22.03.2024

President Petr Pavel visits Dresden

Czech President Petr Pavel visited Dresden on March 15. The occasion was the opening of the exhibition "Fragments of Memory" of the State Art Collections together with the Saxon Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer in the Lipsius Building. President Pavel had previously met with Kretschmer to discuss Saxon-Czech relations and economic and cultural cooperation (certainly also about our Czech-German Culture Days). Finally, a visit to the Dresden plant of the semiconductor manufacturer GlobalFoundries was on the agenda.

Exhibition of the relics of St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague in the Lipsius Building

On March 15, the "Fragments of Memory" exhibition opened in the Lipsius Building on Brühl's Terrace in Dresden (see above) and will be on display until September 8.

At the center of the exhibition is the relic treasure of St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague - one of the most important collections of evidence of the Christian faith - which has grown over the centuries and was revered as holy and miracle-working. For the first time in its history, the exhibition presents this treasure outside of its original destination using 125 medieval and early modern pieces.

Furthermore, three contemporary artists open up additional perspectives on the theme of civilizational memory. Edmund de Waal's ceramic works encourage reflection on history, which in some cases consists only of fragmentary memories. Josef Koudelka uses large-format photographs of the wall between Israel and the Palestinian West Bank to show how this landscape, in which the three major monotheistic world religions have their roots and sacred sites, is being cut up. The film "In the Land of Drought" by Julian Rosefeldt uses abandoned film sets to evoke memories of biblical prehistory and human history, especially in the Middle East and North Africa. The film also turns to the real traces of Central Europe's industrial past, with large craters and abandoned industrial machines that today characterize destroyed landscapes.

Visit the exhibition website

Ústí says goodbye to legendary Škoda trolleybuses

The road network of Ústí nad Labem will be one attraction poorer in future, at least from the point of view of many trolleybus fans: this week, the municipal transport company DPmÚL said goodbye to the legendary Škoda 15Tr trolleybuses. The vehicles, which had been in operation in the city since January 1989 due to their distinctive angular exterior, have now been replaced by modern new vehicles, also from Škoda/Solaris. These also have battery-based auxiliary drives and therefore make it possible to run on line sections without overhead lines. The last regular operations of the Škoda 15Tr took place at the end of February, but this week - i.e. until tomorrow! - two of the trams, which will remain active until the end, will run one last time as part of a farewell week on various lines. There will be an official farewell tour of the city on Sunday, but this was sold out just two days after it was published. This shows the popularity of the edgy oldies.

Between 1988 and 2004, the Škoda plant in Ostrov nad Ohří produced almost 500 examples of the 15Tr for numerous countries of the former Eastern Bloc. With a total of 77 vehicles, Ústí was home to the world's largest fleet of this type. Trolleybuses have been operating in Ústí nad Labem since 1988 and are now an integral part of the local ecological transport concept. The network was significantly expanded in the 1990s and early 2000s. The topography of the city, with its new development areas built on high ground, offers optimal conditions for the use of this mode of transport.

"Jeden svět" film festival launched

The human rights film festival "Jeden svět" (One World) opened in Prague on Wednesday. The festival was launched in 1999 and is an integral part of the work of the internationally active aid organization "Člověk v tísni" (People in Need). Today, the festival is the largest of its kind in the world.

Documentary films about human rights from all over the world are presented. Every year, not only filmmakers from different countries around the world come to the festival, but also protagonists and defenders of human rights. Talks with them are one of the pillars of the program.

The festival takes place not only in Prague, but this year in 47 other cities throughout the Czech Republic. In our region, films will be shown in Ústí nad Labem (until March 23 at our friends from Hraničář) and from April 10 to 13 in Děčín.

More train connections to Prague

From March 26, the European Sleeper company will be launching a new night train connection between Prague and Brussels. However, this will not run daily, but only three times a week. Nobody is likely to book a couchette coach for the Dresden-Prague route, but the train also offers seats. The train departs from Prague at 18:04, so on certain days between 17:30 and 18:30 there are three trains to Dresden. Later in the evening, however, things look bleak. In the opposite direction, the train leaves Dresden Hbf at 8.31 am.

From June 11 to September 15, there will be an additional Eurocity departing from Prague at 8.28 p.m., which will enable a late journey. Important for all fans: This EC will have a catered dining car. Conversely, you can travel to Prague very early, at 3 am.

The restrictions caused by the construction work in the Elbe Valley are becoming less severe, so that the Railjet between Dresden and Graz via Prague, Brno and Vienna, which had to be temporarily suspended in December, has been running again since Wednesday. In addition, the occasional rail replacement service for the Eurocity between Ústí nad Labem and Dresden will be discontinued from next week.

Renovated synagogue in Žatec opened

The newly renovated synagogue in Žatec was officially opened on Tuesday in the presence of the Czech Minister of Culture, Martin Baxa. What is special about it is not only that it is the second largest Jewish monument in the Czech Republic (after the Great Synagogue in Plzeň), but also that the renovation was carried out entirely by a private owner. The entrepreneur and former mayor of Chomutov, Daniel Černý, purchased the synagogue at a public auction in 2012 for around 1.5 million euros and then renovated it for a further 2.2 million euros. He primarily used EU funding for this. Services are now being held in the synagogue again, while a museum has been set up in the neighboring rabbi's house.

The synagogue has its own website, where you can find many historical photos, including the deplorable condition before the renovation.

Czech literature in Leipzig

This year's book fair opened yesterday in Leipzig. The Czech Republic is once again represented there with a stand of the Czech Literature Center (České literární centrum, CzechLit). Until Sunday, you can find out which current Czech works have been published in German. There will also be several readings by Czech authors as part of the "Echo Tschechien" series.

To the program of Echo Tschechien

The production of this newsletter is co-financed by tax funds on the basis of the budget approved by the Saxon State Parliament.

(This is an automatic translation by DeepL Translator.)