Czechia has slowly but surely been getting rid of its communist-era decay. Have a look at some of my favorite transformations! These always cheer me up. (part 9)
by GPwat
Czechia has slowly but surely been getting rid of its communist-era decay. Have a look at some of my favorite transformations! These always cheer me up. (part 9)
by GPwat
9 comments
History of some of these buildings:
**Kunín chateau**
> And how did the castle fare under socialism?
> Very badly. In the 1950s it functioned as a hostel and an agricultural museum was considered. None of it came to fruition. Then there was also a brewery for the local farm. The contemporary accounts are not easy to read, for example the **top floor was used as one large toilet**. Plans in the 1970s to convert the castle into a hostel dealt the castle almost the final blow. **Parquet floors were ripped out, steel frames and a number of partitions added.** The only positive was the structural safety of the building. **Fortunately, the money ran out, otherwise the castle would probably have permanently disappeared.**
> https://www.idnes.cz/ostrava/zpravy/zamek-kunin-jaroslav-zezulcik-pamatka.A190215_457870_ostrava-zpravy_jog
**Hartmanice synagogue**
> Over time, the decay of the shingle roof was solved by layering eternit, and bars were inserted into the ground floor windows. The synagogue, stripped of all dignity, was later used by the State Forests and Estates company and served as a tyre warehouse for the army. The Hartmanites used to go to its floor to play ping-pong. However, nobody took care of the building itself, and so in the 1980s **it was “donated to the National Committee for demolition”.** Fortunately, this did not happen thanks to November 1989. The synagogue was returned to the Jewish Religious Community in Pilsen, which offered it for sale due to lack of funds.
> http://www.hartmanice.cz/cz/historie-synagogy/
**Šumperk pool**
> The construction of the indoor swimming pool began at the end of the 1970s in the so-called “Z” action. After great difficulties, the pool was not completed until 1993 and due to the lengthy, sometimes **unprofessional and disrupted construction it began to deteriorate prematurely.** Already in the 1990s, **very serious technological defects appeared**. The pool was already **obsolete when it opened**.
> https://www.cestamipromen.cz/promeny-2023/1368-sumperk-aquacentrum
**Zlaté Hory**
> In the 1950s, **the building was used by farmers for breeding bulls and was referred to as a “bull barn”**. Later, it was a warehouse for the MNV, which was taken over by the by the town of Zlaté Hory for storing construction tools and gardening equipment. The premises also served as a depository for the town museum. The passage of time had an impact on the old building and **it began to deteriorate.**
**Břevnov stables**
> During the socialist era, **it was the seat of the Security Service, which left the building in a state of considerable disrepair.** The current brewery operators were brought here by the tradition of the first known brewery in Bohemia, which was located in the monastery as early as the beginning of the 11th century.
> https://www.cestamipromen.cz/promeny-2023/1433-praha-6-brevnov-rekonstrukce-byvalych-staji-na-pivovar
**Břevnov gardens**
> After the revolution, the grounds of the Břevnov Monastery in Prague 6 were returned to the Benedictine Order in 1990. **After forty years of communist management, the garden remains a mere torso of the walls of the former orangery** and the adjacent terraces, built around 1730 as part of a major Baroque reconstruction of the monastery and gardens.
https://www.cestamipromen.cz/promeny-2023/1435-praha-6-brevnov-rehabilitace-zahrad-brevnovskeho-klastera
I have also noticed that. Due to work & family I travel often to various European ex-~~Soviet~~ socialist countries (mostly CZ and HU, however) and CZ is leaps ahead the others. Recently, I was in Heves County in HU and other than Eger and Mezőkövesd* (both tourist hotspots) it feels like time stopped there a few decades ago, whereas in CZ I seldom have that feeling and over the years I have been almost everywhere in the country, except maybe some areas in the North.
*Not in Heves, sorry, actually in BAZ.
That company hq its Sonnentor right? Been there quite pretty
Slowly but surely is able to paint the buildings built for by soviets 30 something years ago? Impressive! But I might be missing something here..
It’s always great to see the progress. Right now, they are finishing up with the first phase of renovating the culturally protected art nouveau train station in my city (Teplice). This building is one of the biggest train stations buildings in the country (bigger than Prague’s main train station historical building) and the building had been in a deplorable state since the communist era and repairs were delayed all the time. I started to worry that the building would eventually be demolished (it would not be the first time something like that happened). Great to see it being renovated and that the visitors who come to our city by train finally get a better first impression. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvCyxyZXFhU
Really enjoy these threads of yours OP. It’s great to see old buildings restored and architectural heritage preserved rather than being demolished.
Czechs have made phenomenal growth since 90s! Bravo!
The Soviets only ever stood for cynicism, paranoia and suppression. Burn it all. That part of history is not who you guys are. You have such a rich and beautiful history for hundreds of years before that abomination swept over the globe.
You’re doing great!
The orangery was great!