On the Coasts of Bohemia

A personal and somewhat off-topic note, replete with picture postcards

Anytime and everywhere since I began this Substack a bit over a month ago, I encounter a lot of friendly voices and curiosity when speaking about picture postcards.

Every now and then, there is “more” to be said about this entire topic, and this is what I would like to share with you today.

Special commendation is made to Derek Sayer’s wonderful The Coasts of Bohemia, which was published in 1998 by Princeton University Press (see his website here). It is one of the most accessible—and most read-able—introductions to Bohemian/Moravian/Czech history. (For those who wish to dig a big deeper, I recommend A History of the Czech Lands, ed. by Jaroslav Pánek et al., whose 2nd edition came out with Karolinum Press in 2019 and includes select bibliographies.)

Getting Ashore

I recall, quite vividly, my very first trip to a foreign country—Czechoslovakia, which we did while on family vacation in neighbouring Upper Austria in summer of 1990. That day-trip led us to Český Krumlov (Krumau), and while it is tempting to claim that my Habilitation project that focused on that place is like something “coming full circle”, I personally doubt it.

What I will say, though, is that ever since I first came “shore” in what once used to be called Bohemia—the historical territorial designations were abolished in 1948 by the Communist government due to “administrative reforms”—I was hooked.

It’s not that there are fewer castles or monasteries to visit in Austria—but the Czech lands, due to the (many) failures of “Socialism” had fewer resources to “rebuild” or raze many of the sights and wonders of yesteryear. If you’re into old castles, late mediaeval and early modern architecture, Czechia is the place to be. (By contrast, the Austrian lands are more Late Baroque/Roccoco, nineteenth-century, and Fin de siècle style, and perhaps a tad too much for my taste, with the exception of Art Deco, of course.)

Back in November 2021, I had the distinct pleasure and honour of having been invited to deliver a guest lecture at Charles University in Prague, Czechia. Given the long, winding, and not always friendly history of Austrians and Czechs, I consider this a particular mark of appreciation of, and respect for, my scholarship, and as such, I felt obliged to offer a few words in Czech about it (and my hosts were cordial enough to consider it “understandable”), but they were also happy for me to give my talk in German—after all, my generous host was Prof. Milada Sekyrková, the Chair of the Department of Palaeography and Archival Studies.

I also dug into my parents’ family photograph albums to prove my long-standing appreciation for the Bohemian lands, hence I shall reprocude here a photograph of a much younger me standing outside one of Czechia’s national treasures,

Svatá Hora is a Roman Catholic pilgrimage site situated on a hill above the town of Příbram, located in Central Bohemia, 60 km south-west of Prague. It is dedicated to the Assumption of Our Lady. The first chapel was built in the middle of the 13th century. [source]

Me outside Svatá Hora, c. 1993. Note the dastardly brazen 1990s style.

Serendipity and Curiosity Strike Yet Again

Yet, I would not want to bore you with such photographs, for you’re reading this because you’re here for the picture postcards. Earlier this week, I contacted the Seidel Photography Museum to obtain their permission to use one of their picture postcards for the book cover of my upcoming monograph.

While I am not at libert (yet) to share that cover design with you, I received an immediate (positive) answer from Mr. Lubor Mrázek on behalf of the Museum Fotoatelier Seidel in Český Krumlov:

On behalf of the entire museum team, I would like to congratulate you on your upcoming publication. We are most delighted to hear that Seidel’s postcards have somehow found their way even into Norway. 

If you have any other pictures of Krummau, or the whole Böhmerwald area, we would very thankful if you send them to us. Furthermore, should you in the future require any additional material about Krummau, or Böhmerwald from the broader “Seidel period” (chiefly, but not limited to 2nd half of the 19th—1st half of the 20th century) for your research, be it photographic or textual, do not hesitate to contact us and we will try our best to provide you with it, or at least to set you up with someone, who will have access to your desired objects of study.

Of course I answered right away and thanked them for their generous offer; I would therefore also recommend to you, dear readers, the website and photo museum Seidel. They also have a wonderful, fully digital photography databank, which is awesome (but, sadly, “only” available in Czech and German).

I’ll conclude the essayistic section of this posting with a two-liner by Mr. Mrázek:

As a personal note I would like to add that I find your Substack very much intriguing and will delve into it as soon as possible.

Please do, for I have many more postcards to share.

Karlštejn, a National Treasure

If you, like me, love castles, Czechia is the place to go. There are so many, and among them, the more prominent ones are, of course, in Prague, Český Krumlov (the second-largest castle in the country, after the Hradčany), and, of course, Karlštejn Castle, home to the crown jewels of the Lands of St Wenceslas:

Set in a picturesque area, the castle is both massively big and towering above the eponymous village. Shown here is a postcard sent in 1918, as incidated by the reverse below:

From 1944, a “true photography” survives that shows the castle in all its glory:

After the Second World War, although undated, we do get coloured photographs:

And composite designs, too, showing some of the interior:

So, next time you’re in the area, make time for Karlštejn Castle.