»Černí baroni« (The Black Barons) on Czech Film Wednesday
29.10.2025
Next week, Czech Film Wednesday will once again coincide with the Czech-German Culture Days. We’ve selected a special gem that has probably never been shown in Germany: “Černí baroni” (The Black Barons) from 1992, a cult comedy that was later adapted into a TV series, which somewhat overshadowed the film. But it didn’t deserve that.
The members of the so-called auxiliary technical battalions (PTP), which formed a special unit of the Czech “People’s Army” in the 1950s, were known as the Black Barons. Black was the color of their epaulets, and they were called barons because they were the only full-time soldiers at the time who had money, since they received part of their pay in cash.
The social makeup of these units was interesting: On the one hand, conscripts were assigned to the “Pétépaks” (PTP members) because of a physical condition, such as “chest weakness,” but also the politically unreliable editor of a racing magazine or an assistant director. On the other hand, there were also people with a criminal past or those assigned for racist (Roma) or classist (former nobility) reasons. Like the “Pétépaks,” their commanders—who were generally characterized by exceptional stupidity—were similarly low in the military hierarchy.
We have once again scheduled two performances, of which the 8 p.m. show is already virtually sold out. Tickets are still available for the 5:30 p.m. show.