Architect Girsa participated in the restoration of castles and châteaux, in Liberec there is an exhibition about him

Publisher
ČTK
22.10.2025 22:50
Czech Republic

Liberec

Václav Girsa

Liberec – Müller villa in Prague, the castle in Český Krumlov, or the castles Grabštejn and Bezděz are among the buildings that architect Václav Girsa contributed to restoring. Visitors to the North Bohemian Museum in Liberec can now familiarize themselves with his work. The museum director Jiří Křížek told ČTK that this is the first standalone exhibition dedicated to this architect. The exhibition "Houses with Memory" will run until March 1 next year.


"We are presenting the work of architect Václav Girsa, who unfortunately is not very well known in the Liberec region, so it is about reminding this prominent figure. And it is also because he celebrated his 80th birthday this year, so it is a kind of thank you for his work, which is unassuming, even though it is monumental," said Křížek.

Girsa has been involved in the restoration of monuments in the Czech Republic since the 1970s. "For me personally, the strongest story is that of Grabštejn, whose condition was absolutely desperate even in the mid-'90s," said the museum director. The castle near Hrádek nad Nisou faced the threat of becoming a ruin 30 years ago. Its rescue cost around 100 million crowns.

"For the exhibition catalog, among other things, the Heritage Institute provided us with photographs of how Grabštejn looked before the renovation led by Václav Girsa. And that is a fundamental transformation. When you are at Grabštejn now, you feel like centuries are passing and nothing is happening. But then when you see a photo of a Renaissance fireplace shattered by a pickaxe and the collapsed roofs after the care of the People's Democratic Army, you see how over these 30 years the entire area has been revitalized, completed. And for me, it is a huge dose of optimism that there are no hopeless situations when we look at some dilapidated monuments," the museum director stated.

He characterized Girsa's approach to monuments as respectful. According to him, Girsa's method of restoration consists of not changing the appearance, managing to fix and stabilize everything. "The goal is not to complete the castle into some hypothetical form from the 13th or 14th century. It is like a work of art that you just retouch, stabilize," he said.

Visitors to the exhibition in Liberec have the opportunity to glimpse the process of the rebirth of historical architecture through photographs, documentary films, and unique artifacts such as a preserved letter from craftsmen. The exhibition also features a model of the first-republican Müller villa and includes a documentary film about the reconstruction of this functionalist villa. "Its restoration is possibly the most famous realization by Girsa, which was internationally awarded the Europa Nostra Award by the European Union," added the museum director.

The exhibition also includes drawings that Girsa made as a seven or eight-year-old child. "It is an example of how an ordinary boy, who loves castles and chateaux, draws Hussites, and becomes such a knowledgeable expert. And it may inspire some children who come here about where they will head in their lives," Křížek added.
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