Moravian Slovakia
The Moravian Slovakia ( Czech and Slovak Slovácka or Moravské Slovácka ) is an area in the southeast of the Czech Republic ( in the historical land Moravia ), bordering Slovakia and to the south by Austria in the southeast, where the northern boundary of the area is fluid and not well defined. In broad terms, one can use as a northwesterly boundary of Moravian Slovakia the line of Mars Mountains.
The Moravian Slovakia thus comprises roughly the areas around the towns Uherské Hradiště, Uherský Brod, Břeclav, Hodonín ( with the village Strážnice ) and Kyjov, the membership of this region are less geographical and more about the traditions, the music, the costumes, the dialect and the wine defined.
- 5.1 wine
- 5.2 Fruit brandy
Nature and Landscape
The centuries- long cultivation by farming, viticulture and fruit and vegetable production on some quite productive soils and at higher altitudes by grazing has changed the landscape as it exists today, spawned and shaped.
In the Moravian Slovakia are with the White Carpathians ( Bile Karpaty) and the Palava hills ( Palava ) two UNESCO Biosphere Reserves and the Lednice- Valtice UNESCO World Heritage Site. The White Carpathians, whose highest point with 970 m the Velka Javořina is situated on the border with Slovakia, occupy an area of 715 square kilometers. The area with immaculate slopes, species-rich meadows and groups of detached trees was collected in 1996 in the rank of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The Palava, with an area of 83 square kilometers, a smaller area were, in 1986, recognized as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
The Lednice- Valtice is the largest composed landscape unity of Europe and maybe even the world. Covering an area of nearly 200 square kilometers was created at the instigation of the Prince of Liechtenstein between the early 18th to the mid-19th century, a large-scale landscape park with the castles of Lednice and Valtice in the center. In 1996 the area was included in the UNESCO list of world cultural heritage.
Attractions
- Slavic castle wall Břeclav - Pohansko: beginning of the 9th century, an oval hillfort was here created me a total area of 28 hectares, its walls were up to four meters high.
- Dolni Věstonie: An exhibition shows here, at the site of the Venus of Dolni Věstonie, the life time of the Ice Age.
- National Memorial Mikulčice - Valy: findings from the 7th to the 9th century, reminiscent of the Great Moravian Empire.
- Stare Mesto: The Great Moravian Memorial "Well VALACH " was created on the foundations of a church from the 9th century.
Folklore
Traditions and Events
Typical folklore events include, for example, the festival Kosecke písně in Buchlovicer Castle Park in early June or the Ride of the Kings ( tschech.: jízda Kralu ), which takes place annually on the last weekend of May.
The festival Kosecke písně in Buchlovice is a betting mowing in the castle park, arriving at the Foklorevereine from all over the region. Meadows of about 40 square meters are in to mow the participants with scythes to the bet, with speed and thoroughness are the criteria. The festival begins at 4 clock in the morning when the grass is still dewy and can mow at best, and runs until noon. When working traditional peasant songs are sung.
The Ride of the Kings took place in many places in Moravia, but also in Slovakia and Hungary in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Meanwhile, he exists only in five villages of South Moravia, the Ride of the Kings in Vlčnov the most famous of its kind. Though there is no evidence that tradition is still sometimes attributed to the escape of the Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus after a lost battle, which should be undetected escape his enemies in women's clothing. The Return of the King of Bohemia Wenceslas II of the Brandenburg captivity is considered a possible model. In fact, it is a variant of the traditional Spring Umrittes which is also found in other European countries, comparable to the Sorbian Easter ride. The festival is a king - usually a boy between eleven and sixteen years - elected, he carries on this day the female costume of the place and a white paper flower in the mouth that will prevent him from accidentally speaking, because it has to mention twenty four hours. Accompanied by a procession of horsemen, the retinue of the king, which raises funds and traditional verse proclaims the king rides through the village. In the literature, the Ride of the Kings of Milan Kundera was processed in his novel The Joke.
Aspire
The costumes are very colorful and differ from place to place. Uniformly are only wide, white and embroidered shirts for men, from light beige to blue to black colored trousers and vests, as well as jackets and coats in the same color, and this one, mostly smaller, hat with usually only slightly pronounced brim. The women wear colorful skirts, wide, white and mostly embroidered blouses and usually a headscarf.
The costume is also still worn mostly for celebrations of the ( village ) life, from older women sometimes in very rural areas, even at ordinary Sundays. Since the Velvet Revolution and the epochal change from 1989 in Czechoslovakia - after a period of state support and Protegierung in the late 1940s and 1950s and the subsequent decline of folk art - began a revival of traditions from below into the 1990s, to continues today and is maintained by the younger generation.
Music and dance
The music plays an important role of tradition maintenance, and a typical chapel of Moravian Slovakia include double bass, violin and cymbal (hammered dulcimer ), and occasionally also a clarinet, also sing smaller or larger choirs, instrumental both accompanied and a cappella. Folklore groups occur events with traditional folk dances. The recruits dance Verbuňk, which originates from the 18th century, counts since 2005 to the intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO.
Language
In Slovácka is the official language, as in the Czech Republic, Czech. The Moravian language differs slightly from the Czech part of Bohemia, but not understanding difficulties resulting therefrom. The Moravian -Slovak dialects form one of the three major dialects of the Moravian. You are the one from nearby Slovakia (already the name " Moravian Slovakia " indicates ), marked on the other from the 1945 relatively high proportion of German residents. In the dialect is therefore more German loanwords have received than in the high Czech such as Flaška (German pronunciation: Flaschka ) for bottle ( tschech.: láhev, slow. Fľaška ) or Obršlag (German pronunciation: Upper shock) for a collar to a costume, Šnuptichl (German pronunciation: Schnupptichel ) for handkerchief (from Austrian: handkerchief ) or Štreka (German pronunciation: Strecka ) for track / path. In addition, there are other differences in pronunciation for high- Czech that are similar in part to the Slovak, but the dialectal differences in the Czech Republic are historically conditioned lower than for example in the south of the German-speaking world.
Local Produce
Wine
The Slovácká vinařská podoblast is one of the four Moravian wine sub-regions. The vineyards on back of mean and low-lying valley of the Morava in the south west to the hilly and cooler foothills of the White Carpathians. 115 build communities in the sub-region to over 4500 hectares of vineyards in almost every village there are extensive vineyards and wine cellars. Of wines both red and white wine is produced, both in part to the high quality, the white wine dominates. The quantitatively most important white wine varieties are Müller Thurgau ( 555 ha), Grüner Veltliner (406 ), Pinot Blanc ( 337 ) and Riesling ( 444), take the red wines of St. Laurent (307) and Gamay ( 362), the largest surface area of a. The cultivation takes place in many cases only in small quantities for their own consumption, but it is increasingly produced in larger extent also for sale and for export. Typical for the region is a small, stalk -less wine glass cup in the form of about 5 cl capacity. In the fall in many places wine festivals and tastings take place.
Fruit brandy
Slivovitz ( tschech: Slivovice ) and Meruňkovice are typical fruit brandies that from cultivated in the region Plums ( Slíva ) or apricot ( Merunka ) are produced. You have 40 % to 60% alcohol content part and are either produced in the approximately 200 licensed Moravian distilleries, more often but even fired.