Umělecká beseda

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Umělecká beseda ( Artistic Association ) is one of the oldest Czech associations. It was founded by Czech patriots during the Czech national movement in the second half of the 19th century . It was officially founded in 1862. The constituent meeting took place on March 9, 1863 in the Old Town Hall in Prague .

In the first five years the writer Josef Wenzig , who also wrote the libretto for Smetana's Libuše , held the chair. The seat of the company was in the old town in the Kettenstrasse. No. 223/5.

The focus of the association's work was the promotion of music, literature and the visual arts. Umělecká beseda organized lectures and exhibitions, theater performances and readings. The aim was to maintain the fine arts, diffuse aesthetics and preserve Bohemian art and its monuments. Thanks to the association, one of the three Romanesque rotundas in Prague was preserved (Rotunda of the Holy Cross in Prague's Old Town - Staré Město).

The association also included a housing association, represented by the poet, writer and journalist Viktor Dyk , which managed apartments on the Lesser Town (Malá Strana). Among other things, the Osvobozené divadlo theater was housed in their buildings .

The association was dissolved on June 26, 1972 and liquidated on March 31, 1974. The archive was given to the Prague National Writing Museum, some of the cultural treasures went to the National Gallery in Prague , and some were also given to the capital's archive. In 1990 the association was re-established. Since then he has continued his program with the organization of exhibitions, readings and concerts.

Members of the association

The founding members were

The association included scientists, musicians, composers, painters, writers, librarians, archivists and teachers, but also technically minded intellectuals such as engineers and architects. Members included:

Foreign personalities also joined as honorary members, including:

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