Klub Za starou Prahu: The director of the municipal conservationists is an amateur

Prague - According to heritage protectors from the Club for Old Prague, Jan Kněžínek, the director of the heritage and culture department of the Prague municipality, is an amateur who does not even hide his inexperience. Kněžínek has created such a self-sufficient office that he openly disregards the opinions of the National Heritage Institute in his statements, Richard Biegel, the club's administrator, told ČTK today. Kněžínek disagrees with this.
    "That is not true. I can provide statistics. In more than 95 percent of cases, we agree with the National Heritage Institute," Kněžínek told ČTK. In response to the club's accusation that he is an amateur, he said that he does not see a way to react to that.
    According to the Club for Old Prague, decisions made by the municipality's department increasingly lean towards the opinion of developers, specifically architects and theorists who represent them and make up the majority in Kněžínek's advisory board. "The role of this board is crucial in the current system of Prague's heritage care," the club stated in a position.
    However, Kněžínek stated that the advisory board is an open institution with seventeen members, and open democratic discussions take place during meetings when seeking opinions. He noted that the board includes representatives from both the Prague and central offices of the National Heritage Institute. The municipal department employs 23 highly qualified heritage care professionals, he added.
    The club, however, demands that Kněžínek be dismissed. According to the statement, the municipal heritage and culture department should transform into an office that will defend the true cultural and heritage interests of Prague.