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krkonose.eu » Important Personalities
Important Personalities of the Region
The Krkonose region is the birthplace or workplace of many personalities who have had a major or
important contribution in many fields of human activity, and their extraordinary work has brought benefits
not only to our region, whether in folk culture, science, technology, literature, music or other fields. We’d
like to present some of them here.
Krakonos
The spirit of the Krkonose Mountains arose from folk imagination. The peculiar features of the landscape
were transformed by the locals into a fairytale character of varying appearance. The spirit was depicted
as a little gnome, mighty giant, a gamekeeper or a shabby wanderer. At other times he looks like
carpenter, after a while he’s a noble aristocrat, a wild forest giant with a huge club, a kind long-bearded
grandfather, a handsome huntsman or a mysterious wayfarer. He pleases one with a good deed, but
then shortly punishes their mischief. He rules with a supernatural power and force which often surprises
people but which many times helps them.
The Krakonos must have travelled through sites of healing herbs, semi-precious stones, in torrential
rains and mist, shining snowballs and colourful carpets of blooming flowers. People would try to find him
as they believed that the beauty of the mountain landscape must have come from a supernatural power.
Krakonos has not always been just a good and kind long-bearded giant. In German he was called
Rubezahl. Although it’s the same historical character, Rubezahl was a different personality. He would
easily get angry and severely punish others. He didn’t like anyone stealing herbs from his garden or
cheating others. He would often put deer antlers on the heads of liars, lay a putrefying goat at lustful
officers or break off his leg to throw it at nasty pub keepers.
It is commonly accepted that Krakonos has appeared in folk legends since the 15th century, both in
the German and, later the less populous, Czech environment. At first he was the angry and almighty
element, ruler of the wind and a demon punishing anyone who dared to unveil the secrets of the
mountains for any reason. Later he was the protector of the poor and bearer of justice against the
greedy.
It is justifiable to believe that his first ghastly appearance was spread among the locals by Italians,
experienced travellers who sought treasures, aiming to protect their sites. Something also may have
been added to the legend by local herb pickers. The Czech Krakonos is a human-like character who
helps the poor and may trick some of the rich.
From the very beginning, the name of the mountain spirit was a problem. It wasn’t pronounced aloud by
superstitious locals so as not to provoke him. The kind name of Mr Johannes or Mr Jan appears, later to
be replaced by the unclear name of Rubezahl, with the alternatives of Rubical, Ribenzall, Liczyrzepa or
Rybrcoul. The name Krakonos has been in use for just over the past one hundred years.
Even the oldest stories often express the wish for the local treasures and beauty to remain untouched
by human hand. Nature, however, wasn’t protected just by the mysterious legends of Krakonos’s tricks –
the authorities imposed strict orders and interdictions and severe punishments. However cruel Krakonos
could have been in the middle of the 17th century, the cruelty of the authorities was real.
Marie Kubatova
More than fifty books, fairytales broadcast on radio and TV, five theatre pieces and many other literary
works – such is the life of the outstanding writer Marie Kubatova: from the world of her childhood and
her mother to the large family around her and to the world of the Krkonose people to whom the author
always knew very well to listen. She takes inspiration for the hours she puts in at her writing desk
especially from pleasant moments and encounters. At the beginning of 2008 the “first lady of Krkonose
stories” and the mistress of the written word celebrated an important jubilee.
The Metelka Family
The Metelka family, with whom the art of producing nativity scenes in the western part of the Krkonose
is linked, comes from Sklenarice near Vysoke nad Jizerou. The first wooden nativity scene was built by
Jachym Metelka in his house no. 4 after marrying Katerina Skrabalkova and after their first son, Jachym,
was born in 1853.
Jachym Metelka
His father, a tailor, joined Italian troops fighting for freedom around 1848, where he could have sewn
coats for Giuseppe Garibaldi’s fellow campaigners. Jachym’s national pride, sense of freedom and also
his artistic gift were intensified. He was most impressed by Italian nativity scenes. He designed his own
concept of stages using the corner of the main room, and continued to extend the nativity scene for over
thirty years until it was 6 m long on one side and 3 m on the other side of the room, and covered two
windows. At first he used figures cut out from printed paper, later he began painting them, as the nativity
scene was movable and he had to adjust the figures for the particular movement.
