ČR will have 38 new national cultural monuments

Jože Plečnik, ramp in the tower of the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Vinohrady, photo by Damjan Prelovšek

Prague - An additional 38 objects, buildings, or items will enjoy the highest state monument protection. The proposal from the Ministry of Culture to declare them as National Cultural Monuments (NKM) was approved by the government today. Jan Cieslar, spokesperson for the Ministry of Culture, informed ČTK. The list of NKM will expand from July 1, bringing the total to 274 items.
Among the newly declared 33 immovable and five movable NKM are, for example, Plečnik's church in Prague in Vinohrady, the cubist house at the Black Madonna, the Brno Hotel Avion, the Primavesi villa in Olomouc, and technical buildings. Among the movable monuments, the highest state protection will be given to a fragment of the Latin translation of Dalimil's Chronicle or the Slovak Arrow railway motor car from 1936.
"I am very pleased that the government declared new national cultural monuments today, thus expanding the imaginary first league among our monuments," stated Minister of Culture Václav Riedlbauch.
The authority itself has the competence to declare an object or item as a cultural monument, while the government proclaims NKM. In recent years, alongside historical buildings, more recent industrial and technical structures or folk architecture buildings have also been gaining ground as NKM. In the Czech Republic, there are more than 40,000 immovable and nearly 50,000 movable cultural monuments.
Declaring cultural monuments as NKM means their reclassification into a higher value category and declares their extraordinary cultural significance. The current proposal focuses on monuments from 19th and 20th-century architecture, through works of art and technical monuments to rural folk culture, ensuring that all the most significant objects of different groups and types are represented among the national cultural monuments.
The NKM status, which represents the highest level of monument protection, means that, for example, in the case of reconstructing a building, there must be much greater emphasis on preserving its authenticity. This currently concerns, for example, the long-prepared renovation of the Tugendhat villa in Brno and the functionalist Hotel Avion, which is among the new NKM. For poor care, owners of cultural monuments can receive fines of up to two million crowns, while owners of NKM can receive fines of up to four million.
The second part of the proposed measure contains an amendment to the government regulation from 1999, which declared the Czech section of the horse-drawn railway České Budějovice - Linz as NKM, among other things. Its current definition no longer corresponds to existing geodetic documentation due to parcel division or renumbering, causing practical application problems. For this reason, a new definition of this NKM is proposed, which does not represent either an expansion or a reduction; no new section is being declared.

New immovable NKM

Archaeological site of Dolní Věstonice - Pavlov, South Moravian Region
Building of the former spinning mill with sample workshop, including machinery equipment at the factory of Alois Larisch in Krnov, Moravian-Silesian Region
Imperial baths in Karlovy Vary, Karlovy Vary Region
Wastewater treatment plant in Bubenč, Prague
Dean's Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Most, Ústí nad Labem Region
Dlask's Farm in Dolánky near Turnov, Liberec Region
House No. 92 Dřevěnka in Úpice, Hradec Králové Region
House at the Black Madonna, Prague
Fojtství in Velké Karlovice, Zlín Region
Farmyard of the castle in Zákupy, Liberec Region
Hotel Avion in Brno, South Moravian Region
Cemetery in Střílky, Zlín Region
Riding hall in Světce, Plzeň Region
Cistercian monastery Porta coeli in Předklášteří, South Moravian Region
Premonstratensian monastery in Chotěšov, Plzeň Region
Premonstratensian monastery in Želiv, Vysočina Region
Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Prague
Church of St. Bartholomew in Kočí near Chrudim, Pardubice Region
Church of St. James the Greater in Polička with the birthplace of Bohuslav Martinů, Pardubice Region
Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Karlovy Vary, Karlovy Vary Region
Crematorium in Pardubice, Pardubice Region
Spa colonnade in Mariánské Lázně, Karlovy Vary Region
Park and castle in Průhonice, Central Bohemian Region
Štáfl's cottage in Havlíčkův Brod, Vysočina Region
Windmill in Kuželov, South Moravian Region
Villa Primavesi in Olomouc, Olomouc Region
Water hammer in Dobřív, Plzeň Region
Hydroelectric power plant - dam Les Království in Bílá Třemešná, Hradec Králové Region
Castle Červené Poříčí, Plzeň Region
Castle with fortifications in Pardubice, Pardubice Region
Castle Vimperk, South Bohemian Region
Agricultural homestead No. 3 in Krnín, South Bohemian Region
State Stud Farm in Písek, South Bohemian Region

New movable NKM

Premyslid Crucifix from Jihlava, Vysočina Region
Světelský altar, South Moravian Region
Záviš's cross from the monastery in Vyšší Brod, South Bohemian Region
Fragment of the Latin translation of the Chronicle of so-called Dalimil, Prague
Railway motor car M 290.001 - Slovenská strela, Moravian-Silesian Region