Václav Šmidrkal, Ota Konrád, Hildegard Schmoller, Niklas Perzi, Neighbours. Czech-Austrian History. Prague: Masaryk Institute and Archive of the CAS, v. v. i., and Lidové noviny Publishing House, 2019, ISBN 978-80-88304-19-7 (MÚA), 978-80-7422-732-5 (NLN).
Niklas Perzi, Hildegard Schmoller, Ota Konrád, Václav Šmidrkal, Nachbarn. Ein österreichisch-tschechisches Geschichtsbuch. Weitra: Verlag Bibliothek der Provinz, 2019, ISBN 978-3-99028-817-7.
bibliothekderprovinz.at - Nachbarn
Didactic materials for the publication are available for free download:
cesiarakusane-proskoly.cz
The aim of the project "Joint Czech-Austrian History Book" is to contribute to mutual knowledge and understanding by reflecting on the history of the Czech and Austrian countries and their societies in the 19th and 20th centuries. Although these regions were united by a common state framework until the beginning of the 20th century, the creation of modern nations resulted in mutual delimitation on a national basis. After the dissolution of the Habsburg monarchy in 1918, two new states, Czechoslovakia and Austria, emerged, whose relations with each other ranged from competition to cooperation to disinterest. Despite the divergent development of the two states during the 20th century, some tendencies in both societies manifested themselves similarly in the context of "long duration" and modern transnational phenomena. However, after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, the discussion between Prague and Vienna narrowed down to conflict-ridden and symbolically loaded topics such as "Temelín" or the "Benes Decrees", which were negatively reflected in the mutual media image.
The project initiated by the "Permanent Conference of Czech and Austrian Historians on Common Cultural Heritage" (SKČRH) is being developed by a collective of Czech and Austrian historians. The main output will be a popular educational book for the general public, which will not only provide a mutual view of modern history in approximately five hundred printed pages, but will also deal with cross-cutting themes such as narratives, stereotypes or life in the Czech-Austrian border region. In addition to the book, there will also be an overview booklet and didactic material for school lessons. The public will also be able to comment on individual chapters of the book in several debates on both the Czech and Austrian sides.
Institutionally, the project is anchored on the Czech side at the Masaryk Institute and the Archives of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and financially supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, the South Moravian Region and the Vysočina Region.
The project coordinator for the Czech side is doc. PhDr. Ota Konrád, Ph.D.
The contact person is PhDr. Václav Šmidrkal, Ph.D.
