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At Home in Prague Representations of Home in the Czechoslovakian Interwar

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At Home in Prague Representations of Home in the Czechoslovakian Interwar A University of Sussex DPhil thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details Page | 1 At Home in Prague Representations of Home in the Czechoslovakian Interwar University of Sussex PhD in History At Home in Prague Representations of Home in the Czechoslovakian Interwar Michèle Jayne Philippa Cealey Harrison Summary The First Republic of Czechoslovakia existed from October 1918 to March 1939. Formed from territories previously part of the Austro-Hungarian or Habsburg Empire, the nation of Czechoslovakia was a unique democratic state in a Central European region of less stable entities, establishing a modern and future oriented nation. This thesis is an examination of the representations of the concept and idea of home across several different spheres of ideation, examining in turn: the space of nation building, nationalism and nationhood, showing the uses of home in the creation of and the running of the state; architectural theorisation and modernist building projects that sought to refashion living styles and housing, and social and socialist planning manifestos are compared to the initial energy and enthusiasm of avant garde explorations of everyday life; the concept of home and home life, coupled with the housewife’s life within them are examined in the stances of the populist periodicals of the era which were directed towards a female audience. The final section of the thesis examines, in the penultimate chapter, the concept of home by in-depth readings of literature and personal writings, feuilleton, diaries, letters and poetry. The final chapter presents the testimonies of residents of Prague during the interwar, using life histories and questionnaire responses, to present a completed picture of the multi-level meanings of home. Page | 2 Table of Contents Table of Figures……………………………………………………………………………… 4 Introduction................................................................................................................................................. 5 Czechoslovakia in Europe............................................................................................................. 8 Prague - The modernizing city .................................................................................................... 15 What is ‘Home’?............................................................................................................................ 17 The Push of Modernity ................................................................................................................ 19 The Survival of a Modern Domesticity...................................................................................... 21 Beyond Ornament – Defining ‘Home’...................................................................................... 27 Re-presenting Home ..................................................................................................................... 30 We came from cottages: Nationhood……………………………………………………..... 36 Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and his nation-state.......................................................................... 36 Minulost – creating the peasant past ............................................................................................ 43 Kde Domov Můj? - Where is my Home?....................................................................................... 49 The creation of Czechoslovakia – Československa Republika October 28 1918..................... 51 Who ‘we’ are – creating a Czechoslovak identity ..................................................................... 53 The Ground of the New State...................................................................................................... 55 Not at Home ................................................................................................................................... 60 The last Late Romantics - the real princes................................................................................. 64 Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk moves into the castle ....................................................................... 69 The modern complex of nationhood ......................................................................................... 73 Prescriptions for Modernity I The Modernists and the Modernisers ……………................ 75 ‘...today it is normal to be revolutionary’ – Devětsil and the avant gardes ............................. 77 The Modernists............................................................................................................................... 85 Nejmenši Byt ‘Maximum Liveability’ and The Minimum Dwelling…………………… 91 The Modernist Projects………………………………………………………………..102 The Modernisers..............................................................................................................................105 Full Ownership of the Family Hearth ........................................................................................ 107 Page | 3 Žijeme ................................................................................................................................................. 117 Prescriptions for Modernity II: The Popular Periodicals and the Populist Experts…….. 118 . Sentimentality and a perfect rest for the soul............................................................................ 125 “The Painful Question of Servants” …………......................................................................... 128 Recovering from the War: the importance of the home. .......................................................... 130 ‘Today, no woman wants to be a slave to cleaning’................................................................... 142 Práce Doma Housework - Relieving the Labour in the House.................................................. 145 We therefore recommend - Doporučujeme .................................................................................... 149 One bedroom, three persons, two thousand books, not a lot of light .................................. 153 A Return to the Cottages .............................................................................................................. 161 The Chata Movement and Czechoslovak Tourism.................................................................... 162 Writing Home...............................................................................................................................................166 You wish for a kitchen, tiny, quite small......................................................................................180 Host do Domu – Guest in the House...............................................................................................183 Solitude in the world ........................................................................................................................187 Noise in the afternoon.....................................................................................................................188 The Smell of Home........................................................................................................................ 193 If My Own Home Could not be Found ......................................................................................197 That same old familiar ................................................................................................................... 199 The Location of Memory ........................................................................................................................ 201 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………………. 229 Notes ……………………………………………………………………………………… 235 Page | 4 Figure 1 Castle of the Rohan Family 2 Figure 2 Das Unrecht am Hultschiner Ländchen ......................................................................... 2 Figure 3 The Family of Princ Raoul Rohan at Choustnik 1911 ........................................................... 2 Figure 4 Hunting Trophies in th castle at Choustnik 1911 ................................................................... 2 Figure 5 „Z PRESIDENTOVA BYTU NA PRAŽSKÉM HRADĚ” At the Presidential Home in the Prague Castle ................................................................................................................................ 2 Figure 6 Modernist Osada Baba House ................................................................................................ 2 Figure 7 “Spořilov Karlov House with Eva in front of the garage” ......................................................... 2 Figure 8 Sales flyer for Villa Type C in Spořilov - Prostor .................................................................... 2 Figure 9 Plans provided for marketing Spořilov houses – ....................................................................... 2 Figure 10 Žijeme? (Do we live?) Arnold Hoffmeister ................................................................ 2 Figure 11 Neff advertisement to accompany Moderní Domácnost
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