BUILDING OF THE MUSEUM

From 1904 to the present day, several generations of museum workers in Kyjov have accumulated 100,000 collection items. The collections also include 1,500 old prints from the 15th to the 19th centuries, which originally belonged to the library of the Piarist monastery in Kyjov, and among which there is also one rare first print.

The museum library, which contains around 12,000 books, is used for the study purposes of the museum staff, as well as by researchers from both the professional and lay public. Researchers can search for books in the library’s catalogue from the comfort of their own home using their computer. The library is connected to the Comprehensive Catalogue of the Czech Republic on the internet. In addition to collection-building activities, registration, and care of collections, museum staff organize short-term exhibitions several times a year.

These exhibitions feature both the museum’s own collections, which are otherwise inaccessible to the public, and the collection funds of other museums. In addition to exhibitions focused on museum artifacts, there are also art exhibitions.

FOLK CULTURE IN THE KYJOV REGION

The region is essentially split into two parts – the northern and southern sections, which differ slightly in traditional customs. Kyjov is the main center for the entire territory, which encompasses the areas of Zdanice, Vracov, and neighboring villages.

The northern part includes the municipalities of Bukovany, Celoznice, Hysly, Jezov, Kelcany, Kostelec, Labuty, Moravany, Skalka, Skoronice, Sobulky, Vlkos, Vresovice, Zadovice, and Kyjov. It also encompasses some former municipalities that have been enveloped – Bohuslavice, Borsov, and Netcice.

Adjacent to the northern section is the Zdanice part, containing Archlebov, Damborice, Drazuvky, Lovcice, Nasedlovice, Nechvalin, Nenkovice, Ostrovanky, Silnicna, Stavesice, Strazovice, Uhrice, Veterov, Zdrava Voda, Zarosice, Zdanice, and Zeletice.

The southern part of the Kyjov region, which includes Dubnany, Milotice, Svatoborice-Mistrin, Ratiskovice, and Vacenovice, was once greatly influenced by an area referred to as Podluzi.
The historical development of the two distinct parts has caused differences between them in certain aspects of folk culture, particularly in terms of dialect and the traditional costumes worn by men. Naturally, certain features are mutual to both, and these prevail across the entire region.
An ethnographic database named Folk Culture in the Kyjov Region provides detailed information on such matters.

PERMANENT EXHIBITION NATURE

The nature of the Kyjov region is diverse – ranging from large and small fields, meadows with rare plants and animals, and a number of ponds up to the Chriby forests.

An entire range of inhabitants of this microworld can be encountered here: from quite rare species up to common animals, from the smallest beetles to large representatives of the family Cervidae. Let’s take a look at their world in the Nature exhibition.

ARCHAELOGY EXPOSITION

The Langobard Underworld Dwellings demonstrate a unique burial site from the Migration period that was unearthed by the archaeologists of the Masaryk Museum in Hodonín in 2010. With 240 graves, it is currently the largest explored necropolis of an important Germanic tribe in Central Europe.

There is an unusual concentration of individual grave pits in a relatively small area. The skeletal remains are very well conserved, and a number of interesting, preserved goods have survived grave robberies typical of the turbulent times of the past.

They are often deep burial pits with special wooden containers for the deceased. Certain grave sacrifices provide evidence of the Langobard aristocracy. One of the greatest ‘catches’ is the unrobbed grave of a warrior buried with his horse, dog, and a lavish weapon and armour.
The extraordinary informational value of the findings in excellent condition is thus accompanied by exceptional emotional experience.

The Langobard Household provides evidence that objects related to everyday life used to be added to graves for the deceased in the afterlife. Visitors can therefore clearly see that this includes kitchen and tableware made of ceramics and wood, as well as various tools, instruments, and other products of skilled craftsmen used in ordinary practice.

The Langobard Treasury presents several quite exceptional clothing decorations made of precious materials for noble ladies of high society. The cultural development culminated in a form of magnificent jewellery with coloured gemstones or glass with gold and silver backing foils known from Moravia across the former Roman province of Pannonia to northern Italy.
The luxurious gilded collection, so far little known to the professional public from other Moravian sites, is of aesthetic significance for the general public as well.

