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Sady Svobody (Freedom Park) was founded in the 1930s on the then outskirts of the city of Frýdek (at this time Frýdek and Místek were separate towns). At the beginning of its existence this park was the venue of the regional exhibition "Bezrucova kraje". There were a few exhibition buildings and, in the central area, a music pavilion, which had a form of an octogonal garden house, was built. At this time the park was really beautiful and was the pride of Frýdek.
In 2012-2013 the whole area of the park was revitalized at last. The pavements were replaced, modern playgrounds for children were built and the vegetation was rearranged. Furthermore, the decision was taken to destroy the old music pavilion and build a modern open-air stage in its place.
The designer of this avant-garde construction was Tomáš Velehradský, a Czech architect from Brno. Initially, sometimes his such a bold and daring project gave rise to controversy, but in general it impressed both the local goverment and inhabitants. The structure has an organic form corresponding to its surrounding. It is supposed to serve as a place for concerts, performances, projections etc. Nowadays, the stage is one of the landmarks of the twin-city Frýdek-Místek. Due to its unique form it is also jockingly called "houbička" ("a mushroom") or "žlutý rejnok" ("a yellow ray").
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The Czech Republic is a cool little landlocked country south of Germany and Poland, with a national addiction to pork and beer. Potatos, cabbage, and dumplings are close behind them, and they also have this great bar food called "utopenec." It means "a drowned man," it's pickled sausage with onions, perfect with some dark wheat bread and beer. The Czech bread is legendary, like a meal all by itself.Czechoslovakia first became a sovereign state in 1918 when it declared independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The state of Czechoslovakia lasted until the "Velvet Divorce" of 1993, which created Slovakia and the Czech Republic.It was occupied by Germany in WWII but escaped major damage, unlike most other European cities. The nation's capital, Prague, retains some of Europe's most beautiful Baroque architecture as well as one of the largest medieval castle complexes still standing. The President of the Czech Republic has his offices in the Prague Castle even today.There was a coup d'etat in 1948 and Czechoslovakia fell under Soviet rule. For fifty years Czechoslovakia was a Socialist state under the USSR, subject to censorship, forced atheism and even the arrest of jazz musicians!In 1989, communist police violently squashed a pro-democracy demonstration and pissed everybody off so bad that a revolution erupted over it, finally ending the Communist rule.The next twenty years saw rapid economic growth and westernization. Today in Prague you can eat at McDonald's or KFC, shop for snowboarding boots and go see a punk rock show.The Czech Republic took over the presidency of the European Union in January 2009. This instantly created lots of political drama because the President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus, is a renowned Euroskeptic.We anxiously await the outcome of "President Klaus vs. the Lisbon Treaty", a world heavywieght fight sceduled for spring 2009.Text by Steve Smith.