Vaclav Metelka
Born in 1866 as the seventh child of Jachym Metelka, he became a talented assistant to his father. He
replaced the worn-out paper figures in the nativity scene with figures which he carved from linden wood.
The huge nativity scene contained many movable groups of figures, angels rocking baby Jesus, two
rosettes of angels and angelic musicians in the heavens and above the shed, a town with a “Jewish”
school of lawmen moving heads above the prophecies of the Old Testament, a butcher with a goat,
children on a see-saw and a merry-go-round, a comedian on a trapeze, a shepherd with his sheep,
a mine with miners, men cutting down trees, helpers on the city walls and a watcher in the tower,
musicians, and many other scenes known also from the work of Vaclav’s cousin, Jan Metelka IV., from
the house in Sklenarice, which are today in the collections of the Ethnographic Museum in Vysoke
nad Jizerou. After the death of Jachym, his son Vaclav reduced the nativity scene and gave it today’s
appearance. It consists of 250 carved components ranging in size from 3 to 20 cm, of which more than
one-third are movable. The figures are dressed in clothes or painted and have been created by several
people. The actuation equipment, completely made of wood, was originally powered by a weight, today
by an electric motor. Except for the painted back part made by Jachym, the whole scene is the work of
Vaclav Metelka.
Jachym Metelka jr.
The third of the great nativity scene builders from the Metelka family is Jachym, the first son of Jachym
Metelka, director of the municipal girls’ schools in Jilemnice and one of the founders of the Jilemnice
museum, the collections of which also include his nativity scene, a work which at first glance reveals the
art of the Metelka family.
Jan Weiss
A Czech story writer and novelist, bearer of a national award, considered one of the founders of Czech
sci-fi literature, was born on 10 May 1892 in Jilemnice. After graduating from the secondary school in
1913, he began to study the law in Vienna. In 1914 he was drafted into the war, where he fought on
the Italian and Russian fronts. In 1916 he was captured and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner in
two camps in Siberia. In 1919 he joined the Czechoslovak legion. After returning to the Czechoslovak
Republic in 1920 he worked for the Ministry of Public Labour. His first stories were published in
magazines and his later works were mostly sci-fi, amalgamating dreams and reality. His novels written
after World War Two were on the topic of the future. The House with a Thousand Floors is a novel
transcription of the fevered visions of a soldier suffering from typhoid fever, for whom the world changes
into a house with a thousand floors where the same processes as in ordinary life happen, strengthened
by the visions of an imprisoned princess. The novel is a parable of the world of war. He also published
a satirical grotesque with psychological features, several other novels, a fairy-tale-like story and a
humoresque. He died on 7 March 1972.
Jindrich Ambroz
A promoter of the Krkonose, protector of nature, the author of tourist guidebooks and leaflets about the
Krkonose, and founder of the Mountain Rescue Service in the Krkonose, was born on 1 July 1878. He
was famous for declaring the first nature reserves, the predecessors of the Krkonossky National Park.
He died on 15 May 1955 in Jilemnice. The Ambrozova viewing point can be found near the source of the
river Labe, at the Pancavsky waterfall (the right-hand tributary to the Labe) above the Labsky dul valley.
Frantisek Posepny
A world-renowned Czech scientist, a mineralogist who also worked in geology and related branches. He
was born on 30 March 1836 in Jilemnice. He is considered to be the world’s founder of deposit geology,
which enabled more effective ore mining. His key work, The Genesis of Ore Deposits (1893), described
a new theory of the origination of ore deposits which was widely acclaimed. Besides that, he wrote
more than one hundred other professional publications. He studied at the Polytechnic in Prague and the
Mining Academy in Pribram, worked as a mining assistant, studied at the Imperial Geological Institute
in Vienna and worked at many sites in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1870 he was appointed
head geologist for Hungary and did research on Slovak deposits. In Vienna he was the deputy secretary
at the Ministry of Agriculture. He made research journeys around Europe, the Middle East, and the USA,
in Nevada and California. He died on 27 March 1895 in Dobling, near Vienna, and is buried in Jilemnice.
