Francouzská (Zábrdovice (Brno-střed)) Street

Welcome to Zabrdovic, Brno. Right now, you're standing in French Street, a place that can act at first glance as an ordinary urban road, but beneath your feet lies a secret that brings us back thousands of years to the depths of time. Stop for a moment, take a breath and try to feel the atmosphere of this place. Modern life flows around you, cars ride, and people rush into their affairs, but right here, in this particular location, the layers of history that are distant from each other meet. It's fascinating to think that the concrete and asphalt you're walking on are just a thin crust over the world that's been forgotten for tens of thousands of years.

Let's first look at what's visible and tangible, which is on the street itself and her name. The street name in which you are located is not just a random address, but a real mirror to the stormy history of our countries and the political changes that have affected the regions in recent centuries. If we went back in time to the year one thousand eight hundred fifty-four, you wouldn't say you were in French. The street was named in honor of emperor Franz Joseph and was named Franz Joseph Strasse. It was a symbol of the loyalty of the Habsburg dynasty and the period stability of the Austrian Empire.

But everything changed in December of the year a thousand nine hundred and eighteen. After the end of World War I and the birth of the independent Czechoslovakia, there was a wave of renaming, which was to cut off the old empire and celebrate new freedom. The street has acquired its current French name as an expression of gratitude and respect for the French allied power that has helped to win and liberate. This name remained here until May of the year one thousand nine hundred thirty-nine, when the dark time of the occupation came. During this period, according to the new regime, it returned to the German name, but this time the street carried the name of the famous composer, Franz Schubert Strasse. Only in the year one thousand nine hundred forty-six, after the end of World War II, was the name of the French, under which we know it today. Notice how one single street can tell a story about the rise and fall of empires, the hopes of a new state and the pain of occupation.

But now I want to invite you to move your attention from the surface deeper into the ground. Forget buildings and asphalt. Imagine falling through layers of soil until there were no cities, no roads, no industry. Just a wild landscape, glacial influences and people who hunted animals and fought for survival in a harsh environment. It is here, in this location, that one of the most important archaeological findings in our region has occurred.

It all started in a thousand eight hundred ninety-one. It was not a planned archaeological research, but a coincidence that often accompanied the greatest discoveries. During the construction of the sewer, which was at that time a modern technological advance for Brno, workers encountered something unusual. In the depths of the earth, they found the funeral of a man who rested here for about five and twenty thousand years. Imagine the shock of those people when they realized that right now they were uncovering the rest of someone who lived in paleolithic times, in an era where mammoths were still wandering the earth.

This find was no ordinary burial. It was a ritual storage of a man from the so-called baboon culture. What the archaeologists found suggests this man was not in the community of anyone. It was accompanied by a rich inventory of items that at that time served as charity or status symbols. Among the items found there were over 600 shells of kelnatek and 14 targets. Imagine the amount of these tiny objects that were carefully stored around the body. Such wealth in the grave suggests that it was an important figure, perhaps a leader of tribes, a shaman, or a respected hunter, whom his group deeply respected and respected even after death.

To this fascinating discovery is the name of Jan Floriana, an expert who has been studying these findings and has helped us understand their importance. Thanks to his work and the work of other researchers, we know that this funeral is not just about one person, but is key to understanding the social structure and spiritual world of the Ice Age people. These ritualistic objects tell us the story of faith in the afterlife, of relationships within a small group of people, and of an aesthetic sense that mankind developed thousands of years ago.

Now try to imagine this incredible time gap. You're standing in a place where twenty-five thousand years ago someone with deep sadness and reverence buried his loved one, surrounded him with hundreds of precious shells, and maybe told him the last words in a language no one knows anymore. Then came thousands of years of silence, a layer of dust and sediments, until finally, in the nineteenth century, workers came with shovels and rebuilt this story. It's almost freezing and beautiful, as different worlds intersect at one point in space.

This monument is not in the form of a monumental building that you might admire looking up. It's a monument invisible, hidden, mysterious. It is a reminder that history is not only in books or museums, but is present in every square foot of land we walk on. The mystery of this paleolithic man, his identity, and the exact meaning of the hundreds of shells, still compels us to think about what will be left of us.

Now that you know what's under the surface of French Street, I suggest you continue to explore the area. Feel the contrast between the modern city and the ancient site. You may be looking at the pavement with completely different eyes when you realize that right now you were standing over one of the oldest testimonies of human existence in Brno.

Thank you for spending some time with us in the middle of the day. We wish you a pleasant further journey along the Brno Zabrdovic and hope that this short journey to the Paleolithic inspired you to further discover the secrets of our city. Goodbye.