventual outcome of the Thirty Years War.

The fortifications are impressive which I hope will be well illustrated by the photograph below. At various times Špilberk Castle has been both a prison and a military barracks. Since 1960, it has been part of Brno City Museum and we spent most of our Saturday afternoon in Brno, visiting two different exhibitions within the castle – one explaining the numerous centuries of central European history – the other, a wonderful collection of art work from the late nineteenth century through to the beginning of the Second World War.

Brno Castle 2 — The fortifications of Špilberk Castle © Ricky Yates

Below are two photographs that I took when exploring the castle complex. One shows the depth of the moat that surrounds the central part of the castle. The other shows part of the casements, a series of rooms constructed within the castle walls which have been used over time as both prison cells and for the storage of military armaments.

Brno Castle 3 — Moat of Špilberk Castle, Brno © Ricky Yates

Brno Castle 4 — Casement within Špilberk Castle, Brno © Ricky Yates

Brno building — Decorated building in Brno © Ricky Yates

Just as in Prague, it is possible to walk the streets of the historic centre of Brno, and see a whole variety of different styles of architecture and artistic decoration on the exterior of buildings. This one photograph doesn’t do justice to the wealth and variety that there is to be seen.

Brno Old Tram — Historic tram in Brno © Ricky Yates

Likewise as in Prague, Brno has an excellent public transport network including many trams. At weekends, this historic tram runs along a central circuit, a reminder of how public transport used to be many decades ago.

Over the weekend, we enjoyed the company and hospitality of our friends Lynsey and Johnny who walked around with us all day on Saturday 28th July. Late in the afternoon, they took us for some well-earned drinks at one of their favourite Brno cafés.

Brno L & J — Lynsey & Johnny relaxing in a Brno café © Ricky Yates

As you can see, Johnny’s friend Pfeffer, who travels around with him in his shoulder bag, took a fancy to my beer 🙂

Brno L & J 2 — Pfeffer enjoying my beer! © Ricky Yates

Sand sculpture in Brno

Sand Art 4 — A sand sculpture in Námestí Svobody, Brno © Ricky Yates

We spent the last weekend of our recent holiday, staying with our friends Lynsey and Johnny in Brno. It allowed me to get to know the second city of the Czech Republic better, having previously only paid flying visits there to plan, and then more recently to conduct, Church services. For Sybille, it was her first ever visit.

Walking into Námestí Svobody, the main city square in Brno, early on the evening of Friday 27th July, we found that a series of sand sculptures by various artists had been created as part of what is called the ‘Golden Sand Festival’. However, despite its English name, the associated website www.goldensandfestival.cz , is only available in Czech or Slovak! But I still have been able to glean from the website that this is the third year of the festival. The first occasion was in Olomouc in 2010, whilst in 2011, it was held in Nitra, a city in western Slovakia.

On the left is a photograph of one of the sculptures whilst below are photographs of two more examples. One has to admire both the amazing skills of the various artists whilst feeling sad that they can only be temporary structures which will eventually have to be moved and destroyed.

Sand Art 3 — A sand sculpture in Námestí Svobody, Brno © Ricky Yates

Sand Art 1 — A sand sculpture in Námestí Svobody, Brno © Ricky Yates

Along with football, (soccer to my American readers), and tennis, the other major sport in the Czech Republic is ice hockey. Of course, to Czech people it is just hokej, as what I know as ‘hockey’, (field hockey to my American readers), is virtually unknown here. For the first time in many years, the leading ice hockey club in Brno, Kometa, won the Czech championship and the sculpture pictured below celebrates that triumph. Of course, in this day and age, the club’s major sponsor Starobrno, the local brewery, has to feature too!

Sand Art 5 — A sand sculpture celebrating the recent success of Kometa Brno Ice Hockey Club © Ricky Yates

These days, sponsors are almost always needed before any artistic or cultural event can take place. This certainly is true of the ‘Golden Sands Festival’ so another sculpture featured the logos of the various organisations and companies who had contributed towards it being staged. It is a somewhat eclectic mix I think you will agree, ranging from the the city of Brno, via McDonalds, to Johnny Servis, the local supplier of portable toilets 🙂

Sand Art 2 — The sponsors logos carved in sand © Ricky Yates

Much as I love living in the Czech Republic, one drawback is that it is a landlocked country, a very long distance from the sea. Therefore, alongside the display of sand sculptures, the Brno city authorities had created the ‘Brno beach’, with deckchairs and a beach bar. Somewhat illusory but still great fun!