His name is used on an honorary plaque of the Academy of Czech Sciences which is awarded for merits
in the development of geological sciences.
Jiri Slitr
This composer, piano player, singer, actor and painter was born on 15 February 1924 in Zalesni Lhota.
His family was also affected by the seizure of the border regions in 1938. He began to study law in 1945
but after graduating he never worked as a lawyer. During his studies he became interested in creative
art and music. In 1948 he founded the Czechoslovak Dixieland Jazz Band, worked in creative art and
as a piano player. He began collaborating with the famous artist Miroslav Hornicek in his ensemble as
a piano player and lyrics writer. In 1957 he met Jiri Suchy, with whom he founded the Semafor theatre
in Prague in 1959, which became a major influence on Czech music and theatre in the 1960’s. Perhaps
the biggest response from the audience was met in 1962 with their piece “Jonas and tingl-tangl” where
the two authors performed for the first time, Slitr in a black bowler hat acting as a puzzled man and
Suchy with a French sailor's hat as the more experienced mate. Slitr’s drawings are exhibited in many
galleries. He composed more than 300 songs and acted in three movies in 1964–1968, in several
documentaries and TV films, including Milos Forman’s Audition (1963). In 1962 he directed his first
music comedy. He died tragically of poisoning by leaking gas in his studio on Wenceslas Square in
Prague on 26 December 1969 and is buried in the Vysehrad cemetery in Prague.
Josef Capek
A Czech painter, writer, photographer. graphic artist, book illustrator and creator of the word ‘robot’.
He was born on 23 March 1887 and spent his childhood in Male Svatonovice near Trutnov. His family
moved to Upice near Trutnov in 1890, where he attended the primary and municipal school, and in
1900–1901 a German school in nearby Zacler. After that he attended a two-year German professional
weavers’ school in Vrchlabi. In 1904 he moved to Prague, where he studied at the School of Industrial
Design. His creative work was very much tied to his literary work. He exhibited his first paintings in
Prague in 1912. As a stage designer he collaborated with the National Theatre in Prague, the State
Theatre in Brno and the Municipal Theatre in Vinohrady, Prague. He started a career as an editor in
Narodni listy, later he worked as an editor and creative art critic for Lidove noviny newspaper. Besides
that, he was an editor for several magazines on creative art and also a caricaturist. He was arrested for
his anti-Nazi activities in September 1939 and imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps until April 1945,
when he died in Bergen-Belsen.
Hans Havlicek
A doctor and scientist who during World War One assisted in Professor Schlosser’s group, where he
gained excellent knowledge and practical experience in the field of surgery and radiology. In 1926 he
came to the hospital in Zacler and became the new head physician. He carried out scientific work as
well. His Zacler hospital was visited by professionals from Europe, North and South America and India.
Under his management, the modernised hospital in Zacler gained a great reputation. Havlicek himself
designed some of the instruments which were used. One interesting method of his was the application
of the BACTOPHES silicon lamp. Havlicek learned that by using Wood ultraviolet light, infection is
stopped from spreading and putrefying wounds tend to heal much faster. In 1935 he was made an
honourable guest of the French Surgery Congress. He gave lectures at the Sorbonne, in Basel and
Gent. In 1940 his work was violently interrupted. He was demoted and prohibited from entering the
hospital because he was a member of the German Social Democratic Party and also treated fellow
Jewish citizens. All of his scientific materials, preparations and the instruments he designed were
confiscated and after being arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned in Trutnov, he began suffering
from diabetes and cardiac symptoms in the prison in Hradec Kralove. Only in 1944 was he released. He
unsuccessfully applied for Czech citizenship and was expatriated to the American occupation zone in
Friedberg, Hessen, where he worked as the head physician. His health was poor, and on 13 May 1949
he died in Wetzlar alone and penniless.
Josef Sir
It is already 150 years since the birth of the important teacher, writer, painter and musician Josef
Sir. Born in Horni Branna, he graduated from the Pedagogical Institute in Jicin, where he met the
writer Karel Vaclav Rais. His teaching career started in Roztoky u Jilemnice, where he met Frantiska
Janouskova of Kruh, whom he later married. Within a few years he became popular in the whole region.
