The Krakonoš’s Garden — Josef and Karel Čapek Autobiographical Place and the Current Perception of This Region

Abstract

The aim of the article is to analyze the autobiographical places called Krakonoš’s Garden (Krako- nošovazahrada) in the essays of the brothers Josef and Karel Čapek (from the books: O sobě and Krakonošova zahrada) in the context of Małgorzata Czermińska’s concept of the remembered- and lost-sites. The analysis is confronted with the current perception of the famous siblings’ region of childhood, which is characterized as a site of memory. The description includes document analysis (photos, tourist routes, museums) and one project in particular: the map of a region, that is based on Čapek’s autobiographical places, with the subtitle: Cestujte s náminamísta, kde Karel, Josef a Helena žili a tvořili (Travel with us to the places, where Karel Josef and Helena lived and created). The juxtaposition of these two points of view aims to discover the operation of data memory as the main determinant of the importance of this place.