My August holiday - sights of the Eagle Mountains
I would like to recall something from the history (infamous)of Czechoslovakia. In 1948, when I was two years old. All castles were taken (stolen) from the original owners (descendants of aristocratic families) and were nationalized. At school they told us that we are all their owners now. Only some of the chateaux remained as cultural monuments, others were taken up by the military, the agricultural cooperatives had warehouses and stables for livestock, some used firms as offices. The furniture was partially stolen by those who realized this nationalization. The original owners were expelled and most Czechs emigrated to the West with this return. When the political situation changed in 1989, most descendants (grandchildren and often grandchildren) claimed stolen property. To those whose ancestors did not cooperate with the Germans in World War II, the property was returned, but often it was just unkempt ruins. Most of the Czechs disagreed with this return (me too), we were so brought up. Today I know that returning was quite right and that these old-new owners can take care of these monuments better than the state. I have been convinced of this on this holiday, when all the castles we visited are managed by the families of the original owners, they are beautifully repaired and for a considerable amount of money they continue to improve their work.
During this holiday we visited five such returned castles and one day we went to the mountains to Masaryk's cottage (T.G. Masaryk - our first president1919-1934). I didn't take much pictures, I was banned from my wife. The first picture is not a chateau, but a villa from the first half of the last century, where we were staying (apartment by the pine).
Vladimír
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