He taught in Stepanice, Ponikla and Benecko. For 21 years he kept the chronicle of Stepanice. He felt
for his fellow citizens and knew their worries and joys. He turned the fates which he learned into stories
which he published in Narodni listy, Zlata Praha and other newspapers and magazines. In 1904 the
Otto publishers issued his first work – a collection of short stories entitled The Mountain Springs. Josef
Sir is buried in Roztoky u Jilemnice, along the left-hand side of the road from the main entrance to the
cemetery.
Jan Amos Komensky, Teacher of Nations
After the battle of Bila Hora, Jan Amos Komensky had to leave his Moravian base in Fulnek, where he
was a school supervisor and a preacher of the Brethren community. When non-Catholic priests were
ordered out of the country by the Viennese authorities on 20 October 1621, he went into hiding. In Horni
Branna, in the foothills of the Krkonose, in the demesne of Vaclav Zaruba of Hustirany, a small group of
the Czech Brethren’s Union gathered and prepared for exile, which they realised was the only solution.
During Komensky’s stay in Horni Branna in 1627, the winter was very hard with a lot of snow. The exiled
company of the Czech Brethren headed toward the border. Men rode horses, women and children
travelled by sleigh. From Horni Branna they travelled via Cerny Dul, Janske Lazne, Svoboda nad Upou,
Mlade Buky, Kalna Voda, Babi and Zacler, where they all crossed the border into neighbouring Silesia,
now Poland. On 8 February 1628 they reached Lesno, where J. A. Komensky was elected a bishop and
scrivener. He soon became a deputy to the gymnasium’s dean which led him to an interest in pedagogy.
Most of his work was carried out in this period. He spent the end of his life in Holland, where he died on
15 November 1670 and was buried in a church in Naarden.
Jaroslav Havlicek
A novelist and the lead figure in Czech psychological writing between the Wars. He was born on 3
February 1896 in Jilemnice into a teacher’s family. After attending the primary school in Jilemnice,
he studied at the Real School in Jicin, where he passed his final exams and continued to the Czech
Technical University in Prague, from where he graduated. In 1915 he was drafted and sent to the
front, at first in Russia, and later after an injury to Italy. He returned home at the beginning of 1919.
His aptitude for psychology enabled him to work deeply on the psychology of his novel characters,
especially female heroes, and to lyricise a realistic to naturalistic view of reality. His literature was
influenced by local writers and spiritualists. He wrote several novels which unfold in a small town at the
end of the 19th century and describe tragic human fate, with a profound insight into the mental condition
of ill people and extreme situations. He died on 7 April 1943 in Prague.
Jaroslav Skrbek
This graphic artist, academic painter and pioneer of Czech etching art was born on 7 January 1888
in Ponikla, where – and in Vysoke nad Jizerou – he spent his childhood and to which he would return
throughout his life. The Semily and Krkonose regions have numerous representations of the art work
of this graduate of the Prague Academy studios of professors Max Pirner and Max Svabinsky. He
published a book on historical meetings in Vysoke nad Jizerou in 1868 and is known for his graphic art
in newspapers and magazines, such as Venkov. The drawing of his birthplace was published in a book
entitled ‘With Light and Shadow’. He died in 1954.
Prof. MUDr. Zdenek Reinis, DrSc.
Born in Ponikla, he became an internationally renowned expert in angiology as a representative of
the so-called Angiologic School. He was also the founder of the epidemiology of atherosclerosis and
preventative cardiology in Czechoslovakia. In 1958–1968 he participated in epidemiological research
into non-infectious diseases, the first of its type in the country, focusing primarily on atherosclerosis,
ischemic diseases of the heart and the lower limbs, work which is still regarded as groundbreaking in
this branch. In 1964 he brought home a new method from his research journey in the USA to his 4th
Internal Clinic, which became revolutionary in Czech cardiological society, enabling the reassessment
of some of the existing views on arrhythmias and, more importantly, making a major change to their
diagnostics. In 1994 he was awarded in memoriam honourable membership of the Angiologic Society.
