Peršlák barracks

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The Peršlák barracks is a former border barracks in the Czech Republic . The barracks building is located on the Czech border with Austria , directly at the northernmost point of Austria. It became known through the only preserved "Stone of the Republic". The building has been used as a hotel since 1992, and there has also been a border museum since 2008 .

Geographical location

The Peršlák barracks are located just under two kilometers southwest of the Nový Vojířov district in the Czech Republic, which belongs to Nová Bystřice, and one kilometer north of Rottal . It is right on the border with Austria at the Novomlýnský rybník pond fed by the Neumühlbach / Koštěnický potok.

history

The building was erected in 1922 on the Neumühle near Böhmisch Bernschlag / Český Peršlak as a border barracks or as a customs guard on the Czechoslovakian-Austrian border. After Austria was " annexed " to Germany in 1938, soldiers and troops from the SOS units were stationed in addition to the border guards. The stone of the republic, which stands in front of the building today, also dates from this time.

During the Second World War , the area was first used as accommodation for the Wehrmacht and, from 1940, the Hitler Youth . From 1945 to 1948 customs officers moved in again. In 1948 the barracks were taken over by the border guard (PS - Pohraniční stráž) of Czechoslovakia . These were considered elite units. In addition to internal border security, which was intended to prevent citizens of the Warsaw Pact countries from fleeing , one of the main tasks was to work closely with the people's militias (LM - Lidové Milice) and to bring the inhabitants of the border region into line with politics.

In 1992 the area was privatized and converted into the Peršlák Forest Hotel .

Stone of the Republic

The Republic Stone is in front of the building. It is made of sandstone and has the shape of the former Czechoslovakia, including Carpathian Russia . The first inscription comes from Czechoslovak customs officers from 1938.

The text reads: “It belongs to us, it remains ours, 1938”. Original text in Czech: “Naše je a naše zůstane, 1938”. This meant the republic. After the annexation of the Sudetenland, soldiers of the Wehrmacht chiseled the following text: "Until we came, 1938". After the war, in 1945, when Czech customs officers again moved into the barracks, they added the inscription: “The truth wins”. Original text in Czech: “ Pravda vítězí ”. This was also the motto of the exile armies of Czechoslovakia.

According to the deputy head of the Military History Museum in Prague , Lieutenant Colonel Eduard Stehlík, there were several such stones of the republic, which were individually designed by the individual crews of the barracks. Most of them have already been destroyed by the Wehrmacht, the rest were removed by the communist rulers between 1948 and 1989. The stone of the republic in front of the Peršlák forest hotel is the only one that has survived.

It is visited by numerous tourists and school classes. A true-to-original copy will also be shown at the Lower Austrian Provincial Exhibition .

Border Museum

Since 2008, the building has also housed a museum that deals with the history of the border between Austria and Czechoslovakia. You can see figures in uniforms of all armies that have been stationed in this border area since 1848. There are also plans, photos and drawings of bunkers and positions that were erected along the border in 1938 .

Since the exhibits show more of the military history, there are small arms, rifles, military maps, accessories, but also photos and field post letters from several armies that passed through this area. Many of the exhibits are archaeological finds, but also gifts from Sudeten Germans.

Web links

Coordinates: 49 ° 1 ′ 14.6 ″  N , 15 ° 1 ′ 32.6 ″  E