Weekly review no. 33
17.05.2024
Partial confession in arsonist trial
The trial for the large forest fire in Saxon-Bohemian Switzerland in the summer of 2022 began at the district court in Ústí nad Labem on Thursday. The defendant is the former national park ranger Jiří L. He confessed right at the beginning that he started smaller fires last year. These included the historic chalet on Vlčí hora (Wolfsberg) near Krásná Lípa (Schönlinde). The chalet burned down completely. The lookout tower was also damaged in the fire.
The defendant also denied having started the large forest fire in Bohemian Switzerland in the summer of 2022. However, this is what the prosecution accuses him of. The defendant had admitted to the arson during police questioning, but later recanted.
The trial was interrupted to obtain a further psychiatric report. The confession was also not accepted by the court because there was uncertainty about the defendant's state of health. The accused suffers from mental illness.
Wolfsberg tower reopened
Last weekend, the observation tower on Vlčí hora (Wolfsberg) was ceremoniously reopened. It had been extensively renovated following a fire a year ago. The reopening coincided with the 135th anniversary of the tower. The tower is the oldest in the Schluckenau area and is popular for its extensive views as far as the Giant Mountains.
Police report more violations in the highway tunnel
The Czech Panenská tunnel in the Ore Mountains on the highway from Dresden to Prague is increasingly becoming a goldmine. The responsible municipal authority in Ústí nad Labem (Aussig) reported almost 85,000 speeding violations last year. The speed limit in the tunnel, as well as in the Libouchec tunnel further towards Prague, is 80 kilometers per hour. The Panenská tunnel is equipped with a section control system. This involves measuring an entire stretch of road and not just a single point.
According to the figures, the officers had an average of over 230 cases on their desks every day. The city therefore plans to strengthen the department and hire additional staff in the near future. So far this year, almost 20,000 infringements have been recorded by the end of April. This is particularly pleasing for the city treasury: in 2023 up to the end of April this year, the city council collected around 44 million crowns (1.76 million euros) in fines, many of which were sent to Germany.
There are two more tunnels in the low mountain range on the D8 highway, as the A17 is called in the Czech Republic: the Radejčín Tunnel and the Prackovice Tunnel. There, the municipal authorities of the town of Lovosice take care of the fines.
In the city of Ústí, traffic violations increased sharply. While there were almost 3,900 violations in the whole of last year, over 5,500 were counted this year. Parking violations in particular have increased. This is also due to a stricter approach.
Ústí Museum wins prize
The city museum in Ústí nad Labem (Aussig) has won the most important museum prize in the Czech Republic. The "Gloria musaealis" prize for 2023 was awarded in the Museum Statue of the Year category for the research project "Database of old quarries in the area of the Bohemian Switzerland National Park and the Elbe Sandstone Mountains Protected Landscape Area". The project, which also included the special exhibition on sandstone, was recognized as an example of applied research with a major social impact. The project was carried out in cooperation with Purkyně University (UJEP) in Ústí.
The award ceremony was very successful for the Ústí region. With the North Bohemian Gallery of Fine Arts in Litoměřice and the Gallery of Modern Art in Roudnice nad Labem, other institutions in the district received awards for an exhibition and a publication. The Gallery of Fine Arts received the special prize in the "Museum Publications" category for the volume "Frommes Morgen: Die Kunst des Sehens / Mystiker, Esoteriker, Automatiker in der tschechischen Bildenden Kunst". The gallery in Roudnice received the second prize in the Museum Exhibition category for the exhibition "The Principle of Heraclitus: 100 Years of Coal in Czech Art".
If you would like to receive our weekly review regularly in your e-mail inbox, sign up for our newsletter.
To the newsletter registration
The production of this newsletter is co-financed by tax funds on the basis of the budget approved by the Saxon State Parliament.