The Flashback section focuses on the fate of the German House. A brief summary of the article is included in the English part of the magazine. Photo: Ivo Petr/Fotohistorie.cz
Built in comradeship, demolished in hatred, remembered in reconciliation and explored in hope. This is the story of the German House, a building that has not stood on Moravské Square for 75 years, and yet, has not entirely disappeared from it.
Changes in the coexistence of Czech and German communities in Brno were closely related to the fate of the German House, which was erected on today’s Moravské Square between 1888 and 1891. Especially in the interwar period, the building, which included a café, the Grand Official Hall with the second largest organ in Moravia, a restaurant, public library and gallery, provided an ideal centre for the German minority in the city. Used as the seat of the local NSDAP during World War II, the building began to be seen by Brno folk as a symbol of Nazism and oppression. In April 1945, it was damaged by shellfire, and when a fire broke out, no one wanted or dared to come to extinguish it. A few months later, its remains were finished off with dynamite. Just a few months ago, a survey of Moravské Square discovered German House cellars with 13 preserved rooms beneath the surface.
Filip Živný
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