Myths about St. John of Nepomuk in Vrchní Orlice – an article by Barbora Motlová and Jana Karlová in Český lid

In the new issue of “Český lid”, you will find the text Myths about St. John of Nepomuk in Vrchní Orlice: (dis)continuity of a place where there is no one to inherit from, co-authored by Barbora Motlová and Jana Karlová. The student-teacher article is based on a diploma thesis and a specific research project, and examines the symbolism and identity of the place of a disappeared Sudeten village.

The article deals with contemporary stories connected with the church of St. John of Nepomuk in Vrchní Orlice (Hohen Erlitz). Since the end of World War II, the place has been marked by displacement, destruction, fragile local memory and identity. The qualitative study is based primarily on interviews conducted between 2022 and 2024, focusing on “myths” that randomly and repeatedly emerged while exploring the atmosphere of the place, memory, and potential new functions of the church. The concept of “myth” is used to capture the processes of finding a balance between personal and collective experience, treating blank spaces of memory, negotiating identities and belonging. Based on the participants’ theses and comparing field data with existing literature, we propose the concepts of liminality, haunted landscape, and adopted heritage as key tools of interpretation.

Karlová, Jana – Motlová, Barbora. 2025. Myths about the Church of St. John of Nepomuk in Vrchní Orlice: (Dis)continuity of a Place without Inheritors. Český lid 112: 131–162. https://doi.org/10.21104/CL.2025.2.01