There is a new Jurkovičova lookout tower standing above Rožnov

photo: Jiří Škrobák

Rožnov pod Radhoštěm (Vsetínsko) - A new Jurkovič lookout tower was introduced for the first time today in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm. The 31-meter high structure was built according to the original plans of the famous architect Dušan Jurkovič from 1896. The lookout tower made of stone and wood stands on Karlův Hill above the open-air museum, and it will be accessible to the public from Saturday. People who climb it will be able to view the surroundings from a platform located 19 meters above ground level, said Tomáš Gross, spokesperson for the Rožnov town hall, today to ČTK.
"All blacksmithing and plumbing work, as well as most of the carpentry work including details, were done manually using old, now almost unused, working methods," Gross stated. The construction of the lookout tower used 200 cubic meters of timber, and the color scheme of the lookout tower corresponds to Jurkovič's buildings at Pustevny.
The construction of the lookout tower cost 12.2 million crowns, of which 8.4 million was obtained from European subsidies, and over two million was donated by the Children-Culture-Sport Foundation. The lookout tower will be accessible to the public daily from 09:00 to 17:00, with a basic entrance fee of 30 crowns and a reduced fee of 15 crowns.
The intention to build a lookout tower in Rožnov originated in the 1960s, proposed by the then director of the Wallachian Open-Air Museum, but his plan was not fulfilled. After 112 years since the creation of the sketches, this vision was recalled by Rožnov ethnographer Daniel Drápala, who approached the Rožnov town hall leadership. Several locations were identified, with Hradisko Hill, where a watchtower once stood, seeming the most advantageous. However, the city only owns a small plot of land here, and the location is also an archaeological site around the remains of a former Gothic castle. Ultimately, the city chose Karlův Hill for the construction.
Dušan Jurkovič is the main representative of distinctive Art Nouveau architecture inspired by folk building and visual arts; he was born in 1868 in the Slovak village of Turá Lúka. He worked in Wallachia, specifically in Vsetín, from 1889 to 1899. During this period, among other things, he designed the well-known set of excursion lodges Maměnka and Libušín at Pustevny on Radhošť. Both buildings are national cultural monuments. Jurkovič designed the lookout tower at the request of a tourist association in Valašské Meziříčí, and it was originally intended to be built in Brňov near Valašské Meziříčí, but funds for its realization were not found. Jurkovič also realized spa houses in Luhačovice in the region and died in 1947 in Bratislava.