Gardens of the Czech Republic - Saturday 25/03/23

The Birkbeck Garden History Group, in association with The Friends of Czech Heritage, held a Study Day to explore the history and development of some of the Czech Republic’s distinctive gardens, from Baroque to modern. Venue: Institute of Education, University College London (UCL), Room 642, 20 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AL.

Image, right, Michael Symes, President of the Birkbeck Garden History Group opens the study day. Image © Linda Wade.

Caroline Cannon Brookes was one of the speakers at the Study Day on Czech Gardens held at University College, London on 25th March. Her talk covered two famous gardens: those relating to Prague Castle designed by Joze Plečník for the new President Tomas Masryyk and the gardens of the Tugendhat Villa in Brno designed by Mies van der Rohe. Both defined a pivotal moment in design development during the early years of the newly founded Czechoslovak Republic and are now survivors of this very important period of Czech history.

Images: Caroline Cannon-Brookes © Linda Wade. Villa Tugendhat.

Ing. Kamila Krejčiříková Ph.D., seen left, spoke about the restoration of the gardens of Lednice-Valtice, about which Dr Krejčiříková and her husband Dr Přemysl Krejčiřík had lectured to The Friends in May 2015. For this study day Dr Krejčiříková also explained the extensive recreation of the gardens at Pernštejn Castle in Moravia.

Ing. Inka Truxová of the Czech National Heritage Instutute spoke about Baroque Gardens, with a focus on properties in Bohemia and Moravia. She described the recreation of the garden of Kuks in the Elbe/Labe Valley, as seen below. In 1696 Count Šporck founded a spa and built the Chapel of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, followed by a château in front of it in 1710. The exteriors were decorated with Baroque sculptures by Matthias Braun; the garden has in recent years been reinstated.

Images: above, Ing. Kamila Krejčiříková, © Linda Wade. Below, Kuks Hospital © Ben Skala, Benfoto via Creative Commons