Frantisek Kavan
This important painter was born on 10 September 1866 in Vichovska Lhota near Jilemnice. His native
region became a permanent influence on his soul and art work. In 1889–1895 he studied at the Prague
Academy of Creative Arts in the studio of Julius Marak, under whose leadership he became a first class
landscape painter. Most of his work from that period is among the most respected Czech landscape art
today. The famous Dawn, made in Vichovska Lhota in 1894, was awarded the gold medal at the 1900
World Exhibition in Paris. After consistently realistic beginnings, he inclined to symbolism in 1895–1899
and was in touch with artists around the Moderni revue magazine. After 1900 he went back to landscape
painting, with features of impressionistic realism, with his winter motifs being especially familiar. The
Kavanova gallery in the Jilemnice palace exhibits around 90 of his works. He also wrote poetry. He died
on 16 December 1941 in Libun.
Josef Jarosch
This writer, poet and translator was born in 1837 in Petrovice,. He had 10 brothers and sisters, only
three of whom reached maturity. He attended the municipal school and the grammar school. He began
publishing his poetry during his studies, at first under various pseudonyms, such as J.W.J., J.R.H.
or Waldemar J., and from 1856 he was known as Alfred Waldau. He graduated in law from Charles
University. In Prague he often met the poets Vitezslav Halek, Jan Neruda, Gustav Pfleger and Adolf
Heyduk, and the Czech painters V. Barvitius, A. Bubak and others. An important part of his work was his
translations of K. .H. Macha’s poems into German and his research into Czech folk dance and music.
He collaborated with Neruda in the publication of Pictures of Life. He suffered from bad health from an
early age and underwent treatments in Janske Lazne. In 1872 he moved to Zacler, where he worked as
a public notary and auditor. He secretly married Frantiska Wisiack Edle von Wendenbuhl and they lived
in the Zacler palace. The harsh mountain climate continued to impact on his health and his lung disease
worsened. He died in Zacler on 3 February 1882.
Karl Illner
This pilot, technician and technical designer broke many records in his Etrich Taube aeroplane, making
these planes famous worldwide. He was born on 14 July 1877 in Zacler. He studied as an engineer in
Trutnov and worked for the Braunlich company in Svoboda nad Upou, where he first met Igo Etrich, the
son of an important textile producer, Ignaz Etrich who, as an educated man, was enchanted with the
idea of flying. From 1908 Karl was officially engaged as a workshop foreman and a designer in aviation
development. After his first success he moved to Prater in Vienna and later to Wiener Neustadt. At the
end of 1909 a new aeroplane was produced which made a lasting impression in the history of aviation,
the famous Etrich II. Taube (the Dove). Karl Illner made the first flights. Initially self taught, he soon
became an excellent pilot. On 17 May 1910 he made the first intercity flight in the Austro-Hungarian
Empire, from Wiener Neustadt to Vienna and back, and further flights came soon after. His professional
career was very varied. In World War One he tutored army pilots, he became the technical director of
the Aviatik company, and was the production manager of Osterreichische Daimler-Motoren GmbH in
Wiener Neustadt. During the period when Ferdinand Porsche was the managing director, Karl Illner
was the head of production of passenger vehicles and locomotives. In 1919–1921 he was a partner in
Wiener Auto und Garagen GmbH. His rich life ended on 6 August 1935.
Josef Rossler-Orovsky
When Josef Rossler-Orovsky learned about the sports experiments of Krkonose skiers in 1893, he
contacted Jan Buchar, head of the Czech Tourist Club branch in Jilemnice, with whom he became
lifelong friends. Josef Rossler-Orovsky and Jan Buchar are the two founders of winter sports in
Krkonose.
Jan Buchar
Jan Buchar was born in Mricna near Jilemnice. He became a teacher and from 1884 he administered
the single class school in Dolni Stepanice and started his great tourist activities, which made him the
grand character of the beginnings of Czech tourism. In 1888 the Czech Tourist Club was established
and began publishing their own magazine, for which Jan Buchar wrote his first article entitled ‘Let Us Go
Up to the Krkonose’, published in the first volume. At the end of 1892 he himself undertook a journey to
Zaly hill, using skis he had just got, and thus launched the new era of winter tourism in the Krkonose. In
1894 his first article on skiing was published under the title ‘New Winter Sport’ and the following year he
published instructions for skiing, entitled simply ‘Ski’, the first instructional article in the history of Czech
skiing.
