History of Wallenstein Festival
The Wallenstein Festival follows the celebrations held at the end of June 1934 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the murder of Albrecht von Wallenstein. This celebration took place in Frýdlant.
THE BEGINNINGS OF THE FESTIVITIES
The first year of the Wallenstein Festival took place on Saturday 23 June 1934 in Frýdlant. Special trains were dispatched from both the Czech town of Tanvald and the German towns of Zittau and Görlitz. At the beginning of the festivities, a bronze statue of Albrecht von Wallenstein was unveiled on the square in Frýdlant and placed in the middle of the fountain. The statue was created by the sculptor Heinrich Schulze.The festivities already had several characteristic programme elements at that time, which are also respected by the current organisers of the festivities. These include a cultural programme, exhibitions, a parade of Wallenstein's armed forces and a torchlight procession.
WALLENSTEIN AFTER THE WAR
After the end of the Second World War, in 1947, the Duke's statue was in danger and plans were made to sell it to the salvage industry. This was prevented by the head of the Frýdlant City Museum, Václav Mráz, who bought the statue and incorporated it into the museum exhibition. In 1956 the statue was moved to the lower courtyard of the Frýdlant Castle. It was moved back to the town in 2007.
The Wallenstein Festival was not restored until 1994, again in Frýdlant, where it has been held every odd year since then, on even years it is organised by the town of Jičín. However, these festivities are also held in other towns and villages in the Czech Republic, for example, every year in Cheb (where Albrecht von Wallenstein was murdered), Lovosice or Litvínov.