Tsunami

Japan / USA / Europe - 23-Sep-24 -

My long time Czech friend Radim recently moved from Brno to a town near Nachod near the Polish border, and upon visiting him from Wroclaw, Poland, I mentioned to him that I'm interested in visiting the TWHS of the Betlém Rock Sculptures.

So, on one Sunday afternoon in late August, we (Radim, his wife, a daughter, a baby son and me) drove from the Kudowa train station in Poland, where he picked me up, to the TWHS near Kuks.

Betlém means Bethlehem, and in the early 18th century the prominent Earl in this area Franz Anton Sporcka decided to create "a unique complex of religious scenes featuring old hermits and episodes from the life of Christ" with the help of a sculptor Matthias Bernhard Braun who was born in Austria but worked in Bohemia. 

There is a parking lot at the place, and we were able to easily walk from there following the path to view the sculptures. We only walked for about 500 m to what seemed to be the main set of sculptures, "Braun's Nativity Scene." (The photo) Along the 500 m path we also saw two more sets of sculptures.

The photo shows from left the scenes of the Adoration of the Magi, the Nativity and the Revelation of St. Hubertus.

You could walk passed "Braun's Nativity Scene" all the way to the historic Hospital in Kuks to view more sculptures. In fact the best way to do is to walk from the hospital to the "Braun's Nativity Scene" for 3.5 km and to walk back, which is what is designed for the guests/patients in the spa town of Kuks.

After visiting this TWHS we had lunch at the restaurant at the Hospital Kuks. According to my friend Radim, the Hospital Kuks is as famous and popular among Czechs as the Charles Bridge in Prague. Both the Hospital Kuks and the Charles Bridge also feature the sculptures by Matthias Bernhard Braun. His series of sculptures at the Hospital Kuks is called "Virtues and Vices," and I am not sure why this hospital is not included in the nomination.

Speaking of the nomination, I would also include one more piece of history from this region. This part of Czechia is in fact known for sculptures. Why? The answer lies in abundant sandstone in the area. Sandstone, resistant to rain, is easy to work with for sculptors creating outdoor sculptures. As such, not far from Kuks is the city of Horice with the only sculpture school initiated under the auspices of the Hapsburgs, the Horice Stonemason Training School, seit 1884. 

Other schools initiated by the Hapsburgs already on the WHS list are of course "Landscape for Breeding and Training of Ceremonial Carriage Horses at Kladruby nad Labem WHS" in Czechia and the Mining Academy at "Historic Town of Banska Stiavnica and the Technical Monuments in its Vicinity WHS" in Slovakia.

Earlier this year I had a privilege of touring this school and also St. Gothard Sculpture Park in Horice by invitation by the mayor of Horice. The school has produced sculptors working around Europe for 140 years, such as Quido Kocián, Jan Štursa, Ladislav Šaloun, and Josef Wagner the Younger.

If you are visiting the Betlém Rock Sculptures, I would definitely recommend visiting the Hospital Kuks and St. Gothard Sculpture Park in Horice. 

Read more from Tsunami here.

Matejicek

Czechia - 06-Sep-21 -

What we can find now in the so-called New Forest are only small fragments of large Baroque program around the Hospital Kuks, the spa complex, founded by Count von Sporck in 18th Century. Unfortunately, the central scene of Bethlehem was seriously damaged. The sculptures and relieves were carved on/from the high-quality sandstone rocks in situ by one of the best baroque sculptors active in the Czech lands: Matthias Bernhard Braun, Austrian artist hired by Bohemian nobility. Originally, the sandstone statues were completed by wooden ones, carved in the trees, and all of them brightly painted. The statues were intended for contemplation, reflection, but also entertainment of the spa guests. The workshop of Braun was rather active, and we can find his works also in Prague on the Charles bridge, such as the famous Dream of Saint Lutgardis. 

I visited the site on sunny September Sunday 2021 by local train from Jaroměř (every 2 hours). As I spent too much time in the fortress Josefov, I had only 40 minutes to go around 1 km uphills from the train stop Žireč, admire the sculptures, and return to the train stop for the very last local train with transfer to the fast train in direction Prague. Thus, I missed the exploration of the Hospital Kuks, which is located some 2-3 km from the sculptures, and which is also decorated by rich statue program by Braun. However, I have been to the Hospital already several times. I can say that even half an hour was enough for visiting the site.

It consists of the following parts: the Well of Jacob with fragments of statues sitting on it; the Vision of St. Hubert; the Adoration of Shepherds; the Arrival of Three Kings; Nativity; the Lying Marry Magdalene; John the Baptist; the statue of sheep; the Hermit Onufrius; the Hermit Garinus in front of his cave (PHOTO; maybe the most famous and valuable part); the seat, and smaller carvings like crucifix, coat of arms, etc. Few other sculptures that survived were moved to the garden of the Hospital Kuks.

It is not surprising that only statues and relieves, which were not detachable, can be found on the place. Nevertheless, most of them suffered from vandals, quarry operation, war raids, as well as erosion and negative impact of moss and lichens. The sculptures were meticulously restored and cleaned very recently (Summer 2021), and further restorations are on the way. There is also big plans to build the visitors center with the model of the original appearance.

As evident even from the photos, the statues are very nicely elaborated and they are considered as masterpieces of Baroque sculpture art in Czechia. However, I cannot find any OUV of this TWHS. I do not thing that Czechia is famous for rich and intricate sculpture decorations of gardens and exteriors as it is for example in Italy or Portugal. As I already mentioned, it is almost miracle that the sculptures survived to our days, and the main reason is that there are not detachable. Furthermore, the statues and relieves cannot be distinguished from the detachable and free-standing works of Braun and similar baroque artists.

I checked the connection Rock Cut Art https://www.worldheritagesite.org/connection/Rock+Cut+Art#43 and there are only 10 items. However, the Bethlehem Sculptures near Kuks are hardly comparable to Dazu rock carvings. They are maybe more appealing than Madara Rider, which is however some thousand years older.

All in all, this site is of national importance only, and it is quite popular for local tourist who are enjoying a walk from Kuks to the sculptures through the forest.

Jakob Frenzel

Germany - 01-Jan-15 -

September 2014 - on our return from Croatia through Czechia, we came near by the rocks of Betlehem, so decided to make this small Detroit. It was already getting dark when we finally arrived at the parking lot. We walked the few meters and the stone sculptures became very spooky. The sculptures are in bad shape but the Ensemble is very fascinating. Despite the spooky atmosphere we decided to stay overnight in our Camper