Cultural bridges in EuropeNobility from Bohemia and Moravia after 1945

When aristocrats from Bohemia and Moravia built bridges across political, national and social borders after 1945, their work was characterised by culture, humanity and Christian faith. Thanks to their family connections and membership of European and Christian networks, and guided by an inherited sense of responsibility, they too ultimately contributed to the political change in 1989.

The exhibition sheds light on the lives and commitment of Johanna von Herzogenberg, Karl Schwarzenberg, Father Angelus Waldstein-Wartenberg OSB, Nikolaus Lobkowicz, Franz Schwarzenberg, Richard Belcredi, Ferdinand Kinsky, Daisy Waldstein-Wartenberg and the Thun family, as well as other personalities. This topic has received little or no attention in research to date, presumably also because it generally took place away from the public eye; moreover, only a few contemporary witnesses are now able to report on it.

In addition to the biographies and activities of individual personalities, the exhibition also shows the background to their commitment, which resulted from the aristocracy's attitude towards property, cultural heritage and the nation, as well as their Christian world view. The Thun family represented in the exhibition has a special history: almost all of its members were expelled from Tetschen/Děčín in northern Bohemia to Bavaria after the end of the war. However, after his return from Soviet captivity, Ferdinand Thun (1921-2022) made a career as a diplomat in the GDR and lived with his family in East Berlin.

The exhibition was created in cooperation with the Adalbert Stifter Association – Cultural Institute for the Czech Lands (Munich), the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes (Prague) and the Post Bellum organisation (Prague).

Funded by: Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Bavarian Ministry for Family, Labour and Social Affairs and German-Czech Future Fund.

The exhibition in Caputh is being shown in co-operation with the German Cultural Forum for Eastern Europe. Information and accompanying programme at kulturforum.info/en