Old trolleybus at Náměstí svobody sq.

Update (Sunday, 11 a.m.): the strike was postponed to Thursday, as it was announced too late to take place on Monday and not to break the law.

Coalition of Transport Unions anounced a huge strike on Monday, June 13. This means that from 3 a.m. to 4 p.m., public transport in Brno, as well as in the rest of the Czech republic, will stay still.

I’m not a fan of this kind of protests, but at least this time the unions got an important reason. The pension reforms proposed by right-wing government mean that many people should work until 69. In some professions, uncluding tram drivers, this could be quite devastating to one’s health and even quite dangerous to other people. And starting a new blue-collar career at the age of 65 isn’t quite easy.

Read more about the strike at the website of Czech press agency.

It seems quite ironic that on Saturday and Sunday visitors of Brno may enjoy “Transport nostalghia” festival, bringing old tramways and buses back to streets. From what I’ve found out, the best place to join the event is the Technical museum.

A still from the 2010 Night of churches (source: nockostelu.cz)

Two weeks after the uber-popular Museum night, the Night of churches is heading to the town. It brings a very interesting opportunity to explore churches in your neighborhood, including the parts that are closed for public for the rest of the year.

Almost all churches of Brno got a special programme for the evening of Friday, May 27. There will be concerts, guided tours (Czech only) and, maybe most interestingly, you’ll be able to observe Brno from the towers of St. Jacob’s church and Saints Cyril and Methodius’ church in Brno-Židenice (Gajdošova st.).

The event got a bit messy, Czech-only website. At least, you can read the machine-translated version.

A wooden wall separating the dining room from the rest of the floor. Source: ČT

The restoration of villa Tugendhat has led to another interesting story. A beautiful interior wall, stolen from the villa Tugendhat dining room by Gestapo in the 1940s, has been considered lost for good for the last 70 years. That changed few days ago, when Brno-based historian Miroslav Ambroz found the original macassar wood wall, cut into pieces, paneling the canteen of the Faculty of Law at Veveří st.

The building of the Faculty of Law served as a local gestapo headquarters during the WW2. According to the website of Czech television, it is quite likely that the original wall will be restored and moved back to villa Tugendhat. You may see it next year, when the €6.3M reconstruction finishes.

Villa Tugendhat was confiscated in the autumn of 1939, as its owners were Jews. Most of the original equipment has been stolen or destroyed. The bulding remains to be a property of the Czech state. In 2001, it was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

A dozen of the most interesting and important museums in Brno are joining 2011 Brno Museum Night. On the evening and night of Saturday, May 14, you are free to explore their exhibitions, look into the places that are not available during the rest of year and enjoy the company of tens of thousands of people roaming the town.

Brno Museum Night 2010. Source: brnenskamuzejninoc.cz

If you have a flute, bring it with you – and join the crowd around the Mozart’s statue at Zelný trh sq. at 7 p.m. to play the best known melody of Magic Flute and aim for the world record.

The event got a nice English and German language websites. Check out the hour-by-hour guide.

A cellar beneath the Cabbage market (source: bkc.cz)

On April 1, a part of the medieval underground labyrinth beneath the Cabbage market (Zelný trh sq.) was made available to tourists. The price of the project exceeded CZK 100 millions; most of it was financed by EU grants.

For CZK 150, you can spend 45 minutes beneath the streets of Brno. You will pass 212 steps and explore a system of 30 vast medieval cellars, built since the 15th century. The people living in Brno at that time were looking for a place where to store various goods in a town that was surrounded by fortification, so they created an unique “underground town”.

The labyrint is open all year long from Tuesday to Sunday. According to local press, you can hire a guide speaking English or German. However, the official webpage is in Czech only, which is a total shame.

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Jurkovič house. Source: moravska-galerie.cz

One of the Brno’s most significant, villas, Jurkovič house, has been restored and it opens to general public on April 1.

Famous architect Dušan Jurkovič designed and built this house for himself in 1906 in Žabovřesky quarter. It has had several owners since that time – but luckily, they all cared well about the building.

Several years ago, it was bought by Moravian Gallery and restored.

You can book a tour in English or German, both for just CZK 130.

Lotus F3 car from the 1960s

There is a really nice exhibition going on in the Technical museum (105 Purkyňova st.) until February 27 – “Masec”. Called after the nickname of “Masaryk circuit“, the famous racing track located in the western part of Brno, it shows its history from 1930 until the present time.