Marie and Jaroslav Lukes
This pair of renowned sportsmen lived in Jilemnice. Jaroslav was a champion in ski jumping,
Alpine combined and the Nordic combined, and competed in two Olympic Games and two World
Championships. He treasured most the 10-cm tall cup from Alpaka which he received in 1930 from
the Norwegian king in person as the award for the best Central European sportsman. Marie was twice
national champion in cross-country skiing. The two became friends at the age of five and did much
together. They began building the first cable car in Spindleruv Mlyn and established the first mountain
rescue service.
Jaroslav Cardal
Born in Mrklov, he was a legendary character in Czech cross-country skiing, never losing a 50 km ski
race from his first victory to his retirement from sport in 1959. He held the title of national champion in
the ski marathon for 13 years. He competed in the leading international contests, three times in the
Olympic Games and twice in the World Championship, in a period that featured the most famous cross-
country skiers of all time. It was difficult then for a Central European to reach the world’s top ranking. At
the end of his sports career in 1959, he became administrator of the skiing stadium in Spindleruv Mlyn
and spent his retirement in Jilemnice.
Bohumir Zeman
A native of Spindleruv Mlyn, a member of the local sports club. At the end of the 1970’s he was the
leading Czech downhill contestant. The 14-time national champion competed in the World Cup for
ten years from the age of 16. He placed in the top ten more than 30 times. He twice competed in the
Olympic Games and in two World Championships. In 1981 he won the World Cup in Kitzbuhl, Austria in
the slalom, and the downhill in Hahnenkamm. Among his many other trophies was also the 4th place in
the combination of slalom, downhill and giant slalom in the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid. In 1986–1989
he was the trainer for the junior sportsmen at the Sports Centre in Vrchlabi and from 1990 he was the
coach of the national slalom team in Liechtenstein. Today (2010) he is the mayor of Spindleruv Mlyn.
Sarka Zahrobska
This successful representative of Alpine skiing was born in Benecko. She won the World Championship
in Aare, Sweden in slalom, which was the very first title for the Czech Republic in Alpine skiing.
Among her top rankings are: World Cup – 2nd and 3rd place in slalom; 2007 World Championship
(Aare) – 1st place in slalom, 4th place in super combined, 12th place in giant slalom; 2005 World
Championship (Bormio) – 3rd place in slalom, 5th place in combined, 10th place in giant slalom; 2003
World Championship (St. Moritz) – 9th place in combined; 2006 Winter Olympics (Torino) – 13th place
in slalom, 27th place in super giant slalom, 19th place in combined.
Andrea Zemanova
A student of the Gymnasium school in Vrchlabi and a member of the Spindleruv Mlyn Ski Club who
successfully accomplished her career in the Czech national team at the category of pupils when, at
the age of 15, she won the National Championship in giant slalom. During that season, she didn't rank
worse than 1st or 2nd in any Czech slalom contest she joined. At the Skiintercriterium in Ricky (the
Orlicke mountains) she came 2nd in the giant slalom. At the junior student World Championship at
Trofeo Topolino, Italy, she again ranked at the top among more than 100 skiers from 45 countries, and
repeated this in Abetone, Italy. After that, she came 3rd in slalom in Val d’Isere, France in a competition
featuring over 100 skiers from 28 countries. Three years ago she won the super giant slalom there, with
the sweet prize being gummy bears weighing as much as she did – 50 kg.
Daniel Paulicek
He was born in 1993 and lives in Vrchlabi. Under the coaching of Zdenek Volech, he became a
successful freestyle snowboarder, placing 1st at the O2 Rookie Cup 2007, 3rd at the 4x4 series in 2007
and 8th place at the World Rookie Fest Livigno 2008. He participates in the Sportsmen for Sochi 2014
programme run by the Sports Academy in Spindleruv Mlyn. As a talented snowboarder from the BSS
Club and the Sports Academy, he is sponsored by the Burton company. Next season he will be a full
member of the junior category.
