Pustevny – A Unique Example of Folk Art Nouveau

The Czech word “pustevna” means a lonely place where a hermit devotes himself to solitude, prayer and penance. Indeed, hermits used to live in Pustevny once – until 1874 – in sandstone caves.

However, if you come today to Pustevny – a saddle in the Moravian-Silesian Beskydy Mountains (1,018 m above sea level), you may be surprised at how lively it is: skiers in the winter, hikers in the summer, and year-round admirers of the wooden buildings of the folk Art Nouveau by the Slovak architect Dušan Jurkovič .

In the second half of the 19th century, a new phenomenon of free time and the way of spending it arose. People went out into nature and sports and tourism began to develop. Tourist associations formed on the territory of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. One of them was the Radhošť Union in Frenštát. These associations started to build mountain huts for their members – simple wooden buildings like the one built in this place in 1891, in which 23 people could spend the night in a common room. Three years later, the increasing number of tourists required the construction of another, larger stone hostel.

However, even these accommodation capacities were soon not enough. The Union decided to build another larger accommodation facility with a dining room.

Dušan Jurkovič was a famous Slovak architect. Already at the beginning of his career, he devoted himself to the research of folk architecture in Moravia and Slovakia. He documented not only a large number of buildings but also tools, traditional costumes, lace and embroidery. Later, he incorporated elements of folk art into his architectural designs. At the ethnographic Czechoslovak exhibition in Prague in 1895, Jurkovič built a temporary open-air museum, where he also presented wooden houses from the Slovak village of Čičmany, in which he found his lifelong inspiration. Based on this success, he received a contract – to design the tourist restaurant Libušín…

…and the tourist hotel Maměnka in Pustevny.

The Radhošť Union unanimously approved his proposals, although they were more extensive and financially demanding than their original plan. Both buildings were opened in August 1899.

The Czech painter Mikoláš Aleš (you may have heard about him if you visited the Prague Astronomical Clock) also participated in the decoration of the Libušín restaurant – he was the author of drawings of the pagan harvest god Radegast, a guardian of the Moravian-Hungarian border and two bandits, according to which the academic painter Karel Štapfer painted the interior.

The colorful wooden houses look like the scenery from a fairy tale. You can stand in front of them for a long time and study the decorative elements. Jurkovič had created a distinctive style here, strongly influenced by folk architecture.

He liked to use the open peacock tail motif; you can find it almost everywhere.

Lettering and floral designs hidden under the roof.

Other decorative elements are indented beams, carved columns, folded gables and a porch with strange stone birds…

The new buildings aroused great interest among the public. Many came here not only for hiking but also to see this exceptional work of the Slovak architect. Several well-known writers and artists were among the visitors. Jurkovič published a 50-page publication with numerous drawings and pictures about the work on these buildings, his approach and inspiration.

After the First World War, another modern hotel Tanečnica was built, named after the mountain under which it is located. In addition, downhill and cross-country tracks, even a ski jumping bridge, began to be built here. In 1928, Czechoslovak President Masaryk and his daughter visited Pustevny as well.

At the end of the Second World War, however, the Jurkovič´ houses were devastated by German and Hungarian soldiers, began to deteriorate and were threatened with demolition. A few months before his death in 1947, the 89-year-old architect Jurkovič came here to plead for their preservation. Still, they had to wait until 1995 for a major reconstruction. In 1999 (one hundred years after the first opening) the restaurant Libušín was opened again, and in 2003, the hotel Maměnka. The area was declared a National Cultural Monument.

But then, during the fatal night – March 3, 2014, Libušín caught fire from the chimney. No one set fire to the building, the cause of the fire was an air pocket in the chimney, which was not detected by previous inspections and which had been heating the wooden structure of the building for a long time. It was only a matter of time… The Maměnka was saved, but the damage was great, especially in the most artistically valuable restaurant. On the other hand, the fire led to a huge wave of solidarity and companies, organizations, associations, cities, municipalities and citizens started sending financial donations for the reconstruction. The building was restored using traditional technologies. For example, spruce wood was cut by moonlight and transported by draft horses.

So today, we admire a faithful replica of Libušín, even the colors have been restored as they were documented in 1925. Be sure to take a look inside the restaurant, even if you are not hungry. If on the outside you had the impression that the buildings came from a fairy tale, on the inside your impression will be even more strengthened.

During the restoration, it was found that the original color of the interior was light blue.

A carved wooden dove is incorporated into the chandelier above the table in the middle. It is an old tradition from this region. The dove above a table was supposed to ward off evil forces.

Similar carved doves can be found in the corners of the ceiling.

The restorers also created copies of the original furniture.

Again, the familiar motif of the peacock’s tail spread out like a fan.

However, I recommend that you come here not only to admire the ceiling, walls and furniture but also to taste the excellent regional cuisine. I ordered roast duck with cabbage and potato pancakes and blueberry steamed dumplings for dessert. Yum!

Those who had ordered a beautifully arranged cake with their coffee were also very happy…

After lunch, we looked into the rooms at the Hotel Maměnka:

The hundred-year-old wooden bell tower also belongs to the wooden buildings designed by architect Dušan Jurkovič.

You can get to Pustevny on foot, by bike, by cross-country skiing in winter or by car (via the villages of Rožnov pod Radhoštěm and Prostřední Bečva. There is a paid parking lot at Pustevny. Between the parking lot and the Pustevny area, there is also the information center). Aside from that, you can also take the cable car here. The new modern station built of stone, wood and glass was designed by the architect Kamil Mrva from Kopřivnice. The lower station of the cable car is in the village of Trojanovice.

At Pustevny, you can rent scooters and ride them down into the valley. There is also an electric bike rental shop.

For hiking lovers, there are several hiking trails suitable for all age groups. More information: Pustevny

Families with children can walk along the easy 1.5 km long fun-educational trail. They will find several wooden sculptures of forest animals here and interesting information about them on the boards.