Brno and Makovský have agreed, the memorial will disappear by September

Brno - The cracked glass memorial of the three resistances in Brno on Nové sady will be removed by its author Zdeněk Makovský by the end of September and at his own expense. After the removal, the city will consider all obligations to the author to be concluded. This was stated by the deputy mayor of Brno, Daniel Rychnovský (KDU-ČSL), to the journalists today. Disputes between the author and the city lasted for years and were even addressed by the court. The final agreement between both parties was approved by the Brno city council on Tuesday.
    "We all know that it is a disgrace, that it is in a desperate condition, that it is not a dignified reminder of the three resistances. And that we were in a dead end because we were unable to agree," said Rychnovský. Makovský will remove the memorial along with its concrete foundations, which the city estimates will cost him about half a million crowns.
    According to Rychnovský, the author of the texts on the memorial, Ludvík Kundera, also agrees with the removal of the memorial. The writer has only one wish, that his texts be preserved in some way for the future. How this will happen is not yet clear, according to the deputy.
    The memorial of the three resistances was opened on Nové sady in December 1999. Due to low temperatures, the glass blocks were glued together on-site in a tent where there was some heating. However, the conditions for installation were apparently not suitable, and cracks were already visible on the glass on the day of the unveiling. The artist promised to fix them, but the memorial remained cracked.
    The city paid 4.3 million crowns for the memorial. According to a court ruling that has been valid since last October, the artist had to give the city a discount due to imperfections in the work. Makovský has already paid more than a million crowns. After settling all obligations, the city will ultimately lose about two million crowns on the project, the deputy noted.
    No new memorial will be erected at the site, and the area will remain a park. The city is not currently considering building a replacement memorial at another location. The reason is that there are already two memorials for resistance and victims of political persecution in Brno.
    One is in Brno-Bohunice, which was recently created for the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. The other takes the form of a bronze pyramid and stands on Roosevelt Street in front of the courthouse. "When we spoke with political prisoners, they themselves said that this is a dignified celebration of the three resistances and that there is no need to erect any more memorials," noted Rychnovský.