Bohemian Forestry School in Bělá pod Bezdězem (Böhmische Forstschule in Weisswasser)

In 1855 the first forestry school in Bohemia was established at the chateau in Bělá. It operated there until 1904, when it was moved to Zákupy near Česká Lípa and later in 1945 to Trutnov. Two of the most prominent teachers in Bělá were Emanuel Purkyně and Ferdinand Fiscali, who managed to start up courses in forest geology and meteorology and also combine theory with forestry practice. The chateau building is now home to the Podbezdězí Museum.

Forestry courses were first institutionalized on the initiative of the Czech Forestry Union (Der böhmische Forstverein), which was an association founded in 1848. As the laws governing the qualifications required by foresters changed, the association started preparatory work for the establishment of a school, although it had difficulty finding a suitable building to hold lessons in. The situation was resolved by Count Christian Waldstein, a member of the Union, who provided his chateau in Bělá pod Bezdězem for the purpose. The school was opened on 1 May 1855 as a two-year college. This was the first institution of its type in Bohemia. In Moravia a forestry school had been set up in Úsov back in 1852 (it is now situated in Hranice). Both schools taught their courses in German; the first forestry school with lessons in Czech opened in 1885 in Písek. The first headmaster of the Bělá school was Robert Miklitz. The school faced a number of problems right from the start. On the one hand it was short on funding, meaning the long-term outlook for the development of the institution was uncertain, while on the other it had a lack of space and no boarding facilities. In the early 1860s there was even talk of moving the school to Písek. The situation improved in 1862 with the establishment of the School Forestry Association, bringing together forest owners who pledged to fund the school. The school in Bělá was also engaged in research, one example of which was when Emanuel Purkyně set up a meteorological station there in 1864 to measure cumulative precipitation. From 1866 the long-standing head of the school was the Dobříš forester Ferdinand Fiscali (1827–1907), who was also the director of all the forests on the Waldstein estate. He greatly contributed towards linking theoretical knowledge with the practical work of a forester. During Fiscali’s era the school achieved international renown and often appeared at trade fairs (such in Vienna in 1870, Prague in 1891). In 1895 the school was changed to the Higher Forestry Institute (Höhere Forstleranstalt in Weisswasser) and, as pupil numbers increased and due to a critical lack of teaching space and collections, in 1904 the school was moved to Zákupy near Česká Lípa. There, it found suitable premises in the former sugar refinery, which was owned by the imperial family. Courses were taught in Zákupy until 1940 (also partially in Czech after the establishment of Czechoslovakia) and after the war, in 1945, the forestry school moved to Trutnov, where it still exists today. Prominent graduates of the Bělá era of the school include Leopold Anger, Josef Černý, Rudolf Hacker, Antonín Holub, František Málek, Waldemar Maresch and Ferdinand Sekyrka.

Muzeum Podbezdězí, Sbírky.
Uhlíř, J.: 160 let od založení lesnické školy v Bělé pod Bezdězem (1855–1904) a v Zákupech (1904–1940), přeložené roku 1945 do Trutnova. Boleslavica ’15 Vlastivědný sborník Mladoboleslavska, 8/2015, s. 75–85.
Uhlíř, J. (red.): Padesát let lesnického školství v Trutnově 1945–1995. Jubilejní almanach k 140. výročí středního lesnického školství v severovýchodních Čechách (1855–1995). Trutnov 1995.

The palace courtyard. The current form of the castle was created by the architect B. Canevalle during a 1689-1691 reconstruction. (Author: jam)

Students of the school of forestry in 1886. (Author: Muzeum Podbezdězí. Collections.)

A young forester (end of 19. century). (Author: Muzeum Podbezdězí. Collections.)

A school of forestry had its place at the palace between the years 1947 and 1952. The photo shows the school decorations for the May 1 celebrations in 1950. (Author: Muzeum Podbezdězí. Collections.)

Foresters celebrated May 1, 1950 on an allegorical wagon. (Author: Muzeum Podbezdězí. Collections.)

The palace in Bělá, which housed the forestry school (2018). (Author: jam)