Hradní stráž
|
Hradní stráž |
|
|---|---|
 emblem |
|
| active | 1918 to the present |
| Country |
 Czech Republic
|
| Armed forces | Czech armed forces |
| Branch of service | Guard |
| Strength | 653 |
| commander | |
| Colonel | Radim Studený |
The Hradní stráž (German castle guard ) is a special brigade of the armed forces of the Czech Republic . She reports to the Head of the Military Office of the President of the Czech Republic . The current commanding officer is Colonel Radim Studený.
history
First republic
The castle guard was set up on December 7, 1918 by the first President of Czechoslovakia Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk to secure his official residence at Prague Castle . With the establishment of the President's Office in 1919, the Military Department became an integral part of it. A member of this department was the castle commander, who was in charge of the castle guard. The castle guard formed a special part of the Czecho-Slovak army under the supreme command of the president. The castle guard barracks were located on St. George's Square ( Jiřské náměstí ). Until 1920 the castle guard was provided from the ranks of the Sokol Association of Hradčany , after which it was manned by returning legionnaires . In 1921, President Masaryk moved his headquarters to Lány Castle and made Topoľčianky Castle another annex, which he used for recreation and trips to the Slovak part of the country. Both objects were also placed under the protection of the castle guard. With the signing of the document on the organization and function of the castle guard by President Masaryk in 1922, the foundation phase was completed. The castle guard at that time consisted of 195 officers and NCOs. In the same year, the President 's Chief of Protocol, Jiří Guth-Jarkovský , worked out a new ceremony for the castle guards, which has largely been retained to this day. At the same time, the ongoing addition of the castle guard from the ranks of the Czechoslovak Army was established.
Because of the uniforms of the castle guards, no consensus could be found for a long time between the Military Department of the President's Office and the Ministry of National Defense. In 1929, the Minister of National Defense finally gave his approval for the castle guards to wear the historical legionnaire's uniform. On the occasion of the celebrations for the eleventh anniversary of the founding of the state, the castle guard appeared in the legionnaire's uniform for the first time on October 28, 1929.
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
After the German occupation of the country on March 15, 1939, the castle guard was on duty at Prague Castle until June 29, 1939, after which it was disbanded.
From July 1, 1939, the duties of the castle guard were carried out by the 1st Battalion of the government troops of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia . These were initially limited to guarding the Lány Castle, where the sick head of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia , Emil Hácha, lived. In November 1939, the 1st Battalion also took on guard duties in a small part of the Prague castle area, which was largely guarded by German troops. During the Prague uprising , the 1st Battalion took part on the side of the Czech resistance. The Wehrmacht sealed off Prague Castle and executed Czech patriots in the lower Hirschgraben .
Period after World War II and during communist rule
On May 12, 1945, on the orders of Defense Minister Ludvík Svoboda , the government troops were withdrawn from guarding the Prague Castle. President Edvard Beneš briefly assigned guard duties to members of his personal protection team from exile in Britain. A little later, the castle guard was re-established based on the pre-war model, but the establishment of the state security resulted in some new regulations on competencies. Lieutenant Colonel Novák, who had previously been responsible for protecting Edvard Beneš in London, was appointed commander. The members of the castle guard came u. a. from the ranks of the resistance in exile and the former 1st Battalion of the government troops. In July 1945, the ceremonial handover of the banner, which had been kept in a hiding place during the occupation, took place. After the resignation of President Beneš and the seizure of power by the Communists, the new President Klement Gottwald gradually curtailed the sole right of the castle guard to protect the president from June 1948, so that the castle guard ultimately only had external guarding and representative tasks, which left them lost its meaning. The internal security tasks of Prague Castle were assigned to the Hrad Department of the State Security, to which the castle guard was subordinated. This was accompanied by a gradual change of soldiers; Because of the lack of new professional soldiers , conscripts were used.
On December 15, 1952, the castle guard was completely removed from the army and assigned to the Ministry of the Interior as the 14th Special Battalion and subordinated to the 1st Motomechanized Brigade of the Inner Guard. In the 1950s and 1960s, the battalion was also given property protection for the Ministry of National Security, the seats of the Prime Minister and the State Planning Commission, and other public buildings. In 1960 the battalion was relocated from the barracks on St. Georg Square to the Martinic Palace on Loreto Street ( Loretánská ulice ). In 1962, the castle guard was once again separated from the 1st Motor Mechanized Brigade of the Inner Guard and, as the 7th Special Battalion, it was directly subordinate to the command of the Inner Guard. The new battalion commander was Major Karel Svoboda on January 1, 1963, who held this position until 1987. After the merger of the command offices of the Inner Guard and the Border Guard in 1964 , the 7th Special Battalion was subordinated to the 2nd Regiment of the Inner Guard in Vršovice. At that time, the castle guard was called in by the VIII. Administration of the National Security Corps (SNB) for security actions at public events. From 1966 the 7th Special Battalion was directly under the Civil Defense Staff in the Ministry of the Interior. On March 1, 1970, by order of the Minister of the Interior from the 7th Special Battalion, the Hradní stráž ČSSR was founded and placed under the 5th Administration of the Corps of National Security (SNB). A statute regulates the tasks of the Hradní stráž ČSSR in detail . In the same year, a barracks for the basic training of those called up to the castle guard was built in the former health resort of Dobrá Voda . In the period that followed, the castle guard handed over the protection of various public buildings to the V Administration of the National Security Corps and the Security Regiment of the Ministry of the Interior, so that between 1973 and 1975 the Prague Castle was the only object of particular importance that the castle guard was responsible for protecting . Together with the President's Office and the V Administration of the National Security Corps, the Castle Guard was responsible for the public presentation of the Bohemian Crown Insignia in 1968 and 1975.
