Johnová (Prague to herself): The defunct Bubeneč Cemetery in Na Skalce is awaiting restoration
17.06.2022 5:34 | Press Release
The abandoned, inaccessible and practically forgotten Na Skalce cemetery in Prague 6 will be saved. This intention was approved by the City Council. m of Prague. The devastated cemetery, which has not been buried for 134 years, should be entrusted to the contributory organization Prague Cemetery Administration (SPH).
“The task of the Prague Cemetery Administration will be to sensitively modify the cemetery and look for a meaningful concept of further use that will not disturb the genius loci and the reverent character of the place. The cemetery is in a state of disrepair, literally on the verge of destruction. The revitalization should not lose today’s romance of abandonment, but at the same time the torsion of tombstones should be protected, “says Milena Johnová, a councilor for social policy and health care, who is also in charge of the Prague funeral home.
“The magic of the cemetery also lies in the fact that I know practically nothing about it. At the time, it was one of many local cemeteries. In the thousand-year history of Prague, 80 years of its operation are just a moment. We will start searching for all archival records, registries buried, we are planning a construction historical survey and we will try to decipher the epitaphs on the tombstone fragments. One of the few surviving tombstones, which marks the resting place of the prominent Prague German, financier, businessman and politician Eduard Seuter von Lötzen, who was, among other things, a member of the Progress party together with Palacký or Rieger, promises that the results of the research may come as a surprise, “says Martin Červený. Director of the Prague Cemeteries Administration.
“It is very good that the land is being used by the Prague Cemetery Administration, because otherwise there would be a risk that the land would be stopped in the future, as has happened in other places. In my opinion, we should approach similar places with emotion and piety, use them as oases for calm and relaxation, not treat them as ordinary building plots, “adds Petr Zeman, Chairman of the Committee on Spatial Development, Spatial Planning and Monument Care City Council m of Prague.
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This will not be the first similar task for SPH. During the restoration of the cemetery, he can draw on the experience of wounding the oldest Olšany cemeteries, the transformation of the Malostranský cemetery into a reverent park, part of the rehabilitation of the Evangelical cemetery in Strašnice or with unused chapel graves into shared columbariums. The organization is currently preparing the conversion of the Chapel of the Knights of Alberta in the Olšany Cemeteries and the Cemetery Chapel in the Nuselský Cemetery.
Another novelty that awaits the Prague Cemeteries Report in the near future is the fact that it will have a new identity. New name Hřbitovy a pohrební služby hl. m of Prague reflects the merger with the Funeral Home. m of Prague from 2020 and is its symbolic culmination. The change is also associated with a change in the logo and visual style. The author of the new look is the Lemon design studio, the winner of the design competition.
However, not only the name and logo of the city company changed, but the whole concept of the Prague funeral home. After the presentation of the manual “Prague Cemeteries”, the city, together with SPH, is preparing a presentation of the new funeral services. Already in September this year, Praguers will be served by the Meadow of Memories – the first ecological cemetery in the Czech Republic. In the autumn, Prague also plans to launch the Funeral Studio project. Its purpose is to allow the final farewell according to the individual survivors, who do not want to be just spectators of the ceremonies, but its co-creators.
- PRAGUE TO ITSELF
- regional councilor
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author: PV