From the dilapidated area in Plesná in the Cheb region, a Czech-German museum is being created

Plesná - In Plesná in the Cheb region, a new Czech-German museum is being completed. It is being created by converting the former textile factory in the city center. The exhibition will showcase the transformations of the town, its Czech and German inhabitants, and their mutual relations from the beginning of the last century until the fall of the Iron Curtain. The ceremonial presentation to the public is being prepared by the town hall for the end of this year, said the mayor of Plesná, Petr Schaller (TOP 09).

"We have created exhibitions here about the history of the town and the topic of displacement, namely the displacement of the Czech population in 1939 and the German population in 1945. In the second half, the theme will be culture, as people took their culture with them after the expulsion. Plesná had 3,000 inhabitants at that time, of which 98 percent were Germans," described the prepared exhibitions the mayor.

The creation of the Czech-German museum involved collaboration between the town and the Cheb and Karlovy Vary museums, as well as the Sudeten German Museum in Munich. Local residents who were expelled after the war also participated. Most of the German population from Plesná was relocated after the war to the German town of Eichenzell near Fulda, more than 300 kilometers away.

"The exhibition is based on the story of the son of the last German mayor of Plesná, who organized that expulsion. He tells us his childhood story about how life was here before the war, during the war, and after the war in Germany, and what their beginnings were like," the mayor stated. Short clips of a film, which was also worked on by the organization Memory of the Nation, will be screened here.

In addition to history, the museum will also offer exhibitions dedicated to geological curiosities of Plesná and its surroundings. The local phenomenon of earthquakes will also be described here. The exhibition will also highlight local tourist destinations, such as the castle in Skalná, the Franciscan spa park, or the Cheb square, as well as locations in the German border area, such as the monastery in Waldsassen and others.

The unused building in the city center, destined for demolition, was acquired by the two-thousand-inhabitant town years ago for just under five million crowns. The original textile factory was privatized and sold off 30 years ago and has remained empty and deteriorating since then. The town hall was successful in applying for a cross-border grant for the project to create the Czech-German museum. Of the total costs of 80 million crowns, a fifty-million crown grant was received. The town took out a loan for the rest.

The town aims to present the new museum to the public in December this year. It could start operating fully from the beginning of the next summer season. The intention is to also create a community center within the new facility. There will be discussions for the public and local schools, and in the future, there should also be a café. A library will also find its place here next year. In the future, the town intends to make the original chimney in the area accessible, which has been preserved in good condition.