Symbolic cemetery (High Tatras)
The Symbolic cemetery (Slovak cintorín Symbolický , Symbolický cintorín pri Popradskom plese ) in the Tatras is since 1940 on the steep slope of the Ostrva near the mountain lake Popradské pleso in a pineal -Hain with stone blocks at an altitude of 1525 m nm with plaques for the in the High Tatras as well as those who died in other mountains.
The cemetery can be reached via the yellow hiking trail from Popradské pleso or via a branch off the blue hiking trail between the Popradské pleso stop of the Tatra Electric Railway and Popradské pleso.
history
The idea of building a symbolic cemetery was developed in 1930 by the Czech academic painter Otakar Štáfl , who visited Slovakia during the Austro-Hungarian era . One of the basic ideas was to concentrate the memorial plaques on the respective accident site in one place. With his wife and a few friends, he began building the cemetery in 1936. The wood carver Jozef Fekiač-Šumný from Detva made a total of 60 colored wooden crosses for the cemetery, while local businesses built the small chapel. Otakar Štáfl himself contributed the oil painting "Removal of an Injured Mountaineer".
The cemetery was opened on August 11, 1940 with the presence of the President of the Slovak Republic Jozef Tiso and the Bishop of Spiš under the motto “Honor the dead, warn the living” . The first panel is dedicated to the Hungarian mountaineer Jenő Wachter , who fell while abseiling from the Žabí kôň in the High Tatras in 1907 . On a stone block at the entrance, under the Slovak coat of arms, stands the motto “The known and unknown victims of the High Tatras”. The cemetery has been a national cultural monument since 1970.
present
Today the administration of the Tatra National Park looks after the cemetery. According to their information, there are more than 370 memorial plaques with more than 500 names in the cemetery (as of 2019). There are 77 wooden crosses in the cemetery, 47 of which are original crosses. Due to aesthetic reasons and limited space, the administration only allows up to about 10 new badges per year.
Similar cemeteries
There are similar cemeteries in other mountains in Slovakia. This includes cemeteries in Zverovka in the Western Tatras , in Vrátna Valley in the Little Fatra in Kláštorisko in Slovak Paradise , near the mountain hut Kráľova studňa in the Great Fatra and in Demänovská Dolina in the Low Tatras .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Známym i neznámym obetiam Vysokých Tatier , pohrebnictvo.sk of October 12, 2011 (Slovak), accessed on September 23, 2019
Web links
- An article about the cemetery in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
- Tatra National Park Administration page to the cemetery (Slovak)
Coordinates: 49 ° 8 ′ 55.2 " N , 20 ° 4 ′ 43.4" E