Meanwhile in Czechia... 3/25
17.01.2025
Serious fire accident in Most
On Saturday last week, there was a serious fire accident in Most in which seven people died. Initially, there were six fatalities and eight people, some of whom were seriously injured - three of them in a critical condition. The injured were taken to hospitals in Most and Ústí nad Labem and three seriously injured people were taken to Prague. One patient in Prague succumbed to her extensive burns three days later. This makes it one of the most serious fire accidents in the history of the Czech Republic and the shock in Most is correspondingly great.
A fire broke out on the wooden veranda of the "U Kojota" restaurant late one evening during a private party and quickly engulfed the entire building. According to eyewitnesses, the cause was most likely an overturned mushroom heater powered by a gas cylinder. The gas cylinder literally exploded. There were other such mushroom heaters on the veranda, some of whose gas cylinders had also exploded. It was therefore a particularly complicated operation for the firefighters. In a dramatic rescue operation, a seriously injured person who had been trapped by the fire in the toilet was rescued.
As a result of the accident, a brief discussion arose about the safety of gas-powered heaters, but this died down again. During a visit to the site, the Czech Minister of the Interior announced that fire departments would be carrying out more checks in places of assembly. The city of Most has already carried out some this week, and in the Ústí district the trade authorities began inspecting restaurants on Wednesday.
Second foreign language remains compulsory
The Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport has presented a new educational framework program for preschools and elementary school. It is described as the biggest change in regional education in the Czech Republic for 20 years. Elementary school in the Czech Republic cover grades 1 to 9 and are not thematically specialized.
One particularly controversial aspect of the education reform was the original plans to abolish the obligation to learn a second foreign language. Allegedly, this would overburden the pupils. The embassies of various European countries (especially neighboring countries), the German-Czech Future Fund, the German minority in the Czech Republic, many business representatives and a whole range of other institutions and individuals strongly criticized these plans. It is now stipulated that all children must learn English from Year 1 and a second foreign language from Year 7, whereby they can choose between German, French and Spanish. The reason given for this restriction to three languages is that otherwise it cannot be guaranteed that the foreign language will be offered at the transition to secondary school. The regulation will be binding from 2034.
Ancient boundary stone restored
The Saxon-Czech border was established in the Treaty of Cheb in 1459 and has hardly changed since then. This makes it one of the oldest borders in Europe. And that also applies to many a boundary stone.
On Thursday, the restored Three Lords' Stone was unveiled near Oberwiesenthal and Boží Dar ( click here for the exact location). It has stood there as a boundary marker since 1729, but by now it was barely recognizable, which is hardly surprising when you've been exposed to the elements at an altitude of 1165 m for almost 300 years. It has now been restored on the initiative of the Saxony State Office for Geographic Information (GeoSN) and was unveiled in its new splendor on Thursday.
The stone is approx. 1.35 m high and has three sides. On one side are the initials of Augustus the Strong and the coats of arms of the Electorate of Saxony and the Kingdom of Poland, on the south side are the Austrian double-headed eagle and the Bohemian lion, and on the third side are the coats of arms of Baden and Saxe-Lauenburg.
Gold treasure on display in Teplice
During excavations at the edge of the Nástup Tušimice mine south of Chomutov, two Iron Age graves containing an unusually large gold treasure were discovered. The finds were made five years ago during preliminary archaeological investigations of a small burial ground, but have been kept secret until now for fear of treasure hunters.
The archaeologists were investigating burial sites of the Bylan culture, which was small but not insignificant (and yet without a German Wikipedia entry). They uncovered five chamber tombs, two of which were particularly striking and dated to between 600 and 650 BC. Girls between the ages of 16 and 20 were buried in both graves. They had been adorned with gold jewelry, among other things, for their final journey. Seventeen spirals and two gold balls were found, which were probably worn as hair ornaments. According to archaeologist Jana Doležalová from the Institute for the Preservation of Archaeological Monuments in Northwest Bohemia, such an extensive find from the early Iron Age is a real sensation.
The gold treasure is now on loan to the Teplice Regional Museum as part of the special exhibition "Coal" until March 30, 2025. The exhibition is open Tuesday to Friday from 1 pm to 5 pm and Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 12 noon and 1 pm to 5 pm.
Czech victory at the Dakar Rally
After we reported two weeks ago on the visit of Czech President Petr Pavel to the camp of the Czech Dakar Rally participants, we do not want to withhold an important result from you: Czech racer Martin Macík managed to defend his title in the truck classification from last year. He finished two hours and 21 minutes ahead of Mitchel van den Brinka from the Netherlands, followed by Aleš Loprais from the Czech Republic just five minutes behind.
Saturn in space
On Tuesday, the largest Czech satellite to date was launched into space on a SpaceX rocket. It is independent of foreign technology and, with its cameras, will primarily be used for military reconnaissance, but also for crisis management, for example. The satellite is called SATurnin-1, and anyone who follows Czech Film Wednesday will understand why we find it funny.
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