The NPÚ office in Telč will start operating in January 2008 in temporary accommodation

Jihlava - The workplace of the National Heritage Institute (NPÚ) for the Vysočina region will begin operations in Telč in the Jihlava area on January 1, 2008, in a temporary location within the premises of Lesy ČR. The so-called Lanner House was designated for NPÚ needs, which the city hall of Telč sold to the Ministry of Culture years ago. According to the Minister of Culture and former mayor of Telč Václav Jehlička, the project for the reconstruction of the building was prepared two years ago, and nothing has been done since then.
    Jehlička described it as negligence and an example of Brno centrism. "The project has been lying in a drawer at NPÚ in Brno. They apparently want nothing to be established in Telč and wish to manage the Vysočina region themselves. However, this will not happen; Vysočina must be a full-fledged region,” Jehlička told ČTK today.
    However, the director of NPÚ in Brno, Petr Kroupa, rejected this. According to him, the project was supposed to be funded from the so-called Norwegian funds as early as 2005. However, it was submitted after the deadline and postponed to 2006. "One of the project submitters was apparently, I think, Masaryk University, which subsequently withdrew from it. Now, the project worth around 90 million crowns should be funded by the state,” Kroupa told ČTK.
    The NPÚ regional office for Vysočina will be established in Telč as the last of the new regions. In the first phase, it should have around 15 employees, ultimately, according to Jehlička, around forty. "Part of the specialists will be transferred from Brno, and part we will cover from local sources,” Jehlička stated.
    For several years, a bachelor's degree program in Art History with a focus on heritage preservation from Masaryk University in Brno has been operating in Telč. According to Jehlička, the first graduates are already applying for jobs. In addition to heritage specialists, economists and other professions will also find job opportunities.
    The state owns castles in Vysočina, in Telč, Jaroměřice nad Rokytnou, and Náměšť nad Oslavou in the Třebíč region, the Lipnice Castle in Havlíčkův Brod, and Zelená Hora near Žďár nad Sázavou, which is listed as a UNESCO heritage site. The other heritage sites are owned by the region and municipalities.
    A few days ago, at the assembly of the Association of Historical Settlements of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia in Brno, Jehlička criticized the functioning of his office and NPÚ. According to him, both institutions have been too closed off and have shown a superior attitude towards municipalities and regions. This, he believes, must change.
    Heritage specialists at the offices of the municipalities and regions are working well according to the minister, and their offices are functioning. However, the Ministry and NPÚ, he claims, "live in a certain detachment from the world" and must start communicating much more with municipalities and regions. According to the minister's vision, regions should be provided with much greater support and cooperate more with them.