SLAHACKA in Svatoborice-Mistrin

Easter Monday is the most important day of the Easter season in terms of customs. This day is still dedicated to the ritual ‘whipping’ of girls, called slahacka, in the Kyjov region. The whip, locally called a pomlazka, is a device made of entwined young willow or goat willow rods used to ‘whip’ or spank girls. The right to use pomlazka started at Sunday midnight. Boys visited the girls they loved, in turn, embroidered kerchiefs with painted Easter eggs (kraslice) were exchanged as a sign of affection. Subsequently, groups of boys walked from door to door through the village visiting each house where girls they were interested in lived.

The rite of pomlazka was used in the past by children from socially weaker families to earn treats for their homes through such whipping and singing.

In folk concepts, whipping with green wicker branches is associated with the notion of transferring the power of awakening nature to people in beauty and health. To this day, boys in the Slovacko region say to the girls: “To avoid any dust and rot!”

It was once believed that first singing visitor brought happiness to the house. The lady of the house was, therefore, particularly generous in giving treats to the first boy to visit. She went into the shed with the boy’s whip to apply it to all the cows to make them healthy and to ensure they gave a lot of milk.

Eggs of various colour pattern or decoration were the most common reward for visitors. Until World War I, hard-boiled eggs were used on Easter, gradually replaced by blown eggshells. Many eggs bore different kinds of lettering expressing love or wishing happiness and good fortune; however, they also served to express sadness, unhappiness or broken or unrequited affection. In the Kyjov region, Easter eggs (kraslice) were decorated by engraving, whether drawn or in the form of wax relief. In Svatoborice, common rush was used as well.

HARVEST

The harvest season involves collecting cereal crops (wheat, barley, maize, rye, oats, etc.). In Moravia, it takes place in the dry period of the summer, most often from June to September. Cereals were traditionally harvested manually with the help of cradle scythes. ‘Sheavers’ collected the plants mown by the reapers, and the plants were then tied to make sheaves using bindings, and the sheaves were stacked to form ‘stooks’. After harvesting, the cereals were threshed with flails.

Field-grown crops were a source of livelihood for peasants and their entire families. After the harvest, festivals (dozinky) were held in the past to celebrate successful completion. These ancient folk celebrations and customs after the end of the harvest season varied according to the locality and its traditions. The harvest festival was celebrated in both rich and poor regions by farmers, farmhands, and the owners of estates.

It was a time when farmers and entire municipalities met to show happiness about the harvest, take part in activities in barns and wish farmers and ladies of houses joy. They expressed thanks for the festive activity arranged by farmers. Nowadays, harvest festivals are often only social events, sometimes without any direct link to the participants of harvest.

WEDDING CEREMONY in Kostelec

A wedding ceremony was the most festive family ceremony in the Slovacko region. Most often, it occurred between Wednesday and Thursday, occasionally on Monday and Tuesday, never at weekends. It was frequently held in the carnival period, after Easter, or in the autumn before Advent. The wedding ceremony (called zdavky/ oddavky) was preceded by a courting ritual at the house of the parents of the bride, announcements made in the church and invitations for the wedding ceremony. In the evening before the wedding day, begging for forgiveness took place between the bridegroom and his parents, followed by a blessing. A similar event took place in the bride’s house.

Various ceremonies were held near the bride’s house, linked to testing the bridegroom’s skills. Then the wedding procession left for the church for the ceremony itself. Afterwards, the doors were blocked by others outside, requiring guests to ‘buy’ their way out.

The first entrance of the bride to the new house was significant, as it symbolized her commitment to being a good wife and lady of the house.

In the evening, there was a ceremonial wishing well and collection of money for the bride. Additionally, there was a bonnet-attaching ceremony, with older women taking off bride’s head decoration and tying the spouse’s cap.

For more information about the South Moravian Region, from which this Local History Museum in Kyjov comes, click here

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