The Good Soldier Schweik and Kralupy

One of the books that made our town famous is The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Švejk During the World War. In this two-volume work by the author Jaroslav Hašek, our town is mentioned seven times in total.  

"Well, I am Vaněk and I keep a drugstore in Kralupy."

Quartermaster sergeant major Jan Vaněk gave this answer to Švejk when he asked him what he did in civilian life.

The house where Jan Vaněk  had his store is still in Kralupy and to this day, there is still a chemist's store.

                                      Švejk's statue in Kralupy

The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Švejk During the World War novel is one of the most famous and translated works from the Czech literature, and thanks to this, it is also one of the most adapted works. Besides movies and plays, statues of Josef Schweik were built, but only abroad. In the Czech Republic, there is no Schweik statue yet, so we can try to change that in our town.

Public collection announcement:

On the Eighth of April 2014, the city council of Kralupy nad Vltavou announced a public collection to raise funds for the implementation of the project:

"Josef Schweik statue installation in Kralupy"

Public collection account number:     4444226666/0100

Organizer and administrator of the collection is the town Kralupy n. Vlt. –  the statue will be owned by the municipality.

Financial contribution can be made by bank transfer to the above account number, or it can be handed over in cash at the cash office of the Kralupy nad Vltavou town hall.

Moneyboxes for smaller cash are placed in the town hall information centre, in the municipal museum, library and other places.

Project organization:

"Association for the installation of Josef Schweik's statue in Kralupy"

Association management: 

Honorary chairpersons: Ing. Richard Hašek, Martin Hašek

Chairman: Petr Holeček, Mayor of Kralupy nad Vltavou

Vice-chairpersons: Libor Lesák, Ing. Marek Czechamann - Deputy Mayors of the city

Executive Vice-Chairman: Mgr. Kamil Hainc

Executives: Václav Gabriel, Miroslav Sitař, Jan Felix, dr. Jan Racek, Martin Odvody

Location and appearance of the statue:

On the corner of Palacký square, opposite the Czech Savings Bank

From this place, you can see Vaněk's chemist's shop.

The letter "S" marks the planned place for the statue

The statue should be original; the goal is to please not only the visitors of the town and the tourists, but also the locals.

Schweik will be sitting on a bench, so people can sit next to him and take a picture with him. Beside Schweik looking at the chemist's, a little dog will be sitting. Next to the dog, there will be a dog poo with four flies for luck.

Next to the statue, there will be a memorial plaque, commemorating our city in Jaroslav Hašek's work.