Segment of the Český zvukový týdeník Aktualita (Czech Aktualita Sound Newsreel) 1942 No. 41 captures the funeral of Alexandr Commichau, head of the Reich Labour Service, held on 5 October 1942 in the Spanish Hall of Prague Castle, decorated with Nazi emblems for the occassion. The deceased´s military honours are on display next to a bier with the coffin. Mourners include the widow, a little girl and State Secretary Hermann Frank. Acting Reich Protector Kurt Daluege lays down a wreath from Adolf Hitler. The funeral speech is delivered by Deputy Chief General of RAD Wilhelm Decker (silent). The procession with the coffin, which will be transported to a crematorium in Prague, moves through the Matthias Gate.
The segment captures a commemorative act for General Milan Rastislav Štefánik held in Prague on 10 May 1919. The mourning procession moves along Na Příkopě Street and through the Powder Tower gate. The procession moves on towards Old Town Square and Invalidovna. General Otakar Husák delivers a speech from the stand. The event is attended by Deputy of the Revolutionary National Assembly František Udržal and Chief of Staff of the Czechoslovak Army General Maurice Pellé.
The segment captures the funeral of the Bishop of Prague Jan Nepomuk Sedlák, held in Prague on 3 October 1930. The funeral procession with church dignitaries sets out from the Archbishop´s Palace in Hradčany towards Hradčany Square and St. Vitus Cathedral. After the funeral ceremony and requeim, the remains of the late bishop were interred at St. Matthew Cementery in Prague-Dejvice (not seen in the footage).
The first, retrospective part of this segment consists of archival images of actor and theatre director Karel Vávra cast in the role of the investigating judge in Dostoevsky´s Crime and Punishment and in a civilian photo. The second part captures the actor´s funeral in Prague on 14 April 1931. The coffin containing the body of the deceased is carried out of the building of the Vinohrady Theatre in Prague. The segment includes two overhead shots showing the large funeral procession on Peace Square.
The first, retrospective part of this segment of Československý filmový týdeník (Czechoslovak Newsreel) 1932 No. 33 captures actress Marie Hübnerová in the garden of actress Andula Sedláčková´s house in Černošice. First, Hübnerová sits at a table, smoking, and walks in the garden and then she sits at a table with actor Hugo Haas, holding Andula Sedláčková´s daughter Marcelka on her lap. This is followed by images of Hugo Haas and Anna Sedláčková taking a boat ride.The second part of the segment captures the funeral of Marie Hübnerová held in Prague on 8 August 1931. The coffin containing the body of the late actress is carried out of the building of the National Theatre. The funeral procession makes its way along the Masaryk Embankment, up Resslova Street and stops in front of the building of the Vinohrady Theatre on Peace Square.
The segment captures the funeral of YMCA Secretary James B. McCreary, who died in a tragic accident on 7 July 1919 while recording an attempt to fly under the Railway Bridge in Prague. During the attempt, the plane went off course and crashed into the boat from which McCreary was filming the event. The funeral procession of American soldiers and Czechoslovak legionnaires emerges from the building of the military hospital on Charles Square (a former Jesuit residence hall) and continues along Ječná Street. A view of the coffin draped in an American flag and a crowd of mourners in the streets of Prague´s New Town.
The segment captures the funeral of Bishop Antonín Podlaha held in Prague on 18 February 1932. The coffin with the deceased is loaded onto a horse-drawn hearse. The funeral procession with church dignitaries makes its way across Hradčany Square, the first and second courtyards of Prague Castle and then stops in the third courtyard in front of the St. Vitus Cathedral.
A segment from the Elektajournal Production Company captures the funeral of bishop Josef Gross held in Litoměřice on 24 January 1931. The funeral procession moves through the streets of Litoměřice.
The segment captures the funeral of Cardinal Karel Kašpar held in Prague on 24 April 1941. The footage begins with archival images of Karel Kašpar. This is followed by an image of the bier with a glass casket in the Chapel of St. John the Baptist in the Archbishop´s Palace. Close-ups of the late Cardinal´s face and his hands holding a rosary. Hans Hermann Völckers, the head of the Reich Protector´s office, attends the funeral ceremony on behalf of Reich Protector Konstantin von Neurath. President Emil Hácha and Prime Minister of the Protectorate Government Alois Eliáš are seen by the coffin. The funeral procession sets out from the Archbishop´s Palace, continues across Hradčany Square to the Gate of Giants and towards St. Vitus Cathedral. The procession includes the Reich Protector´s Envoy Hans Hermann Völckers talking to Alois Eliáš, members of the Protectorate Government, Apostolic Nuncio Cesare Orsenigo, Cardinal of Vienna Theodor Innitzer, clergy and members of religious orders.The funeral ceremony continues in St. Vitus Cathedral, where Cardinal of Vienna Theodor Innitzer celebrates the pontifical requiem. Prime Minister Alois Eliáš is among the people present.