Veronika Zitkova
She was born in 1988 and lives in Jilemnice, where she also studies at the Sports gymnasium (a
grammar school). She is engaged in biathlon as a Czech representative. Among her top results are
2nd and twice 6th place at the World Junior Championship in 2008, 3rd and 2nd place at the European
Junior Championship in 2008 together with 2nd place in the relay, and 14th place at the adults’ World
Championship in 2008. She is justifiably considered the best Czech biathlon talent now. In the upcoming
season she will be competing in the junior category and the World Junior Championship will be the
peak of her season. From the Olympic Year 2010 she is in the women’s category and is preparing for
the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014. Her personal coach is Jindrich Sikola, coach of the Czech national
junior team.
Michal Stantejsky
He was born in Vrchlabi and is a member of the Ski Alp Club Spindl. He began to intensely prepare for
a sports career in Skialpinism before the 2004/5 winter season. His first success was a nomination for
the European Championship in Andorra in the men's under 23 category for the Vertical Race, singles
contest and relays, helping the Czech Republic to 5th place in the nations contest. He skipped the 2005/
6 winter season for health reasons, and in the 2006/7 season he won the category of men aged 20–39
at the Czech Skialpinism Championship in Spindleruv Mlyn.
Filip Trejbal
He was born in Jilemnice 1985 and studied at the local Sports gymnasium (a grammar school), now
he lives in Rokytnice nad Jizerou, where his sports career started, with his older sister and his parents
who encouraged him to start skiing and have always supported him. He also plays other sports such
as ball games, wake boarding, water skiing, ski and bike freeriding, motocross and others. In 2007 he
came 2nd at the ITA Winter Universiade in Bardonecchia, 2nd in the Super G, 2nd in the giant slalom
and 1st in the combined and slalom. He became Champion in the special slalom at the International
Championship of the Czech Republic in Alpine sports on the Black Course in the Svaty Petr Skiareal in
2008.
Tomas Slavik
He was born in 1981 and studied at the Sports gymnasium (a grammar school) in Jilemnice from 1995,
becoming a Czech representative three years later, choosing the Nordic combined, the most difficult
traditional skiing discipline. He is now the best Czech contestant in the combined. He became Academic
World Champion in Torino in 2007 and has two bronze medals from the World Universiade. He placed
5th at the 2007 World Cup in Holmenkollen and competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino. He
was a contestant three times at the World Championship, regularly ranking in the top 15 at the World
Cup and placing 10th at the 2007 Summer Grand Prix. Besides a successful skiing career, he graduated
from the Pedagogical Faculty at the Liberec Technical University in German and Physical Education.
Anna Hanusova
She was an important character in women’s skiing in Bohemia in 1908–1912. Only very little information
is known about the beginnings of women’s skiing in the Czech lands, allowing us to deduce that only
a few of them skied before World War One, and their contests were separate from the men's. The first
women’s race was held at the Championship of the Czech Kingdom on 2 January 1904 in Vysoke nad
Jizerou. Around the year 1910, Anna Hanusova, then the best female contestant and a member of
Sokol Mrklov club, participated in several men’s races. She later became a member of the leading club,
the Czech Krkonose Ski Union in Jilemnice. She was the first woman in Bohemia to participate in the 50
km race, on 10 April 1909.
Josef Kraus
A pioneer of ski racing in Bohemia, one of the leading contestants at the end of the 19th century, was
born in Dolni Stepanice, won the first international race over 50 km and was five times champion of
the Czech Kingdom. His father Jan was a joiner and worked with Antonin Vondrak, a renowned ski
manufacturer, at the sawmill in Dolni Stepanice. Antonin Vondrak lent him a template and Jan decided
to manufacture his own skis at home, thus supporting his son Josef, who as a child had won the school
race. At the Championship of the Czech Lands he competed on the provisional ski jump and became
the first Czech champion of the Czech Kingdom in ski jumping. In 1904, as a member of the CKSS,
he won his first gold medal in the 10 km race at the Championship of the Czech Lands in Vysoke nad
Jizerou, and later twice repeated this feat. In 1905 his wins included a 50 km race. In 1906 he won for
the last time in a championship in Benecko, leaving 2nd place for Bohumil Hanc. He died in 1966.
