DANIELA K. GROHOVÁ a JIŘÍ HNILICA: Francie a východní Čechy
A discussion with Jičín theater artist Daniela Klingerová Grohová and specialist in cultural Czech-French relations Jiří Hnilica on significant milestones and little-known stories of modern Czech-French relations.
France and Eastern Bohemia – the unexpected history of a forgotten friendship.
In the heart of the Prachov Rocks, a Hussite chalice is carved into the sandstone, commemorating the 500th anniversary of the death of Jan Žižka (1924). Just a few steps away is an inscription dedicated to Ernest Denis, a French historian whose name is known today only to a handful of insiders. This unassuming detail serves as a reminder of just how surprisingly rich the relations between France and the Czech lands were—and what a significant role the Bohemian Paradise and all of Eastern Bohemia played in them.
There are more examples to be found. One of the most important Czech branches of the Alliance française—an association promoting the teaching of the French language and the dissemination of French culture—operated in Jičín starting in 1904. A visit to the Bohemian Paradise by a group of foreign journalists in 1908 sparked the most significant diplomatic rift between France and Austria-Hungary before World War I. The period of the First Republic represented, without exaggeration, a golden age of Czech-French relations. However, the Munich Agreement, the Nazi occupation, and the subsequent communist coup completely transformed the nature of this exceptional friendship.
France and Eastern Bohemia – the unexpected history of a forgotten friendship.
In the heart of the Prachov Rocks, a Hussite chalice is carved into the sandstone, commemorating the 500th anniversary of the death of Jan Žižka (1924). Just a few steps away is an inscription dedicated to Ernest Denis, a French historian whose name is known today only to a handful of insiders. This unassuming detail serves as a reminder of just how surprisingly rich the relations between France and the Czech lands were—and what a significant role the Bohemian Paradise and all of Eastern Bohemia played in them.
There are more examples to be found. One of the most important Czech branches of the Alliance française—an association promoting the teaching of the French language and the dissemination of French culture—operated in Jičín starting in 1904. A visit to the Bohemian Paradise by a group of foreign journalists in 1908 sparked the most significant diplomatic rift between France and Austria-Hungary before World War I. The period of the First Republic represented, without exaggeration, a golden age of Czech-French relations. However, the Munich Agreement, the Nazi occupation, and the subsequent communist coup completely transformed the nature of this exceptional friendship.
