Den Toten

The complex of the biggest cemetery of Ústí nad Labem is divided into two parts. On one side are the cared for graves of the Czech population and on the other side are the tombs of the former German population. The separation is abundantly clear on the west wall of the Střekov cemetery. During the 19th century and in the beginning of the 20th century the tombs on the whole west wall of the old complex of the cemetery were sold and rented in most cases to the German population. After 1945, the German inhabitants were displaced in the context of political events: the Munich Agreement of 1938 with the incorporation of Sudeten German areas, followed by the occupation of Bohemia through German Wehrmacht and World War II.
After 1945, the consequence for the cemetery Střekov was that most of the German graves were not tended or repaired by their owners. The grounds have been provisionally cared for by the administration of the cemetery. Until now, the question of how to deal with the graves is still open.

I repaired one tomb on the west wall of cemetery Střekov. I reclaimed the tomb by cleaning the stone, gold plating the letters of the tomb slab and replanting the earth with flowers. Until today I care for the tomb. It is one of the few graves with a Czech and German background from the time before the population of Ústí nad Labem was divided into two parts by political events.