Zrcadlárna Rabštejn Abrasive plant

Welcome to the audio guide. You are standing in front of a valuable historical monument, which is the former Rabstejn Mirror Hall, sometimes also called the Rabstejn Mirror Hall. It is an extraordinary building built in a neo-gothic style, which you now have right in front of you on the bank of the river Svitavka in the picturesque village Lindava. If you look around you, you'll be immediately interested in the confined space in which this ancient compound is located. You're standing in the impressive Velenica Valley, and the building is literally leaning on a steep sandstone rock wall. It is a view that carries inside the power of human work and the harsh beauty of the surrounding nature.

Let us now immerse ourselves in the past and look at how and why this fascinating place was created. The year is eighteen hundred fifty-four. The owner of the local estate Karel Kinský then decides to take a big step and has this building built as a new ice-skating plant. The area full of rocks and flowing river provided great conditions for industrial production at the time, and so the construction began to write its history here, which was about to play an important role in the life of the whole region. The House of Kinski, whether it was Karl Kinski or later Josef Jan Maximilian Kinsky, is deeply connected to this region and it was their decision that gave rise to this unique witness of the old days.

Now pay attention to the architecture itself. Look before you at the facade of the building and perceive the atmosphere that this monument radiates. This is an important and very valuable example of 19th-century technical and manufacturing architecture. Notice how the building blends with the surrounding environment. Part of the local production space was not constructed in a classical way from bricks or stone, but was carved directly in the adjacent sandstone massif. At the time, people had to make huge efforts to tame the rock and adapt it to their working needs. It is this connection of human work with natural rock that gives the whole building its unmistakable character.

If we continue to tell our story on the timeline, we're getting to the moments that have changed the fate of this place forever. For decades, there has been lively labor, craftsmen sharpened and formed, but every chapter has its end. The great economic crisis, which has hit society hard, has also hit Lindava here. In the year one thousand nine hundred thirty, the operation of the ice mill was definitively terminated. The machines went silent, the workers left and the building was abandoned at the end of time. For decades, the memory was lost and her story seemed to be over for good.

And yet, the history of this place is not over. We will now move on in time to the recent past, namely the year two thousand twenty. A limited liability company called Spiegelfabrik Rabstein was then established. This company has become the proud owner of this monument-protected building and has taken on the difficult task of giving this decrepit jewel new hope. Thanks to this, the building is protected today and you can stand before the corrected witness of the past.

If you look at that steep sandstone rock wall that the building is leaning on, know that people in the past called it Fox Tail. This interesting local name gives the whole place even greater charm and mystery. Imagine the old times when workers came to work under this rock wall, listening to the roar of the river Svitavka and working in spaces that were partly hidden in the very heart of sandstone rock.

I hope this short walk in history has been interesting for you. Take one more look at the entire building, feel the genius loci of this valley and let the atmosphere of the old times take hold. When you continue to explore the surroundings of Lindava and Velenica Valley, remember the people who once worked here and left behind this unique technical monument. Thank you for your attention, I bid you farewell and wish you a beautiful rest of the day full of other discoveries.