Case study: The Battle for Jezeří Chateau: Difference between revisions

Case study: The Battle for Jezeří Chateau (view source)

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 ====The battle is won and restoration work begins====
-Following the exceptional case of the State taking back over a property that had been restored to its legitimate owner, the State invested some money in its renovation, but far less than the demanding project required. So work proceeded only slowly. Nevertheless, 10 years later, one can appreciate that the chateau gleams in the distance with its new roofing, repaired chimney heads, copper-plated cupolas, and gilded balloons on the spires. Parts of the chateau have been made accessible to the public. The warden is Hana Krejčová, a local and a former singer at Teplice Theatre, who has a welcome attachment to the place and the chateau. We may yet see the renovation completed.
+Following the exceptional case of the State taking back over a property that had been restored to its legitimate owner, the State invested some money in its renovation, but far less than the demanding project required. So work proceeded only slowly. Nevertheless, several years later, one can appreciate that the chateau gleams in the distance with its new roofing, repaired chimney heads, copper-plated cupolas, and gilded balloons on the spires. Parts of the chateau have been made accessible to the public. The warden is Hana Krejčová, a local and a former singer at Teplice Theatre, who has a welcome attachment to the place and the chateau. We may yet see the renovation completed.
 The Foundation to Restore Jezeří has been dissolved. The Association to Restore Jezeří has not, and although the effort to restore Jezeří has been accomplished, there are still problems in which it has to be involved or which it has to take up under pressure of current events. Although there are no regular meetings, the Association is still capable of mobilizing its active core members and apply its font of knowledge and experience wherever it is needed.
 The saving of Jezeří was a battle won among the several large battles that individuals and environmental groups waged against megalomaniacal projects promoted by the Party and those in power at the time. They prevented the construction of a large dam on the Berounka near Chateau Křivoklát and a high-rise hotel on the top of Sněžka (the highest peak in the Czech Republic). The only thing they failed to prevent was the development of a car racing circuit in a suburban forest near Brno, which totally ruined the notion of the idyllic setting of the writer Alois Mrštík’s “May Fairytale”. That can be regarded as a fair success during the totalitarian era.
+====Jezeří is made publicly accessible again====
+Jezeří Chateau was opened to the public again in June 1996. Given the state of the monument, a whole range of provisional arrangements were made to enable basic viewing. There weren’t many options for exhibiting the chateau, and so in making it accessible it was necessary to overcome many various technical obstacles. It was necessary to delineate the best preserved part of the entire premises that wouldn’t represent a safety risk to visitors. The most suitable solution proved to be making several rooms partially accessible in the northern part directly connected to the chateau gardens whose main gate was used for providing temporary access to the grounds. In 1996, two rooms were made accessible – the small salon and a bedroom with direct access to the chateau gardens, where a small wooden outbuilding was also used for selling tickets and souvenirs. The tour itself included only a commentary on the chateau’s history and the showing of a short documentary film about the chateau’s history and surroundings because the chateau was completely empty of any fixtures. The second part of the tour was of the cellars and chateau silversmith workshop. After several years, the tour circuit expanded to a further three rooms and in the northern tower where a labelled exhibition of the 19th century interior was installed with a look at how the building was used for hunting purposes in the past. An inventory from the National Heritage Institute depository in Ústí nad Labem was used for this exposition, while supernatural creatures and fairy-tale characters were installed in the cellars.
+Tours of the building take place at the same time reconstruction work is being carried out so that the chateau management is forced to adapt to situations as they arise. An important change in the tour circuit resulted from the erosion of the painted timbered ceiling on the second floor of the northern tower when it was necessary move the inventory and look for another suitable type of tour circuit. This happened in January 2004. Given that partial reconstruction of the ground floor of the lord’s manor had been completed, which permitted the use of this space for a cash desk and facilities for visitors, the entrance to the chateau was able to be moved from the inner forecourt. The inventory was moved to the southern part of the chateau, which had already been stabilised by the reconstruction work undertaken on the roof and ceilings.
 ==Resources==