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5: CASE STUDY 2: THE CZECH/AUSTRIAN BORDER
barracks this message would have been seen every time a soldier left the
building. I suggest to David that he must have known the signs were there
as they were so hidden by grass and the overhanging branches that it was
not possible to see them. But he claims he did not. He merely stumbled
across them now.
The area of what now contains the Podyji National Park has changed
dramatically since the end of the Cold War. The material landscape in the
area today holds information of a long series of changes that have occurred
during the last couple of hundred years. The layout of former Castle Park
with its landscaped gardens and woodlands with paths, monuments and
viewpoints scattered across it still remain, even though its maintenance has
a different goal today, when sustainability and protection of rare species are
of more importance than pure aesthetics. The monument, Felicia’s well, is
one of the monuments that survive from the earlier designed park (Figure
61). It was placed here in what is called Felicia’s Valley by count Stanislav
Mnizek as a memorial for his mother Countess Felicia in 1806. The white
memorial built in neo-classicist style stands out against the green backdrop
of trees. The frieze at the top of the structure shows women dancing with
amphorae in their hands. The monument was restored in 2001 and there
are no traces of the deterioration that took place after the area was closed off
after World War II. When the park administration took over the park,
however, the monument was in a very poor state from the lack of care for
over half a century. The monument had also been used for target practice by
the border guards and almost all of the dancing women at the top had had
their heads damaged this way (David 2010, pers. comm. 13 th October). On
this October day when I visit the area the fallen autumn leaves around the
monument and in Felicia’s Valley, forbidden zones and patrolling border
guards certainly feel a long way away.
Fence line
On the hill stretching eastwards from the village of Čižov towards Lukov a
330 m section of the former fence line is still standing in situ. The fence that
remains is made up of wooden poles and barbed wire and is part of the
fence installed in the late 1950s. The second signalling fence that would
have been located beyond it has been removed. It took me quite some time
to find out why this was still here. I had been shown the order to remove all
the traces dated 5 th December 1989 by military historian Tomek Prokop
(Prokop, 2009, pers. comm. 4 th December). Discussions with this historian
gave little information as he was not aware of it still standing. Only on my
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