On the basis of the command č. 019/76 of the Interior Minister, the castle guard became part of the newly formed troops of the Interior Ministry in 1976. From 1978, the castle guard was also subordinated to the 5th administration of the National Security Corps when performing security tasks. Organizationally, the castle guard was then divided into two guards. The guard Hrad carried out the representative guarding of the Prague Castle. The Belvedér Guard was responsible for protecting the President's residence in collaboration with the V Administration of the National Security Corps . In 1981 the guard battalion Dříň near Kladno was subordinated to the castle guard, which was again responsible for protecting the Lány castle.
After the Velvet Revolution
After the Velvet Revolution , on January 8, 1990 , President Václav Havel visited the castle guard barracks on Loretánská ulice. By the Federal Assembly ( Federální shromáždění ) passed law č. 20/1990 via the administration for the protection of the president and the castle guard, this was transferred from the responsibility of the interior ministry to the department of the ministry for national defense and subordinated directly to the military office of the president. Subsequently, the gradual expansion of new organizational structures began with six guard and security units at the three locations in Prague, Lány and Dobrá Voda. The Burgwache fanfare orchestra and a motorcycle squadron were newly created. The guarding of Prague Castle has also been changed. In addition to the original Hrad guard with the guard room in the IV. Inner courtyard, the Zahrady guard with a guard room in the stable yard was created to protect the president's garden residence in the royal garden . With the opening of the southern part of the gardens of Prague Castle and the Royal Garden to the public, the castle guards were given security duty in the gardens. On March 15, 1990, the castle guard received a new uniform based on a design by the artist Theodor Pištěk . At the same time, a new ceremonial changing of the guard with musical accompaniment was introduced in the first courtyard of Prague Castle. In 1992 the castle guard resumed the original tradition of lighting the Christmas tree on St. Georg-Platz with a subsequent St. Nicholas Festival for the children, the proceeds of which go to SOS Children's Villages . The Slovak members of the castle guards were withdrawn to Bratislava on November 16, 1992 , where they served as the basis for the formation of a similar unit in Slovakia in preparation for the division of the country . On February 20, 1993, a standard was ceremoniously awarded by the President of the Czech Republic. In 1997 the castle guard was split into two battalions. With the law č. 219/1999 Sb, in which the castle guard was listed as part of the armed forces in addition to the army and the military office of the president, the position of the castle guard within the armed forces was strengthened. During the Vltava flood in 2002, on the orders of the president from the castle guard, a separate unit for maintaining public order in the evacuation shelters in the Strahov dormitories and repairing the damage in Lysolaje and the Central Military Archives was spun off from August 19 to September 15, 2002. The barracks in Dobrá Voda were closed in 2003.
assignment
The main task of the castle guards is the external guarding of the Prague Castle area and ensuring its defense. The castle guard is also responsible for guarding and defending the temporary residence of the president and his guests, in particular the summer residence of Lány Castle .
In addition, the castle guard is responsible for organizing and securing military honors during official state visits and receptions for the heads of diplomatic missions by the president.
The approval of the President is required for the transfer of other tasks.
organization
The castle guard has a manpower of 653 people, including 81 officers, 75 ensigns, 377 NCOs, 77 crew members and 43 civilian employees.
It is divided into
- the headquarters (staff of the castle guard, staff, logistics)
- the 1st Battalion (headquarters, three guard companies )
- the 2nd Battalion (command, three guard companies)
- the music of the castle guard
- and a security company (motorcycle train, dog handler train , transport train, depot train)
The castle guard is barracked in the former Martinic Palace in Loretánská ulice ( Loreto Street ).
equipment
The castle guard usually wears a special uniform, which was designed in 1990 based on a design by the visual artist Theodor Pištěk. In individual cases, the uniform of the Army of the Czech Republic is also worn.
The armament consists of the submachine gun vz. 61 , supplemented by the machine gun vz. 59 . On ceremonial occasions, the castle guard is vz with a nickel-plated version of the rifle . 52/57 armed.
Summer uniform
Winter uniform
Changing of the guard in front of Prague Castle
Changing of the guard in the courtyard
Guard elevator in Prague Castle in winter uniform
Music by the castle guards at the changing of the guard in the first courtyard
Individual evidence
- ↑ Zákon č. 219/1999 Sb., O ozbrojených silách České republiky. In: Sbírka zákonů. September 14, 1999, roč. 1999. ISSN 1211-1244 . § 3. Ve znění pozdějších předpisů
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from June 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from June 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from June 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
