Ing. Karel Stein

* 1954

  • “If we’re talking about German-Czech relations, an interesting thing is that my grandmother, who was born in the year 1900, used to say that Sudeten Germans distinguished between Old Czechs and New Czechs. But not in the sense as it’s taught at school [vernacular terms for two rival Czech political parties in the later 19th century - trans.]. Old Czechs were those who came before 1918, who came to find work. The mostly married German women, at home they spoke German or a mix of Czech and German. She said that there was absolutely no problem coexisting together before 1918 or in the early days of the First Republic, and that it wasn’t until during the First Republic, when important positions were taken by Czechs and Germans were forced to leave their jobs, that the German inhabitants, who had lived here for centuries, felt to certain extent threatened by the Czechs, some kind of Czechisation, so they were afraid. And this was aggravated by unemployment, that’s how my grandmother explained the rise of nationalistic tensions to me.”

  • “The interesting this is a lot of people built on Míla Nevrlý’s work, whereas I researched local history at the same time as he did, and to begin with I knew nothing about him. I remember feeling like a total loon because no one else was interested in anything even slightly similar in the Seventies and early Eighties. I felt I was all alone in it. Except when I visited the archive in Děčín, where there were a few people, for example Doctor Helena Smíšková, who took an interest in history and local history. But I felt very lonely in Varnsdorf. Almost like a freak... And now there’s a society established under the museum, clubs, all sorts of activities going on now, I had no idea it could happen. Then when I discovered Míla Nevrlý’s Kniha Jizerských hor [Book of the Jizera Mountains], I reckoned: ‘I’m not completely alone on this world, there is someone else who’s interested in the same thing.’ I was deeply touched by the book, completely enthused; we became good friends with Míla. That was nice.”

  • “[Q: When you made some local history discovery, did you make it public somehow, or did you just store it in your own archives? For instance, Míla Nevrlý wrote books, other people wrote articles in magazines...] No one was interested in that kind of subject back in the days, and you couldn’t write about them - every periodical has some designation, and these matters didn’t fit into their scope. I wrote it down on my type writer, and I used carbon paper and gave the copies out to my friends, for example, to Míla Nevrlý or Engineer Bienert, that is, to people whom I thought might be interested. But to be honest I found out that most people aren’t all that bothered about it, that I’m the one who’s interested the most. Then I published a book called Pomníčky Lužických hor a Českého Švýcarska [Memorials of the Lusatian Mountains and Bohemian Switzerland], where I used the most interesting parts of my notes.”

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    Děčín, 22.12.2014

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    délka: 27:35
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Stories of 20th Century
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I studied in local history at a time when there was almost no interest in such subjects

Karel Stein (in 1976)
Karel Stein (in 1976)
zdroj: archiv pamětníka

Karel Stein was born on 9 September 1954 into a Germa-Czech family in Varnsdorf. His father raised him up to take an interest in nature and the countryside. At primary school he joined a tourist club and met with Mr Bienert from Šluknov, who further developed his love of local history. As an adult he transformed this hobby into a systematic discipline. Karel Stein researched German literature, visited local witnesses, compiled maps of local names, and recorded approximately two hundred testimonies. He used the most interesting material when writing his book Pomníčky Lužických hor a Českého Švýcarska (Memorials of the Lusatian Mountains and Bohemian Switzerland). After university, Karel Stein worked as a surveyor at Building Structures Děčín for ten years. He then found employment at the Administration of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains PLA (protected landscape area), where he remains to this day.