The article focuses on the problem of „štatl“ of Brno and its inhabitants, the so called „štatlaři“. The term „štatl“ can signify the city of Brno itself, or the city center, but also a certain type of subculture and, in connection with the term „štatlaři“, the specific group of the inhabitants of Brno. The core of the article consists in the analysis of images and meanings connected with štatl and štatlaři, their image and interpretation in memories and the exploitation of their image at present (commercial use in advertising). Besides štatl, the article also reflects the specific language, the so called “hantec” that is inseparably connected with štatl. The chronological frame of the article is from the 1960s to the present, but it mentions also the so called “Brno stove” (plotna) from the beginning of the twentieth century that is often mentioned in connection with štatl. The methodological basis of research consisted in especial in oral history and analysis of documents. The basic sources for the article were interviews, memoirs and published scientific articles. The results of the analysis should serve on the one hand as contemporary interpretation of life of certain group of people in urban setting during the period of socialism, on the other hand for better understanding of the processes that are connected to the contemporary creation of local identities, as well as commercial use of cultural artifacts.
This contribution looks into the printing house of the Neumann family, which operated in Mikulov and Brno between 1768 and the beginning of the 19th century. It draws on the study of archival sources and compares them with the existing literature on this printing workshop. It focuses on the circumstances under which the printing house was founded, as well as its owners and employees. The printing production is described in terms of languages, genres, and themes. Furthermore, it explores the circle of clients and publishers for whom the printing house worked. The analysis shows that the Neumann printing house was a small-scale, local shop which operated mainly on a commercial basis for a diverse clientele.
Incunables from the Konrad Stahel’s and Matthias Preinlein’s printing press located in Brno, have survived, with a couple exceptions, in a few, or single unique copies. Each new item that can enlarge our source base is therefore of a great importance for further research. This applies to the incunabulum, Psalterium Olomucense, from 1499, preserved in four specimens known to date. As research has so far been limited to mainly bibliographical recording, little do we know about their origin and readership. The focal point of this study is another extant copy of this edition, stored in the Municipal Museum in Velká Bíteš. Although it has been located there since the end of the 19th century, it has escaped the attention of researchers. This copy contains a number of commemorative records from the first half of the 16th century, which give an account of the religious life in the town of Velká Bíteš. The study offers transcriptions and interpretation of these records, paying attention to other secondary marks – drawings and readers’ notes. The study is not only a research report; it also compares the newly discovered copy with hitherto known specimens, providing bibliographical descriptions, investigating their provenance, and analysing readers’ marks. In addition to the Psalterium, the article mentions other liturgical books from Velká Bíteš (a printed missal and a manuscript gradual), which also contain commemorative records dating back to the middle of the 17th century. Among other findings besides adding a new bibliographical record of a domestic incunable, the study reveals various ways of using psalters published by Stahel’s and Preinlein’s press in Brno. Some people used psalters for purely religious purposes, while others sought to capture events of various types (family, religious, political, military, and economic ones). A thorough analysis of these publications can therefore bring interesting information for not only librarians, but also regional historians. The description of the newly discovered specimen of books printed before the 16th century can also inspire future research in various archives, libraries, museum collections, and depositories, which may lead to identification of other unique copies.
The article analyzes set of normative sources which regulated the exercise of the profession of painters and sculptors in Brno in the 18th century (guilds’ statutes, government’s decrees, civic regulations, judicial sources etc.). The study interprets the decline of the artists’ guild organization in Brno in the 1750s in a wider perspective of economic and administrative reforms in the Habsburg monarchy. These reforms were marked by several particular initiatives made by the artist’s corporation in Brno, who came up with own unsuccessful proposals of various changes of the traditional city’s guild system. The study states that such initiatives should not be explained simply as symptoms of a changing urban society in Central Europe during the Enlightenment era, or as a consequence of the dynamics of proto-industrialization and the establishment of new economic as well educational institutions, but also as a result of the new product market and the demand shifted towards less expensive and more fashionable goods.
This contribution looks into the printing house of the Neumann family, which operated in Mikulov and Brno between 1768 and the beginning of the 19th century. It draws on the study of archival sources and compares them with the existing literature on this printing workshop. It focuses on the circumstances under which the printing house was founded, as well as its owners and employees. The printing production is described in terms of languages, genres, and themes. Furthermore, it explores the circle of clients and publishers for whom the printing house worked. The analysis shows that the Neumann printing house was a small-scale, local shop which operated mainly on a commercial basis for a diverse clientele.