Sand Art 6 — The ‘Brno beach’ © Ricky Yates

Rivalries within small states & nations

First outdoor meal of 2012 — Our first outdoor beers of 2012 © Ricky Yates

Back in 1970 when I was just eighteen years old, I went off to see the world and emigrated from England to live in the Australian island state of Tasmania. As well as being a formative experience, one thing I discovered whilst living there, really surprised me. Despite Tasmania having at that time, a population of only just over 400,000, there was a great rivalry between those who lived in the south of the island, particularly in the state capital Hobart, and those who lived in the north of the island, either in the second city Launceston, or in the string of towns along the North-West coast.

Bearing in mind that Tasmania was and still is the smallest of the six Australian states, both in area and population, it did seem odd to me that there should be such a rivalry between fellow Tasmanians. Surely, they needed to stand together against the might of the other five much larger states located on ‘the mainland’, the term used by all Tasmanians to describe that rather large island just to the north of them.

Five years later, I returned to the UK and in September 1975, went to live in Lampeter, West Wales, in order to study as an undergraduate at what was then known as St. David’s University College. Wales is also quite small with a population of about 3 million. Of those, about 20% fluently speak the native language of Welsh.

Two of my best friends at university, Aled and Hedd, were native first language Welsh speakers. Yet because Aled came from Trawsfynydd in North Wales whilst Hedd was from near Fishguard/Abergwaun in South-West Wales, each used to quite regularly tell the other that they did not speak Welsh properly! This was a reflection of the rivalry between those from North Wales and those from South & West Wales and the slight variation in the way Welsh is spoken in these different parts of the principality.

I can better understand rivalries when they occur within much larger nations, especially when those nations have only become united in relatively recent times. My wife Sybille, who is German, has frequently pointed out to me the ongoing rivalry between those from the north and south of Germany. Complete German unification only came about at the beginning of 1871.

German citizens from both north and south, rudely refer to each other based on what each believes the other to supposedly eat. A South German will call a North German, ‘ein Fischkopf‘/’a fish head’, whilst a North German will call a South German, ‘eine Weisswurst‘/’a white sausage’. Sybille, who ‘ist ein Fischkopf, keine Weisswurst‘, will point out that if you drive west from Prague to the border with Germany, whilst there is a sign saying that you are entering ‘die Bundesrepublik Deutschland‘, there is a far larger sign saying ‘Herzlich Willkommen im Freistaat Bayern‘/’Welcome to the Free State of Bavaria’!

The Czech Republic is a relatively small nation with a population, according to the 2011 census, of about 10.5 million people. As I explained in a previous post, the country is made up of what was historically known as Bohemia and Moravia, together with a small part of Silesia. Bohemia forms the western part of the country with Prague at its centre, whilst Moravia forms the eastern part where the country’s second city Brno, is located. And as I have discovered, there is quite a rivalry between Bohemia and Moravia.

I first became aware of this rivalry, when Honza, a Czech member of my Prague congregation, said to me, that he would never leave his car, with its number plates indicating he is from Prague, parked unattended in Brno, fearing one of the local Moravians would damage it! The second letter of a seven letter/digit Czech number plate, indicates where the car is from. ‘A’ is Prague, ‘B’ is Brno. In case you’re wondering why Prague isn’t ‘P’, it is because ‘P’ is used for Plzen.

More recently, my friend Katka from Brno remarked that, “…as many of my fellow townspeople like to point out, our favourite view of Prague is in the rear view mirror of a car!” I think you can see from these two remarks, there is quite a friendly rivalry, which can at times, become a certain animosity, between Prague and Brno – between Bohemia and Moravia.

Some of this rivalry can be relatively light-hearted. Back in October 2011, I listened to a speech by the Mayor of Brno in which he declared that Brno was the largest city in the Czech Republic, despite only having a population of no more than 400,000, whereas the population of Prague is 1.3 million. However, his reasoning was based on the fact that Prague is officially a region in its own right, whereas Brno is a city within the region of South Moravia.

Another reason for this rivalry is linguistic. The Czech word ‘Cesky’ can mean both ‘Czech’, referring to the whole country, or ‘Bohemian’, only referring to Bohemia. This was reflected in the recent 2011 census when in answer to a voluntary question, over 500,000 people declared themselves to be ‘Moravian’ rather than ‘Czech’.

Besides the linguistic explanation, I think another reason for this rivalry is that Moravia doesn’t have the country’s capital city – for some things, you have to travel to Prague in Bohemia. This in turn leads to Prague people looking down on the citizens of Brno. In many ways this reflects a wider attitude to which I was alerted very early in my time here. Czech people (both Bohemians and Moravians) look down on Slovaks, who in turn look down on Ukrainians!

Just like Tasmanians and the Welsh, once Czech citizens are outside of their nation’s borders, they stick together regardless of where they originally come from. But as a foreigner living in the Czech Republic, it is good to be aware of the Prague-Brno / Bohemia-Moravia rivalry, if only to be able to appreciate the humour it engenders.