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Orlické Záhoří

It is said that there was "a castle" in the village of Kunštát and its surroundings. In the 13th century, a wooden crow castle (Krähenburg) is mentioned on the hill now called Homole. This rake was allegedly built during the reign of Přemysl Otakar II. The village (said small town) was below the castle, today's village lies to the east. The surviving letter of the chronicler Kreusel of Neratov states: "The village of Kunštát was newly built after its destruction in 1572".

The settlement of the village Orlické Záhoří, whose name is from 1951, is connected with the work of glassmakers and lumberjacks in the Orlické Mountains from 1590 -1600. Formerly independent, hereinafter mentioned municipalities fell under the property interests of three estates: Opočno, which owned the municipality of Trčkov, Solnické, which owned the municipalities of Bedřichovka, Jadrná and Zelenka, Rychnov with the municipalities of Kunštát and Černá Voda.

The most important preserved monument in the local morgue is the tombstone of the important glassmaker Johann II. Friedrich of Hausdorf, Kladno, born according to available sources in the years 1567-1573, who lived to be 68 years old. In 1614 he was granted the oldest and most addressed privilege for a master glassmaker in the Orlické Mountains. On the right bank of the Divoká Orlice, he built a glassworks, which became the basis of the later village of Friedrichswald, since 1928 called Bedřichovka.

The first written mention of the village Kunštát now Orlické Záhoří is from 1623, it describes the inventory of property on the farm Svinné Karel z Vlkanova and part of the Solnický estate, property in the village Kunštát otherwise Vracov.

The dominant feature of the village Orlické Záhoří is the late Baroque church of St. John the Baptist from 1754-1763, preceded by a wooden church. At present, the church is used not only for church ceremonies but also for cultural and exhibition events of the village. In 2011, a permanent exhibition dedicated to the important Baroque painter of glass and porcelain Ignác Preissler (1676 - 1741) was located here. In 2006, a painter's memorial plaque was unveiled at the church, commemorating his life and work in Kunštát on the estate of the Counts of Kolowrat Libštejn in Eastern Bohemia. The church is equipped with 8 stained glass windows, which were made in the local glassworks. Stained glass windows: sv. John the Baptist - "Baptism of the Lord", above the entrance to the church, was made in Vienna in 1910 by Mr. Rudolf Leutgeb, restored by J. Kocán and K. Barták in 2003, the second stained glass window - Jesus on the Mount of Olives, against the entrance to the church , has not been preserved.

The original bells in the church were confiscated in 1916 for war purposes, new ones were ordered from the company Oktáv Winter in Broumov. The larger bell weighed 195 kg "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, announcing the way of the Lord", received the name of St. John the Baptist and the second bell weighing 65 kg "Protect us from the Lord!", Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, both bells consecrated in 1920.

The original tower clock, which is now on display in the church tower, was supplied in 1897 by Eppner from Kladské county.

In September 1779, Emperor Josef II visited Kunštát, who, on one of his inspection trips through Kunštát, mowed oats in the field of farmer Nutz. The restored monument from 1996 commemorates the place where the oats were mown.

Ignác Rohrbach (1691 - 1747) carver - Silesian sculptor, born in Kaiserswalde (Lasówka) opposite Bedřichovka.

Karel Plachetka (1877 - 1961) a prominent ornithologist, born in Bedřichovka, his comprehensive rich collection of 255 bird species is stored in the Museum and Gallery of the Eagle Mountains in Rychnov nad Kněžnou.

Orlické Záhoří © 2023 Vytvořila: Monika Vrkoslavová, Bonnydesign.cz, K, T, O L