The Story of the Old Most - Exhibition

23.10.2020 - 17.1.2021

THE STORY OF THE OLD MOST 

23. 10. 2020 - 17. 1. 2021

The exhibition is dedicated to the memory of historian Heide Mannlová Raková (1941–2000), who devoted her life to the understanding and preservation of the cultural heritage of Most and the Most region. The exhibition is organized by the Regional Museum and Gallery in Most in collaboration with the Ústí Region, with financial support from the Czech Republic - Free State of Saxony Cooperation Program 2014-2020, as a result of the project Art of the Late Middle Ages in the Mining Area of the Ore Mountains, reg. no. 100289027, and with financial support from the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.

Between 1965 and 1987, one of the most valuable historical cores of the Czech Republic – the old Most – was lost due to "submersion." The dean's church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary remains a permanent memento of this unforgivable destruction of cultural values. The highly valuable architectural-urban heritage of the old Most was destroyed, and only a small part was saved by the then state heritage care. Thanks to the involvement of the then District Museum in Most in the rescue efforts, many movable cultural heritage monuments from the demolished buildings were preserved in its own collection. Although the museum itself faced spatial problems and had to move three times, it managed to save many items from historical interiors and exteriors of buildings, as well as from the public urban space, from total destruction or loss. A significant contribution to this was also the tireless activity and personal commitment of Heide Mannlová, née Raková. She managed the museum's exceptionally valuable collection of fine arts throughout her tenure at the Most Museum (1961–1999). Since the establishment of the Most City Museum in 1888, the collection expanded, particularly in connection with the overall construction activity in the city. Thus, thanks to the existence of the museum, artistic objects that existed before the destruction of Most became part of the collection, which today serves as the only tangible evidence of the past of this significant and rich town in the Ore Mountains, continuously evolving since the Middle Ages, as well as the works that document it.

The exhibition thus once again makes accessible to the public the collection of fine arts, which aims to bring closer the appearance of the old Most and its artistic and architectural values.

Author and curator of the exhibition: Jitka Šrejberová

Artistic design of the exhibition: Pavel Koch

Opening on 22. 10. 2020 private

Open daily except Mondays from 12:00 – 18:00, Sat – Sun, holidays from 10:00 – 18:00, closed on 24. 12. and 31. 12.

Admission: 30 CZK full / 15 CZK reduced

ACCOMPANYING PROGRAM: guided tours of the exhibition with the author 

Wed 25. 11. 2020 at 5 PM

Wed 9. 12. 2020 at 5 PM

Wed 6. 1. 2021 at 5 PM

Proceedings of contributions on the occasion of the exhibition The Story of the Old Most

ŠREJBEROVÁ, Jitka (ed.). The Story of the Old Most / Die Geschichte der alten Stadt Most: In memory of Heide Mannlová Raková / Zum Andenken an Heide Mannlová Raková. Proceedings of contributions on the occasion of the exhibition The Story of the Old Most, Regional Museum and Gallery in Most, 23 October 2020 – 17 January 2021: Sammelband der Beiträge anlässlich der Ausstellung Die Geschichte der alten Stadt Most, Regionalmuseum und Galerie in Most, 23. Oktober 2020 – 17. Januar 2021.

Most: Regional Museum and Gallery in Most, 2020. 128 p. ISBN 978-80-85115-44-4.

The publication was created as a collection of contributions for the exhibition of the same name The Story of the Old Most, held at the Regional Museum and Gallery in Most (23. 10. 2020 – 17. 1. 2021), as a result of the Czech-German cross-border project Art of the Late Middle Ages in the Mining Area of the Ore Mountains. The individual contributions of the proceedings, as well as parts of the exhibition, are connected by the personality of the Most historian Heide Mannlová Raková, whose professional activities are followed. The proceedings, like the exhibition itself, are dedicated to her memory.

Her professional work can be divided primarily into three main areas of interest – 1) the old Most and the Most region, 2) fine arts in relation to the collection of the Most Museum, and 3) heraldry and genealogy. Her museum work was most closely connected with the rescue of the disappearing old Most. Her publications, exhibitions, lectures, and other professional activities focused primarily on preserving the legacy of the old town, whose memento became the dean's church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Most.

The proceedings include a total of five contributions. The introductory contribution by Jitka Šrejberová deals with the connection between the private and professional life of Heide Mannlová Raková and the fate of the town of Most. This is followed by a pair of contributions from authors – German researcher Stefan Bürger and Czech researcher Pavel Kalina, each examining her research on the dean's church in Most from a different perspective. For her, this church was a fundamental subject of research. The proceedings thus present various moments from which her research can be summarized and evaluated. The contribution by Martin Myšička then presents the history of the church in archival sources against the backdrop of her research. The concluding section by Tomáš Pavlíček is dedicated to the transformation of the historical urban landscape of the royal town of Most, which was one of Heide Mannlová Raková's important interests. She fully realized the importance of studying the urban and architectural development of the town and used its rich historical iconography to preserve the memory of the destroyed town.

Contents:

• Jitka Šrejberová, The Story of the Old Most and Heide Mannlová Raková

• Stefan Bürger, The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Most between Czech and Saxon Architecture – Reflections Expanding the Knowledge of Heide Mannlová / Die Himmelfahrtskirche in Most/Brüx zwischen böhmischer und sächsischer Baukultur – Weiterführende Überlegungen zu den Erkenntnissen von Heide Mannlová

• Pavel Kalina, Heide Mannlová Raková and the Dean's Church of the Virgin Mary in Most

• Martin Myšička, The Dean's Church in Most in Archival Sources

• Tomáš Pavlíček, Note on the Urban and Architectural Development of the Royal Town of Most and its Surroundings from the Early 17th Century to the 20th Century with Special Regard to Development in the Baroque Era

The contents of the book are supplemented by bibliographies of Heide Mannlová Raková and an overview of exhibitions and displays she created or participated in; as well as a comprehensive list of literature and sources. At the end of the publication, there is a section introducing the exhibition The Story of the Old Most, which was prepared for the Regional Museum and Gallery in Most by Jitka Šrejberová, with the artistic design created by academic painter Pavel Koch.

Prepared by Mgr. Jitka Šrejberová, Ph.D., art historian, Regional Museum and Gallery in Most, p. o.