Exploring Cesky Krumlov

A view from the castle tower.
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Cesky Krumlov is a small town on the Vltava River about 180 kilometres south of Prague and not far from the Austrian border. The town is named for the bend in the river—Krumlov means “curve” or “bend” and Cesky (pronounced Chesky, which would be clearer if I could make the hacek over the C) simply means “Czech.” The river practically surrounds the old town as it curls around it, and it makes for an utterly charming, largely car- and motorcycle-free place to explore.

A large castle overlooks the town from the north bank of the river, and we spent a good part of the day exploring it. Especially interesting in the castle complex is the beautifully preserved baroque theatre, which we were able to see only as part of a tour given in Czech, since the English tours were full. We didn’t mind, particularly since the Czech tours are about half the price of the foreign language tours—something you already know if you read Randy Cohen’s ethics column in last week’s New York Times.

The baroque theatre in the castle complex.
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The theatre is quite stunning, and walking through the area under the stage, with its ropes and pulleys and winches, feels like being in an 18th century ship. The similarity to a ship made me think of how often I see technological innovation stimulated by military needs—as in warships—and I was freshly impressed and reassured by this ongoing human impulse to create more and better technology not to kill people but to enrich their spirit and move them emotionally.

We also visited the Egon Schiele Centrum, an old brewery converted into exhibition space for contemporary art, with several upstairs rooms devoted to a small but fine collection of Schiele’s drawings. We passed through Schiele’s hometown in Austria on our bike trip last summer and stopped to see some of his work in Vienna. What we saw here only confirmed the impression we had then of a brilliant and disturbed artist.

Egon Schiele self-portrait.
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These drawings are here because Schiele’s mother was born in Cesky Krumlov and he himself moved here for a short time before being driven out by those offended by his life and work. No real surprise there: one wall of the exhibit shows a series of nude and semi-clad women masturbating. There were also copies of paintings he made of rooftops here (which looked a bit like Cezanne on drugs) as well as a very powerful series of drawings he made during a short incarceration on a morals charge.

Walking along the Vltava.
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We’ll do some more exploring here this morning before catching a bus to Bechyne, where we plan to joining Nathaniel for dinner before his concert this evening.