Nearly 500 people signed the petition for the restoration of the baroque fountain in Znojmo

Znojmo – A petition for the restoration of the historical baroque fountain in the Upper Square in Znojmo has been signed by nearly 500 people since March. The initiator is the Beautification Society in Znojmo, which is responding to the city's management's effort to place a modern fountain in the square, designed by the winner of the architectural competition. The society announced this in a press release. Mayor Jan Grois (ČSSD) reiterated his position to ČTK that for ten years there has only been discussion in the city, and only now has it been possible to announce the competition and select a winner. The fountain is expected to be built next year. The petition has not yet reached the city management.

The Upper Square acquired its current appearance after a reconstruction ten years ago, but no fountain has replaced the original one. The baroque fountain was created at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries and was demolished in 1897. The reason was the reluctance of the then councilors to invest in its repair. "The second reason was ideological. The statue of Saint Wenceslaus was a symbol of the old union of the lands of the Czech Crown, which did not fit with the growing German-Austrian nationalism of the Znojmo councilors," said historian Jiří Kacetl in a press release, who is also an opposition councilor for the ProZnojmo movement.

According to the society, restoring the historical fountain would not be problematic. "The original statue of St. Wenceslaus from the workshop of the Moravian baroque sculptor Michael Mandík has been preserved, and the original basin with water jets is well documented by historical plans and photographs," Kacetl stated. According to him, the modern fountain could be placed in a different location in the square.

The author of the design for the modern fountain, named the Crown of Znojmo, is Štěpán Matějka. Earlier this February, there was already a wooden model on site to show the size of the fountain. That model escalated the opposition against it. "We formulated our position back in the spring of 2019 when the city published the competition assignment," Kacetl said.

According to Grois, it's impossible to satisfy everyone, as some wanted the original fountain while others wanted a modern one. There were 51 proposals in the competition, none of which returned to history.

The baroque fountain was also part of the ceremonial ride of the recently crowned Austrian Emperor Charles VI with his wife Elisabeth Christina and their daughter, the future Empress Maria Theresa, in November 1723. "Without the fountain, this story will be a dead anecdote from books," Kacetl stated.