Bedřich (Friedrich) Bernau, born Přemysl Bačkora (22 August 1849, in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

– 2 January 1904, in

Plaňany Plaňany () is a market town in Kolín District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,900 inhabitants. Administrative division Plaňany consists of four municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 ...

) was a Czech amateur

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

, who wrote popular works on that subject and

ethnography Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

. He changed his name out of concern that publishers in Germany would be reluctant to publish books by someone with a Czech name.František Vladimír Vykoukal, "Nové rovy", in: ''Osvěta'', #34, Vol.1, 1904 pg.183
Online

Life and work

He was born to the teacher and writer of books for young people, . He married Anna Žofia Franclová, while he was working as an accountant at a sugar refinery in Radonice. From 1876 to 1880, they had three children. In 1881, they moved to

Štětí Štětí (; ) is a town in Litoměřice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 8,600 inhabitants. It lies on the Elbe River. It is an industrial town known for the largest paper mill in the country. Administrat ...

, where they lived for less than a year, then went to Plaňany, where he once again worked for a sugar refinery; this time as a manager.Vladimir Valeš, ''Radonice, Mašťov a okolí'', Okresní muzeum Chomutov, 2001, pp.17–18 Although he spent much of his life as an accountant, for several types of businesses, his spare time was devoted to the study of culture, history, and archaeology.Bedřich Bernau. In: ''

Zlatá Praha ''Zlatá Praha'' (''Golden Prague'') was a Czech illustrated literary magazine. Founded by poet Vítězslav Hálek, it was published separately from 1864 to 1865 before it was restarted again in 1884 by publisher Jan Otto, with Ferdinand Schulz, ...

'', Vol. XXI, #11, pg.132
Online
He collaborated with '' Otto's Encyclopedia'', and was an active member of the National Museum Society, as well as several other organizations devoted to history. In 1895, he became an executive with the Archaeological Commission at the . He was known for his ethnographic and historical studies of

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

, which he wrote in Czech and German. He was a contributor to the journal, ' (archaeological monuments) and to an extensive guidebook, ''Čechy'' (Bohemia), by

Jan Otto Jan Otto (8 November 1841, Přibyslav – 29 May 1916, Prague) was a Czechs, Czech publisher and bookseller. He is best known for ''Otto's encyclopedia'', the largest encyclopedia published in Czech language, Czech. Life and work He was the son ...

, with illustrations by Karel Liebscher. His main work was the ''Album der Burgen und Schlösser im Königreiche Böhmen'' (album of castles and palaces in the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia (), sometimes referenced in English literature as the Czech Kingdom, was a History of the Czech lands in the High Middle Ages, medieval and History of the Czech lands, early modern monarchy in Central Europe. It was the pr ...

, 2 vols.), issued from 1879 to 1883, with illustrations by Baltazar Kutina (1853-1923). It was intended to be a longer series, but was cancelled by the publisher, Druck und Verlag Brüder Butter, of Saaz. It has been suggested that they were looking for something critical of the Czechs, and thought the work was too objective. One of his last major works, ''Plaňany s okolím'' (Plaňany and its surroundings, 1896), was dedicated to the town where he spent the last years of his life.

References

External links

Works by Bernau
@ the

National Library of the Czech Republic The National Library of the Czech Republic () is the central library of the Czech Republic. It is directed by the Ministry of Culture (Czech Republic), Ministry of Culture. The library's main building is located in the historical Clementinum buil ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernau, Bedrich 1849 births 1904 deaths Czech archaeologists Writers from Austria-Hungary Ethnographers from Austria-Hungary Archaeologists from Austria-Hungary Czech ethnographers Writers from Prague 19th-century Czech male writers