The segment captures the funeral of the wife of President T. G. Masaryk Ï the writer and feminist Charlotta Garrigue-Masaryk Ï held in Lány on 15 May 1923. The coffin is loaded onto a hearse in front of the Lány Chateau. The funeral procession sets out from the chateau towards the cemetery in Lány. The coffin is carried by Czechoslovak legionnaires; President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, with his children Alice, Jan and Olga Masaryk, son-in-law Henri Revilliod, Herbert Masaryk's widow Bohumila Masaryková Slavíčková, and granddaughters Anna and Herberta walk behind the coffin. The large funeral procession includes the Chief of the Czechoslovak Main Staff of the Armed Forces General Eugene Mittelhauser, Deputy of the National Assembly František Tomášek, the Senator of the National Assembly, Václav Klofáč, Minister of Foreign Affairs Edvard Beneš, Chancellor Přemysl Šámal, Minister of Health Jan Šrámek, Minister of National Defence František Udržal, Minister of Agriculture Milan Hodža, Prague Mayor Karel Baxa and Minister of Social Welfare Gustav Habrman. The segment ends with an image of the Lány cemetery.
Segment of the Československý filmový týdeník (Czechoslovak Newsreel) 1935 No. 24 captures the funeral of composer Josef Suk held in Prague on 3 June 1935. The footage opens with a photo of a bier with the coffin. The coffin with the deceased is carried out of the National Museum and transported at the front of the funeral procession across Wenceslaus Square, past the National Theatre, across Palacký Square and past Emmaus Monastery. The procession ends in front of the building of the Vyšehrad Town Hall, from where the remains were taken to Suk´s final resting place in his native Křečovice (not seen in the segment).
Segment from the weekly Deglův žurnál (Degl´s Journal) 1929 No. 16 captures the funeral of composer and Sokol bandleader Karel Pospíšil held in Prague on 10 April 1929. The funeral procession sets out from the Žižkov Sokol Hall in Husitská Street towards the ceremoial hall at Olšany Cemetary.
A segment from the Elektajournal Production Company captures the funeral of composer Leoš Janáček held in Brno on 18 August 1928. The coffin with the deceased is loaded onto the hearse in front of the Mahen Theatre. The widow, Zdenka Janáčková, walks behind the horse-drawn carriage. The funeral procession, which includes many representatives of the Sokols, ends at Brno Central Cemetery. The ceremony continues with a mass and the interment of the coffin in the grave.
The segment captures the funeral of aviation pioneer Jan Kašpar held in Pardubice on 6 March 1927. The funeral procession passes through the Green Gate on Pernštýn Square.
Short footage from the funeral of entrepreneur and head of the footwear imperium Tomáš Baťa and pilot Jindřich Brouček, who tragically died in a plane crash on 12 July 1932. On 14 July, crowds of people gather in the courtyard of the Zlín factory and look on as the plane in which Tomáš Bat´a and his pilot crashed passes by. This is followed by a speech by Jan Antonín Baťa delivered on 12 July 1933, on the first anniversary of his brother´s tragic death (original sound).
Unused footage from segment of the Český zvukový týdeník Aktualita (Czech Aktualita Sound Newsreel) 1944 No. 17 captures the funeral of composer and folklorist Karel Weis on 11 April at Malvazinky Cemetery in Prague-Smíchov. The funeral ceremony is attended by a number of church dignitaries. The segment concludes with the interment of the coffin in a grave.
Unedited film footage captures the funeral of General Milan Rastislav Štefánik held in Bratislava on 10 May 1919 and copntinued in the village of Brezová on 11 May. The funeral procession through Bratislava, which took place on 10 May 1919, sets off from the Grassalkovich Palace, the current presidential residence. The funeral ceremony continues the following day in the village of Brezová. Minister of Defence Václav Klofáč delivers a funeral speech. The event is attended by the Chief of Staff of the Czechoslovak Army General Maurice Pellé, Minister of Health Vavro Šrobár, chief commander of the Czechoslovak troops in Slovakia General Luigi Giuseppe Piccione, and other luminaries. The procession passes by General Štefánik´s birthplace, the former Protestant parish in the village of Košariská.
The segment captures the funeral of the Zborov hero, General Stanislav Čeček, held in Prague on 5 June 1930. The coffin with the deceased is transported from the Pantheon of the National Museum to the National Liberation Monument in Žižkov. The funeral procession includes not only representatives of the Czechoslovak Legions but also Prime Minister František Udržal and Minister of Supplies Rudolf Bechyně. General Rudolf Medek delivers a speech over the the late hero´s coffin (silent).
A segment from the weekly Fox Movietone News 1937 captures the funeral of Renata Tyršová, Sokol founder Jindřich Fügner´s daughter and Miroslav Tyrš´s wife held in Prague on 26 February 1937. The funeral procession comprising masses of Sokol officials comes out of the historic Sokol building in Sokolská Street and continues across Wenceslaus Square. Minister of Industry Josef Václav Najman, Senator of the National Assembly František Soukup, Minister of National Defence František Machník and Minister of Social Welfare Jaromír Nečas walk behind the coffin.
Segment of the Český zvukový týdeník Aktualita (Czech Aktualita Sound Newsreel) 1941 No. 5A captures the funeral of inventor František Křižík held in Prague on 27 January 1941, which became a silent yet powerful expression of Czech resistance against German occupation. The coffin with the late inventor and funeral wreaths are carried out of the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul at Vyšehrad. The solemn ceremony is concluded with the interment of the coffin in the national crypt at Slavín in Vyšehrad.