There are many race cars and motorbikes on display, various memorabilia, photos both of the old track and the new one… A great thing about the exhibition is that it is labelled both in Czech and English.

Entrance fee is CZK 80 and it allows you to spend a whole afternoon in the magical place called Technical Museum.

Jewish cemetery in Brno. Source: Wikimedia Commons

The venue, financed by the Jewish community and several state funds, is located in the Jewish cemetery in quarter Židenice. It is open every day except Saturday.

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I was browsing through the wonderful Virtual Encyclopedia of Brno and discovered 5 nice pictures of how did the town look like 100 years ago.

New town hall. No parking lot!

Křídlovická st. with the house of the sitting Turk. The street was almost completely destroyed in the second half of the 20th century, due to the contruction of Nové sady st. and Rondo Arena. Correction: as Felix Xaver pointed out, the house of the sitting turk was located on the other side of Křídlovická st., near Ypsilantiho st. It was torn down in the 1930s.

Old town hall. Note the torn-down buildings in front of it.

Square of the republic in quarter Husovice. It was called Sušilplatz and Comeniusplatz. What is more, Husovice was an independent town.

Dominikánské sq., near the Velký špalíček shopping mall.

Enjoy these photos, slow down, think about the passing nature of things. I wish you merry Christmas!

A master of coin in his... workplace. (Photo: Michal Růžička, BKC)

The first part of the recently-discovered vast medieval Brno underground will be opened on Friday, November 26.

The cellar of the masters of coin is located below Dominikánské náměstí sq., next to the New town hall. Coins were made at this place in the middle ages and legends say that there is still gold and silver hidden somewhere in the labyrinth…

The cellar is open every day except Monday and you may enjoy an exhibition explaining the history of the place and of Brno.

Exhibition presenting the history of Brno (photo: Michal Růžička, BKC)

Prehistorical artefacts found in Brno (photo: Michal Růžička, BKC)

I guess the cellar is not a friendly place to people suffering from claustorphobia (photo: Michal Růžička, BKC)

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Brno underground

In April 2011, an underground labyrinth beneath the Zelný trh sq. will be made avaible for public.

In 2012, tourists will be able to enter the ossuary at Jakubské náměstí sq., the second biggest ossuary in Europe.

Špilberk castle (photo by Artep ^_^)

From 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., they can try shooting from bows, crossbows, sling-shots, air rifles and airsoft guns in the moat of Špilberk castle.

At 6:00 p.m. a “lampion parade” is departing from hotel International to Špilberk castle. (Bring your own lampion.) There will also be a small fireworks show.

During the afternoon, there is free entrance to the casemate of Špilberk castle and to its watchtower.

Hitler disliked Náměstí svobody, so it bore his name for only two days.

• Náměstí svobody (the central square) – “The freedom square”, since the declaration of independence in 1918. It also had been called “the lower market”, “the big square”, “Franz Josef square” and “Hitler Platz” (for two days in 1939, but then it was renamed to “Viktoriaplatz”; rumor has it it was because Hitler disliked the place.
• Masarykova – named after Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the first Czechoslovak president (1850-1937)
• Česká – “Czech st.”, because Bohemians used to take their Sunday walks there in the 19th century. (Ironically, Germans were gathering around Masarykova st. then).
• Joštova - named after Jobst of Moravia, who ruled Moravia in the 13th and 14th century.
• Zelný trh – “the vegetable market”.
• Dominikánské náměstí - named after the Order of Preachers, a.k.a. dominicans.
• Husova – named after the 15th century church reformer John Hus.
• There are various streets in the old town that got their name from the craftsmen who worked there – Pekařská (Baker st.), Zámečnická (Locksmith st.), Rybářská (Fishermen st.), Zahradnická (Gardener st.), Řeznická (Butcher st.), Cihlářská (Brickmaker st.).
• Moravské náměstí – “Moravian square”; formerly “The Red army square”.
• Veveří – named after the castle of Veveří, to which it points.
• Lidická – the village of Lidice was destroyed by Gestapo in 1942; its inhabitants were killed in reprisal for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich. There are streets named after Lidice all around the world.
• Milady Horákové - This social democrat politician was executed by communists in 1950. She was the only woman block killed for political reasons in the Eastern block (outside Albania).
• Kraví hora - the “cow mountain”. People call it “Monte Bů”, i.e. “Monte Moo”.

And finally, a funny fact: there are Úzká (Tiny st.) and Vlhká (Wet st.)  next to the Church of Virgin Mary in the eastern part of Brno.