110th Anniversary Celebration of the old German church in Herlíkovice

The beautiful Art Nouveau church in Herlíkovice (Giant Mountains), completed in 1904, is a contemporary witness to the turbulent history of the 20th Century. The German inhabitants, who built the church, were replaced by Czech Protestants.

^{The church in 2013 (photo: J. Kirschner)}

We want to invite you to a project of the civic association Přátelé Herlíkovic (Friends of Herlíkovice), in collaboration with the Protestant Parish Vrchlabí and Horský domov (Protestant Mountain Retreat Center in Strážné-Herlíkovice). All fans of Herlíkovice and the Giant Mountains, especially former German residents and their descendants, are welcome to attend the anniversary celebration and the subsequent Czech-German Encounter (28.6.-5.7). (More information, in German, can be found here: http://pratele-herlikovic.evangnet.cz/sites/pratele-herlikovic.evangnet.cz/files/Riesengebirge2014.pdf and we thank you in advance for forwarding it to any interested parties). We want to combine the anniversary celebration of the church consecration with a little “pilgrimage”, a concert and an amateur theatre performance. It would also be wonderful if we could spot a traditional folk costume of Sudeten German or Giant Mountain origin during these events...

We want to return, during the seminar part of the project, not only to the sad chapters of German-Czech history, but also consider how we can present this theme in a more up to date and exciting manner. For example, we would like to invite connoisseurs of the architecture of the Art Nouveau period and those interested in the currently idealized time of the 1900s, when the church in Herlikovice was built and before the horrors of the 20^th century Word Wars followed. Children can color in a church window, a poster by Alfons Mucha (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonse_Mucha) or Gustav Klimt (whose father was, incidentally, also from the Czech border area). If the weather is fine, the adults can also enjoy a bit of fresh air. The time in the mountains shouldn't be too strenuous, however, we also want people to experience a bit of an active holiday.

^{Cleaning windows in 1986 (photo: P. Kielar)}

We are pleased that the project 'Restoration of an Art Nouveau church window' that we submitted, together with the association 'Heimatkreis Hohenelbe Giant Mountains', to the Czech-German Future Funds was successful. We have received the promise of funding for the amount of 60,000 CZK. It's great to see the variety of projects supported by the Future Funds. The window restoration, done by a specialist company, will cost around 100,000 CZK.

We want to finish the restoration of the window before the celebration in June. Some of the more simple work can be done by participants during the subsequent work camps as our own contribution. Voluntary work assignments have a tradition in Herlíkovice since the post-war period (http://kirschner.rajce.idnes.cz/Herlikovicke_epopeje/). The delight of working together brings people together. However, this year the work camp time is limited to a maximum of 3 hours per day, so that enough time remains for other program activities: walks, talks, debates. However, the work is not a compulsory part of the Czech-German week, so you can just come as a tourist.

Czech-German relations in the Giant Mountains

In the beautiful mountain village Herlíkovice we become aware of historical contexts: we are confronted with the history of the Sudeten Germans. In the first Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938), the Germans represented, with over three million people, significantly more than a quarter of the total population. Mostly settled by Germans were the border areas, the so-called "Sudetenland" - including the highest Czech mountain range, the Giant Mountains.

German-speaking residents came to the Giant Mountains later than to the foothills and populated mainly the Central and Eastern Giant Mountains. The western mountains were mostly settled by Czechs. The first settlers in the 16th Century were miners and mountain farmers. Witnesses to this mining past are the hammers in the coats of arms of Herlíkovice and the nearby village of Strážné. Tourism started to develop from the end of the 19th century.

Following the First World War and the founding of Czechoslovakia, there also emerged in Herlíkovice, in the wake of the Church Movement "Away from Rome", a Protestant minority of 15%. A leader among the local Protestants was the mayor Franz Erben, owner of the inn 'Zur Sonne'. The inn stood on the site of the present-day mountain home / Horský domov (recreation / retreat facility of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren). The new Protestants decided to build their own church. The project was developed by the Saxon architects Schilling and Gräbner. The church was solemnly inaugurated on 2nd June 1904. However, without the help of the Gustav-Adolf-Werk Fund this would not have been possible. The German Lutheran Church in Czechoslovakia perished in 1945-1946 with the expulsion and deportation of the German population. Together with the guilty, the innocent also had to leave the country. Hardly any distinction was made. The newly arrived Czech population was unable to replace numerically the original German population. Herlíkovice was therefore abolished as an independent municipality in 1951 and incorporated into Strážné. The weaving industry disappeared and agriculture has been reduced. Strážné, together with Herlíkovice, became a tourist and winter sports center.

Mountain Retreat Herlíkovice - Its significance for the Church in the time of the socialist regime

After the expulsion of the Germans, the mountain church was taken over by the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, who also bought the nearby houses from the managers of confiscated German property. Since then, a complex of four houses served as a church recreation center under the name Horský domov (Mountain Retreat). With the surrounding land and barn it served, at the same time, as an agricultural enterprise and was obliged to cultivate the soil and to give a portion of the products to the state. Work assignments of vacationers were, at the time, quite common, the evenings were then used for spiritual programs and lectures (something which was otherwise persecuted by the regime). After the Velvet Revolution the burned down main building was rebuilt - as a mountain hotel. Today, the retreat center is used for both commercial as well as for religious purposes.

(More information here: www.horskydomov.cz.And more information regarding the church anniversary and the history of the Giant Mountains here: www.pratele-herlikovic.evangnet.cz)

 Jan Kirschner, Hana Jüptnerová (for the civic association SEM Friends of Herlíkovice)