Czech-Bavarian project prepares an archeocenter on the borders

Archeopark Pavlov, Architectural Office Radko Květ

Plzeň - The ArchaeoCentre Czech Republic-Bavaria is being established on the Czech-Bavarian border in the town of Bärnau in the Upper Palatinate near Tachov. The three-year project, supported by the European Union, will offer a workshop in experimental archaeology and a replica of the court building of Charles IV from the 14th century to both experts and the general public. The Archaeocentre will loosely continue the historical park Bärnau - Tachov, which has been dedicated to history from the 8th to the 13th century for several years, said Stefan Wolters from the Via Carolina association, which is carrying the project.

The establishment of the ArchaeoCentre, which is intended to be open to students and schoolchildren as well as a tourist attraction for the public, involves collaboration with museums in Plzeň and Tachov, as well as the West Bohemia University (ZČU) in Plzeň and Charles University. They will contribute in various ways to the popularization of archaeology and support the project. For example, the Faculty of Education at ZČU will prepare methodological sheets, a board game, educational and didactic materials for training and education for students and the public. Archaeologists from the Faculty of Arts at ZČU want to prepare an archaeological atlas of the Czech-Bavarian border region, said the faculty dean, Pavel Vařeka.

The project received 3.3 million euros (over 89 million CZK) from the EU. With this funding, an archaeological workshop with a laboratory and modern equipment will be built by April 2018. "In this building, archaeological experiments will take place, bi-lingual exhibitions will be held, and at the same time the general public will be able to observe how archaeologists work," said Václav Vrbík, the project manager of the centre. At the same time, a medieval courtyard of Charles IV will start to be constructed as an archaeological experiment using medieval materials and techniques. Bärnau lies on the golden road that Charles IV traveled, where he built similar courtyards to have a place to sleep during his travels.

Construction of the courtyard will begin this summer with four craftsmen. The final form of the courtyard will include a stone entrance portal with a guardhouse, a large palace-type building, workshops, stables, and a chapel, all surrounded by a high stone wall. Wolters estimated that the construction of the courtyard will take 15 to 20 years. During the three-year duration of the project, the portal building with a guardhouse should be completed, at least to the height of the rafters, two half-timbered buildings, and part of the fortifications.

The third important part of the project is popularization, organizing lectures, workshops, and exhibitions in the archaeological center as well as in the museums in Plzeň and Tachov.

The current historical park Bärnau-Tachov covers an area of six hectares and features 26 replicas of historical buildings. Since 2011, it has been visited by over 110,000 history enthusiasts, added Wolters.