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Hovudpersonen

The Good Soldier Švejk

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Institutions

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Mariánská kasárna in Budějovice (Budweis). Until 1 June 1915 it was the home of the Good Soldier Švejk's Infanterieregiment Nr. 91. In 1915 Jaroslav Hašek also served with the regiment in these barracks.

The novel The Good Soldier Švejk refers to a number of institutions and firms, public as well as private. On these pages they were until 15 September 2013 categorised as 'Places'. This only partly makes sense as this type of entity can not always be associated with fixed geographical points, in the way that for instance cities, mountains and rivers can. This new page contains military and civilian institutions (including army units, regiments etc.), organisations, hotels, public houses, newspapers and magazines.

The line between this page and "Places" is blurred, churches do for instance rarely change location, but are still included here. Therefore Prague and Vienna will still be found in the "Places" database, because these have constant coordinates. On the other hand institutions may change location: Odvodní komise and Bendlovka are not unequivocal geographical terms so they will from now on appear on this page.

The names are colour coded according to their role in the plot, illustrated by these examples: U kalicha as a location where the plot takes place, k.u.k. Kriegsministerium mentioned in the narrative, Pražské úřední listy as part of a dialogue, and Stoletá kavárna, mentioned in an anecdote.

Institutions index of institutions, taverns, military units, societies, periodicals ... (286) Show all
I. In the rear
II. At the front
Index Back Forward I. In the rear Hovudpersonen

8. Švejk as a malingerer

Posádková věznicenn flag
Praha IV./214, Kapucínská 2
Wikipedia czen MapSearch Švejkova cesta Švejkův slovník
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Čeští vojáci proti válce (1914-1915), Karel Pichlík

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Posádková věznice is apparently the scene of the plot of two entire chapters. Both [I.8] and [I.9] takes place in and around the garrison prison. The first part is set in the sick-barrack of the prison, then moves on to cell no. 16. Švejk's escape starts in the chapel when Feldkurat Katz during holy mass takes to Švejk and consequently employs him as him officer's servant.

The prison is first mentioned at the end of [I.7] and it is said that this is where Švejk is going. Amongst the people Švejk met during his imprisonment are: Doctor Grünstein, Baronesse von Botzenheim, Hauptmann Linhart, the warders Stabsprofus Slavík, Feldwebel Řepa and Korporal Říha - and at the very end: the military prosecution represented by Auditor Bernis.

Background

Posádková věznice is the author's term for c.a k. vojenská věznice v Praze (k.u.k. Militärgefängnis von Prag), a prison that was part of the garrison complex at Hradčany. It shared the building with k.u.k. Militärgericht Prag and the k.k. Landwehr court. The building is located behind Loreta; and was opened in 1896 and is still in use, but not publicly accessible. Its function as a prison and brutal interrogation centre was revitalised during the Nazi and Communist dictatorships.

In 1906 there were two Stabsprofusen employed at the prison, but none of them fit the description of Stabsprofus Slavík, Korporal Říha, or Feldwebel Řepa. The two were Jan Frkal and Josef Bureš and they lived on the premises. If any of them was a model for the literary figures is impossible to say and it can not be determined if the author had anything to do with the garrison prison at all, so we must assumed that the inspiration for those figures hailed from elsewhere. On the other hand it is possible that Jaroslav Hašek had heard some story from former inmates of the prison. The description of the conditions in the prison and the brutality of the warders all in all appears strongly exaggerated.

It seems that the author was not very familiar with the organisation of the garrison. There is contradicting information on where Švejk actually was: at Vojenská nemocnice Hradčany or in a sick-bay within the prison. One passage indicates that the author believes that the military hospital was part of the prison, which it clearly wasn't. In chapter nine the reader gets the impression that the garrison actually WAS the prison, which it wasn't (at most "garrison" was a colloquial term for the garrison prison).

Antonín Matějovský
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Antonín Matějovský

In 1923 a series of publications called "Documents from our national revolution" started to appear. Here one witness, A. Matějovský, gives some insight into the conditions at the prison. He was arrested after having distributed the so-called "Tsar Nicholas II's manifest" in 1914 and given a 10 year term. He spent the first 16 months at Hradčany before being transferred to Arad. His description of the prison is completely at odds with what Švejk experienced. The staff behaved impeccably towards the prisoners and gave them a friendly send-off to Arad, where the conditions were much worse. Matějovský was released in 1917 during the general amnesty issued by the new emperor Karl I. [a]

Quote(s) from the novel
[I.8] Švejka v posádkové věznici uložili do nemocničního baráku právě mezi takové malomyslné simulanty. „Už to nevydržím,“ řekl jeho soused na posteli, kterého přivedli z ordinačního pokoje, kde mu již podruhé vyplachovali žaludek. Muž ten simuloval krátkozrakost. „Zítra pojedu k pluku,“ rozhodoval se druhý soused po levé straně, který právě dostal klystýr, simuluje, že je hluchý jako pařez.
[II.4] Když jsem seděl na garnizóně, tak tam s námi byt takovej chytrej člověk vzdělanej, profesor na obchodní škole.

