Weekly review no. 33
17.05.2024
Partial Confession in Arsonist Trial
The trial regarding 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 former national park ranger Jiří L. He confessed right at the start that he had 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 adjourned to obtain an additional psychiatric report. The court also did not accept the confession because there was uncertainty regarding the defendant’s state of health. The defendant suffers from a mental illness.
Wolfsberg Tower Reopens
Last weekend, the observation tower on Vlčí hora (Wolfsberg) was ceremonially reopened. It had undergone extensive renovations following a fire a year ago. The reopening coincided with the tower’s 135th anniversary. The tower is the oldest in the Schluckenau area and is popular for its sweeping views as far as the Giant Mountains.
Police Report More Violations in 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 nearly 85,000 speeding violations last year. The speed limit in the tunnel, as well as in the Libouchec tunnel further toward Prague, is 80 kilometers per hour. The Panenská tunnel is equipped with a section control system, which measures an entire stretch of road rather than just a single point.
According to the figures, officers had an average of over 230 cases on their desks every day. The city therefore plans to expand the department and hire additional staff in the near future. So far this year, nearly 20,000 violations had been recorded by the end of April. This is particularly welcome news for the city’s coffers: from 2023 through the end of April this year, the city council collected approximately 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 along the D8 highway—as the A17 is known in the Czech Republic—the Radejčín Tunnel and the Prackovice Tunnel. There, the municipal authorities of the town of Lovosice handle the fines.
In the city of Ústí, traffic violations have risen sharply. While there were nearly 3,900 violations throughout all of last year, over 5,500 were recorded this year. Parking violations, in particular, have increased. This is also due to a stricter enforcement approach.
Ústí Museum Wins Award
The city museum in Ústí nad Labem (Aussig) has won the most prestigious museum award in the Czech Republic. The 2023 “Gloria musaealis” award was presented 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 a special exhibition on sandstone, was recognized as an example of applied research with significant social impact. The project was carried out in cooperation with Purkyně University (UJEP) in Ústí.
The award ceremony was a great success for the Ústí region. Along 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 second prize in the “Museum Exhibitions” category for the exhibition “The Principle of Heraclitus: 100 Years of Coal in Czech Art.”
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The production of this newsletter is co-financed by tax funds based on the budget approved by the Saxon State Parliament.