The Friends held a lecture 'Memories of Jan Kaplický' given by Ivan Margolius, architect and friend, in the Embassy of the Slovak Republic, London. Mr Ivan Margolius presented an intimate view of the life and achievements of his close friend and professional colleague the Czech architect Jan Kaplický. Their friendship grew from shared personal expe...

October 2015 - The Development of Zlín, Home of the Bat'a Shoe Corporation On 22nd October 2015 Eva Jiřičná, a renowned architect, who was born in Zlín but has lived and worked in England since 1968, gave a fascinating talk on the development of Zlín into a major centre for industrialised shoe manufacture. This occurred largely through the efforts ...

On 22nd October 2015 Eva Jiřičná, a renowned architect, who was born in Zlín but has lived and worked in England since 1968, gave a fascinating talk on the development of Zlín into a major centre for industrialised shoe manufacture. This occurred largely through the efforts of Tomáš Bat’a, the son of a Zlín shoemaker, who left school at a very youn...

September 2015 - NPÚ CONFERENCE IN TELČ Our Chairman Peter Jamieson and Committee member James Robertson attended a conference in Telč organised jointly by the National Heritage Institute (NPÚ) and the Faculties of Education of the Charles University in Prague and of the Masaryk University in Brno. The theme of the conference was the role of educat...

September 2015 - Ian Kennaway, a founder of The Friends, addressed the Association of Owners of Castles and Châteaux in Boskovice. He presented a slideshow about our history and work. The Association consists of people who have bought or inherited historic buildings in the Czech Republic, or to whom they have been restituted following the fall of c...

September 2015 - The Friends of Czech Heritage held a garden visit in Surrey on 18th September 2015, organised by one of the founders of The Friends, Ian Kennaway. It started with Painshill, a beautiful 158-acre 18th-Century landscape garden, including the restored crystal grotto, historic planting, a collection of North American trees and shrubs, ...

The Friends of Czech Heritage held a garden visit in Surrey on 18th September 2015, organised by one of the founders of The Friends, Ian Kennaway. It started with Painshill, a beautiful 158-acre 18th-Century landscape garden, including the restored crystal grotto, historic planting, a collection of North American trees and shrubs, and spectacular v...

August 2015 - The Château of Čečovice boasts a new ceiling In time for the summer festival in Čečovice, and ahead of schedule, visitors to the château will be able to see the progress in the restoration of the building destroyed by neglect and a devastating fire. The best remaining room of the château now has a ceiling thanks to a grant from T...

August 2015 - The music festival at the Château of Čečovice, now an annual event in this part of west Bohemia, enjoyed a well deserved success during the last weekend of August. The annual music festival in the Château of Čečovice is made possible by musicians playing for free in order to help the restoration fund. Many people attended for the musi...

August 2015 - The Friends have just completed our tour of three week-long working parties at Červený Dvůr where volunteers set about completing the major outstanding brickwork. Most had never laid a brick in their lives and many discovered a new skill. This and their productivity took the local doubters by surprise. Following this success we are no...