''Kladivo na čarodějnice'' (The Witches' Hammer) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

history novel by

Václav Kaplický Václav Kaplický (28 August 1895, Sezimovo Ústí – 4 October 1982, Prague) was a Czechs, Czech writer, journalist and epic poet. He is most known as an author of historical fiction. __NOTOC__ Kaplický studied at Gymnasium (school), Gymnasium ...

. It was first published in 1963. The story is set in 17th century, in a region surrounding Velké Losiny and Šumperk. It is based on a historical event, the witch trials in Northern Moravia during the 1670s orchestrated by inquisitor Boblig from Edelstat to which more than 100 people fell victim. The main character is dean Josef Lautner, a cleric who tries to help his people, but later becomes one of the innocent convicted as well.

Film adaptation

In 1970,

Otakar Vávra Otakar Vávra (28 February 1911 – 15 September 2011) was a Czech film director, screenwriter and pedagogue. Biography and career Vávra attended universities in Brno and Prague, where he studied architecture. During 1929–30, while still a stud ...

and

Ester Krumbachová Ester Krumbachová (12 November 1923 – 13 January 1996) was a Czech screenwriter, costume designer, stage designer, author and director. She is known for her contributions to Czech New Wave cinema in the 1960s, including collaborations with di ...

adapted the novel for the film ''

Witchhammer ''Witchhammer'' () is a 1970 Czechoslovak drama film directed by Otakar Vávra and starring Elo Romančík. Based on the novel '' Kladivo na čarodějnice'' by Václav Kaplický, ''Witchhammer'' relates the story of the Northern Moravia witch ...

'', directed by Vávra and starring

Elo Romančík Emanuel "Elo" Romančík (17 December 1922 in Ružomberok – 9 October 2012 in Bratislava) was a Slovak actor. He starred in the 1970 film ''Witchhammer'' under director Otakar Vávra. Selected filmography * 1951 '' Boj se skončí zítra'' ...

.Alan Goble, ed., ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film'', Bowker-Saur, 1999, p. 251. The film was

banned A ban is a formal or informal prohibition of something. Bans are formed for the prohibition of activities within a certain political territory. Some bans in commerce are referred to as embargoes. ''Ban'' is also used as a verb similar in meaning ...

by the Czechoslovakian government.Robert Buchar, ''Czech New Wave Filmmakers in Interviews'', McFarland & Company Publishers, 2005, p. 200.

References

Czech novels adapted into films 1963 Czech novels Historical novels Novels set in the 17th century {{CzechRepublic-stub