Cubist monument in Krč: The names of fallen heroes returned to it
We could count the cubist monuments in the entire Czech Republic on the fingers of one hand. But one such is located in Prague’s Krč. The monument to the victims of the First World War in Krč was ceremoniously unveiled on October 28, 1931. The land on which the monument is provided was provided by the large landowner Marie Welzová, which also paid a large part of the costs of its implementation. The author of the actual design of the monument was academic sculptor Bohumil (Bohuš) Hlaváček.
Unfortunately, the monument was neglected for many years and already looked very neglected before the revolution. Over the years, two marble slabs, on which the names of the fallen were engraved, have also been lost. Prague 4 therefore decided to try to find the names and return the monument to its past glory and, above all, its reverent function, so that the fallen heroes are not forgotten.
Detective work
But the problem was that the name list of the fallen, which the memorial commemorated, was nowhere to be found. “There are several historical photographs, but none is of such a quality that the names of the fallen are legible on it. We have done an extensive “search” for these names. No photograph or list of names from the given monument has been preserved even in the Archives of the Capital City of Prague. Only the invitation of the Committee, which invites the City Council to the ceremonial unveiling of this monument, has survived here. There is no photograph (or list of names) even in the contemporary press,” explains the deputy mayor for culture and property Michal Hroza (TOP 09).
It was not possible to contact the family of the sculptor Hlaváček, and the search for the family of the landowner Welzová was the same, and they did not have any photos, documents or an order. It was therefore necessary to start a literal detective search for the same fallen. A source for obtaining a list of the fallen from Krč, which the monument in Sulická Street commemoratessuch were, for example, archival documents of the Military Central Archive, but also death notices in the contemporary press. According to Hroz, however, it is more or less certain that the list that has been put together is not final. “Prague 4 welcomes any notice, addition or any other suggestion that will help to know this part of our history,” added the deputy mayor
Prague 4 found the names of the fallen. Name plates have been lost from the monument in the past
Author: City Council Prague 4
A QR code is now installed on the repaired monument, which will show those interested the current list of the fallen and also information about the search for their names.