09/09/2022
An outstanding scientist, a passionate sportsman and also an exemplary patriot who was involved in the resistance in the First World War. An important memorial commemoration of a great figure of Czech and Czechoslovak history completed an intergenerational project prepared by the district of Prague 5.
“We succeed at an extraordinary thing, when a small project within a city district essentially becomes an intergenerational project that grows to an international dimension. It charts the life and work of an important 20th century figure who was an inspiration in his time and is still an inspiration to this day. Our team searched all the life stages of this very interesting personality, a true great Czech, and found factual evidence of his fruitful life.” said the mayor of the Prague 5 district and project proponent Renáta Zajíčková (ODS).
Since the beginning of this year, several teams from primary and secondary schools in Prague 5 have mapped out certain stages of Ludvík Očenášek’s life. As part of the project, among other things, an exhibition was created that approached Očenášek’s personality from the point of view of an important scientist, passionate Sokol and an athlete, or as a brave man who was actively involved in resistance activities in the First World War.
“He was an inspirational person and a prototype of the views of the nation’s elite today. At that time, he brought to Czech society a healthy model of how a patriot should look and function. And his model is actually very relevant even today,” added board member for sports and international relations Prague 5 David Dušek (STAN).
Ludvík Očenášek’s resistance activities are linked to the history of Klamovka. Očenášek eavesdropped on and deciphered secret deliveries between Vienna and Berlin at the former home of Demartinka, which stands not far from the current headquarters of the Lithuanian Embassy.
“As we sometimes see shooting stars, we meet Ludvík Očenášek, whose 150th birthday we celebrate. He was a brilliant inventor who contributed to the development of progressive technology and lived an extraordinary life that even made headlines at the time. He was a patriot who helped achieve the independence of Czechoslovakia. At the end of the First World War, on the ground where the Lithuanian Embassy in Prague was located, he connected to the telegraph line between Vienna and Berlin and sent messages to the Czechoslovak resistance. These facts were hidden for a long time, but our joint project brought Ludvík Očenášek’s personality back to prominence and made him part of our future historical story. The star finally met his observers,” reminded the Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania to the Czech Republic Laimonas Talat-Kelpša.
A somewhat forgotten important figure in Czech history thus receives the dignified commemoration of the 150th anniversary of his birth. Ceremonial actions at the Lithuanian Embassy took place among others in the presence of the Minister of Education Vladimír Balaš, the Czech Republic Army and the Czech municipality of Sokolská.
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