Also written:Garrison prison en Garnisonsgefängnis de Garnisonsarresten no

Literature
References
aDokumenty naší národní revoluceAntonín Matějovský1923
Vojenská nemocnice Hradčanynn flag
Praha IV./181, Loretánská 4
MapSearch Švejkova cesta Švejkův slovník
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© Stará Praha

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Český svět,5.5.1916

Vojenská nemocnice Hradčany is mentioned by Doctor Grünstein when he asks Švejk if he enjoys his stay at the military hospital. It is however unclear if the hospital is part of the plot at all, as the information about Švejk's stay amongst the malingerers at Hradčany is somewhat contradictory. In other parts of the text the reader gets the impression that it is talk of a sick-bay that is part of the garrison prison. See Posádková věznice for more on this topic.

Background

Vojenská nemocnice Hradčany refers to a branch of k.u.k. Militärspital nr. 11 in Prague. It was located in the same barrack complex as the garrison prison, the military court, and other army institutions. The main military hospital in Praha was Vojenská nemocnice na Karlově náměstí.

Chief staff doctor in 1916 was dr. Křejčí as revealed when newspapers reported on a visit by Countess Coudenhove, the wife of Bohemia's governor. The visit took place on 10 April 1916, too late to fit chronologically with the visit of Baronesse von Botzenheim, but nevertheless there are interesting similarities.

Quote(s) from the novel
[I.8] Druhého dne při visitě otázal se dr Grünstein Švejka, jak se mu líbí ve vojenské nemocnici. Švejk odpověděl, že jest to podnik správný a vznešený.

Also written:Military hospital at Hradčany en Militärspital am Hradschin de Militærsjukehuset på Hradčany no

Literature
Československá Republikann flag
Praha III./387, Karmelitská ul. 6
MapSearch Švejkův slovník
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Československá Republika,1.1.1920

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Chytilův adresář,1924

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Rudé právo,8.5.1921

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Národní listy,11.4.1931

Československá Republika is mentioned during the visit of Baronesse von Botzenheim at Hradčany where she gave Švejk the book Episodes from the life of our emperor that was written by the future editor in chief of this paper.

Background

Československá Republika was an official government daily newspaper that was published by this name from 1919 to 1932 (before and after it was called Pražské noviny). It was a direct successor to Pražské úřední noviny, and was even located in the same offices. The mentioned editor Filip, had been an working for the paper also during the old regime. From 1932 to 1938 it continued publishing, but now using the name Pražské noviny. The government's newspaper group also issued Úřední List Československá Republika and the evening paper Prager Abendblatt (in German).

In Rudé Pravo

Jaroslav Hašek also wrote a satirical article in Rudé Pravo where editor Filip and his newspaper is treated in more detail: What I would advise the Communists if I were the Chief Editor of the official Government newspaper Československá Republika. The article was dated 7 April 1921 printed on 8 May[a] - around the time when the passages in the novel were written. In the article he claims that some Svátek was editor in chief, in the novel the author of the book about the emperor (i.e. Filip) has this role. According to the address book from 1924 the chief editor was Josef Hevera, and another of the names mentioned in the Rudé Pravo article, Adolf Zeman, was indeed on the editorial board. The article furthermore suggests that Jaroslav Hašek was still a Communist at heart.

On Hašek

The newspaper wrote about Hašek from time to time, mainly after he became famous, and on 5 January 1923 they printed an obituary. Shortly after his return from Russia they printed adverts for his appearance at the theatre Červená sedma where he related stories from his stay in Russia.

Quote(s) from the novel
[I.8] Potom vytáhla z koše tři láhve vína pro rekonvalescenty a dvě krabice cigaret. Vše elegantně rozložila na prázdnou postel vedle Švejka, kam přibyla ještě pěkně vázaná kniha „Příběhy ze života našeho mocnáře“, kterou napsal nynější zasloužilý šéfredaktor naší úřední „Československé republiky“, který se ve starém Frantíkovi viděl.
Literature
References
aCo bych radil komunistům, kdybych byl šéfredaktorem vládního orgánu Československá republikaRudé právoJaroslav Hašek8.5.1921
Index Back Forward I. In the rear Hovudpersonen

8. Švejk as a malingerer


© 2008 - 2024 Jomar Hønsi Last updated: 16.3.2024