Vísecká rychta Museum building

Welcome. You have just stopped in front of a place that carries an enormous number of stories and dominates the whole area with its presence in the village of Viska. You're standing right in front of the Vienna Speedway. Before you take the first step towards her door, I suggest you stop for a moment and just take a look. Feel the atmosphere of peace and history radiating from this place. In front of your eyes is a monumental wooden structure, which at first sight acts with incredible strength and stability. It is an object that cannot remain undetected, and its massive dimensions will immediately indicate that it is not an ordinary house, but a building with a very significant destiny.

Now let's go back deep into the past together to understand why this place is so special. The history of this particular property goes much further than it might seem. There was already another building here in the year fifteen hundred nine, known as the Waldstein pub. Imagine that period, at the time this area was completely different, but this place already served as an important point in the landscape. Over time, however, the needs of the settlement have changed. In seventy-nine of the 18th century, there was a major break. That's when the current speed building was created, which we admire today. This new building was intended to replace an older pub and serve as the seat of a speedster, a local official who performed his important function here.

Now pay attention to the architecture itself, which you are now observing. Although we don't know the name of a particular builder, his championship is visible on every metre of this building. Vísecká rychta is a unique phenomenon. It is the largest preserved grafted residential building in all Bohemia. If you look at its dimensions, you may not realize it easily, but this building measures an incredible 33 meters in length, 17 meters in width and up to 28 meters in height. It's really a monumental grafted object. Feel this incredible woodwork. The massive grafted structure you see is proof of the incredible technical skill of the artisans back then. Every beam, every connection in this huge structure, had to be designed to withstand the time trials, which, as you can see, happened after over 200 years.

Looking at this structure, we can't avoid the figure of the man behind its creation. He was an Václav Kern speedster. He was the visionary who decided to build this new, much more important building in the 1970s. Václav Kern wasn't just a builder, it was a man who shaped life in this part of Kravar. His decision to build such a magnificent speed has determined the face of the village of Viska for centuries ahead. Thanks to him, we can stand here today and admire the work that survived wars, changes in political regimes, and the progressive modernization of the world.

You might find one interesting thing that makes this building a real gem. We often encounter historical monuments that are old, but their dimensions are modest. However, Vísecká rychta is exceptional in this respect. It is an absolute recorder within the Czech Republic. It is the largest grafted residential house that has ever been built in this country and which we have managed to maintain so far in such good condition. It's a monument that, with its size and its structure, raises eyebrows for anyone who sees it.

But the history of this place does not end in the eighteenth century. The object has undergone many changes. In the year one thousand eight hundred forty-nine there was an important administrative step, when the village of Víska joined the town of Kravaře. Over the centuries, speed changed its functions. In the year one thousand nine hundred sixty, the damaged object was taken over by the District National Committee, which was the beginning of a new era of its use. But a real return to the public and to the people occurred in the year one thousand nine hundred eighty-six, when the first exhibition of the Museum of People's Art was opened here. Since then, the hotness has been used as a branch of the Natural History Museum and Gallery from České Lípa. Today, this building is protected as a cultural monument to the Czech Republic, which underlines its immense value to all of us.

Even today, in the modern world, speed maintains its living tradition. Since the year two thousand fourteen, an interesting meeting cycle has been held here under the name Coffee on the Fast. It is a beautiful example of how history can connect with the present and how the historical monument can serve as a place for meeting people, talking and sharing ideas.

But now I will not take you too long. The world of history, folk art and architecture opens before you. I suggest you now enter and be carried away by the atmosphere of the museum. Take a look at the exposition that will present you with the wealth of folk life and art, and try to imagine in your mind how these vast spaces were lived and worked hundreds of years ago. Every corner of this building has its own story waiting to be discovered. I wish you a pleasant tour, and I hope that a visit to the Vienna Speedway, as well as to me, will please you with its size and beauty. Goodbye.