Hynek Bedrnik
He was born on 31 December 1872 and was an excellent cross-country skier at the beginnings of ski
racing in the Czech lands. A co-founder of the Czech Krkonose Ski Union in Jilemnice, for many years a
member of its committee and the first chairman, he assisted, with other contestants, at the beginnings of
ski racing in Bohemia and soon became famous. He placed 2nd at the first Skiing Championship of the
Czech Kingdom in January 1896 in Stromovka, Prague. One month later he won the first club race, the
Krkonose Championship. In 1898 he became Champion of the Czech Lands. After his sports career, he
worked intensively for the Czech Krkonose Ski Union.
Eva Paulusova
Eight times national champion, a contestant in two Olympic Games, three World Championships and
at the Winter Universiade, a coach and a technical delegate of the FIS. She was born in Jilemnice and
raced in 1955–1966. She started skiing very early, at the age of 5. In 1955 she was drafted into the
national team. Her first victory was in a 5 km race at the National Championship in Spindleruv Mlyn,
and she placed 2nd in racing at the 1960 International Winter Universiade in Chamonix. Her best result
was at the 1966 World Championship in Oslo in the 10 km race. From 1975 she was a member of the
women’s FIS cross-country committee and a technical delegate of the FIS at women’s international
racing contests.
Antonin Barton jr.
Three times Czech champion, twice a silver medallist at the 1933 World Championship, the best Central
European racer in the 50 km race at the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, he was born in Vysoke
nad Jizerou and was among the leading Czech racers at the beginning of the 1930’s. He won the silver
medal at the 1933 World Championship in Innsbruck in the combined and assisted in the great success
of the Czech relay team, who also won the silver medal. He started skiing before starting school, and
became a Czech representative in 1931. These two silver medals at the 1933 Innsbruck championship
were the peak of his career – in the ski sprinters race over 18 km he placed 7th, the best of the Czech
racers, thus helping the team to the silver medal, unrepeated until the Czech women’s team raced at the
1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. In 1935 he won his last national championship in the combined and
then ended his sports career.
The Balcar Family of Spindleruv Mlyn
“You randomly select one hundred boys and offer them to do ski jumping. If ten of them apply, three of
them will run away from the jump. However, there were six boys who were offered this at the age of 5
and none of them declined it. At the age of six they jumped 15 metres, at the age of twelve it was 50
metres. They were the Balcar boys from Spindleruv Mlyn.”
This is an introduction to an old article about the largest ski jumpers’ family in Europe, maybe in the
world, which is still true 30 years later. There were seven jumpers – father Oldrich and sons Oldrich,
Josef, Jindrich, Jaroslav, Stanislav and Jiri, with Jindrich’s son Jan being the eighth follower. Among the
Balcar brothers’ coaches was also architect Karel Jarolimek, the first designer of modern ski jumps in
the country, one of the first jumpers and members of the FIS who competed in the ski jumping race in
Holmenkollen, Norway and in the famous 50 km race in which Bohumil Hanc and Vaclav Vrbata died.
Zdenek Remza
This bearer of the national sports award and respected coach was born in Horni Branna and was for
many years a member of the Czech national team of ski jumpers, participating at the 1948 Winter
Olympics and at the World Championships in 1954 and 1958. He jumped with exquisite style and had a
perfect landing. He emphasised the jump technique that he had not only mastered but also knew very
well how to demonstrate. In 1960–1970 he was appointed national coach of the Czech jumpers' team.
He was awarded the state prize for his unique success at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble. In
1974–1981 he was head coach of the Czechoslovak Skiing Union.
Jana Koubkova
A singer, composer, speaker, columnist, and organiser, blessed with a natural rhythm, sound,
improvisation and communicative joy. For many years she has been a leading character in the Czech
jazz scene. She can now often be seen at any time of the year in the Krkonose as a tourist. She likes to
come and rest here, to “Pause, look around and sense the beauty…”.