Issue 1, Vol. 83 (2024)

The study deals with the phenomenon of pilgrimages after the year 1989. Except for the traditional pilgrimage festivities associated with the confession of faith, such as in Žarošice in South Moravia, where a pilgrimage ritual with many Baroque relicts is still practised on the so-called Golden Saturday, we can notice the disappearance of pilgrimages. At the same time, the traditional form of pilgrimages is transformed, and we can observe innovative trends after 1989. Pilgrimage tourism is developing significantly, professional and association pilgrimages (e.g. these of firefighters, gamekeepers, beekeepers, and teachers) are being organised, and cycling pilgrimages are becoming popular among all age groups. In contrast to Western Europe, the phenomenon of longdistance pilgrimages, not only to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, but also to Mariazell, Roma, Assisi, and the Holy Land, has arrived in the Czech Republic with a certain delay. After the year 2000, pilgrim routes have been replicated and trucked, modern pilgrim routes are being built. Last but not least, we try to answer the question of what role a pilgrimage site, a pilgrimage or a pilgrimage tradition plays in the Czech society of the twenty-first century.

The ceremonial chase after the king and the processions of young girls called Little Queens began to disappear from the customary year in Moravia and Silesia in the mid-nineteenth century. Yet these rituals attracted the interest of the prominent ethnographers of the late nineteenth century – František Bartoš, Čeněk Zíbrt and Lucie Bakešová, and in the twentieth century, of e.g. Václav Frolec who studied the Ride of the Kings, and Zdenka Jelínková who was interested in dance suites of the Little Queens. The first documented transformation of these rituals dates back to the period of official bans on skirmishes between Rides of Bachelors (during Pentecost) or carolling, the second one to the 1880s when the rituals began to be performed as part of the folklore movement. They are continuously revived as annual traditions (inspired by ethno-cultural customs). The present study deals with the disappearance and renewal and especially the transformation of boys’ ceremonial horseback processions and girls’ door-to-door processions in the historical territory of Moravia (and in one locality in Opava Silesia), based on participant observation, interviews with informants, and study of literature and sources.

The study deals with the transformation of traditional folk culture in the suburban zones and the participation of the municipality in the preservation of a living cultural heritage in its periphery. Settlements around Bratislava try to preserve their genius loci. They find inspiration in local traditional culture that is transformed into new forms and functions. The first part of the study explains the Bratislava Self-Governing Region’s support to the living cultural heritage. The second part focusses on periodic events in the public space, which have the character of festivals and in which the inspiration by the local traditional culture can be clearly identified. The conclusion of the study includes an analysis of these events in terms of cultural policy, participants, current functions and forms, commodification, and the degree to which the authenticity of the tradition is maintained.

The study deals with the religiosity of members of the Roman-Catholic Church and the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren in Rusava, the westernmost village in Wallachia, where most inhabitants professed to be Protestants in the past. Currently, most of the inhabitants are irreligious, and the local Catholics outnumber the Protestants. The research was based on a questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews. The research shows that tradition is very important for the members of the two churches studied – they inherited their faith from their parents, they were brought up in it from an early age, and never converted. Overall, Rusava Catholics are more active than local Protestants. Relations between members of the two churches are positive, which is mainly attributable to some priests and annual ecumenical gatherings.

Výrovice, a small village near the city of Znojmo (South Moravia), is almost unknown in ethnological literature. The whole treatise is based solely on recent field research. The local kermesse, long overlooked, is much more interesting than it seems. For example, the institution of a master of ceremonies, called a družba/best man, and the custom of introducing under the maypole have been safeguarded here. Despite that the kermesse began to decline shortly after the year 1990, and it was married men joined by local children who had to rescue the custom on several occasions. These efforts led to an idea of restoring the disappeared folk costume of Výrovice, which was successfully found and its modern stylised version was created. In 2018, the first set of folk costumes was made for a couple, one year later other three ensembles were made. The efforts of the local people did not fall on deaf ears, and the disappearance of the Výrovice kermesse was staved off.

The material report deals with a specific door-to-door procession, called a dudlačka, which takes place in the village of Lužná in the Vsetín area in the evening and night hours on Easter Sunday. It can be concluded from reports published in the professional literature that the custom disappeared already in the 1940s. However, the field research conducted in 2018 and 2023 confirmed its continuity and high viability. The treatise presents a basic description of the custom in the past and present and its transformations, using various sources (archives, literature, field research).