After 140 years, the iconic Barrande inscription was removed from Barrandovské rocks

The memorial plaque bearing the name Barrand was taken down from the cliffs above the Vltava river in several stages on Friday. The restorers took it down piece by piece. Each of the four parts weighs 200 kilograms and measures 145 by 120 centimeters.

The main reason for its removal from the rock massif was the need for maintenance and restoration. “We found out that the plate and its anchor to the massif are not 100 percent, and to avoid damage, we decided to remove the plate,” restorer Lukáš Kubíček told Novinkám.

“The state of the plate is in a critical state at the moment, and for safety reasons it must be removed from the rock. The National Museum would like to return the album to skály Barrandovské next year. Just like 140 years ago, he will be looking for sponsors to return this symbolic object,” said the Director General of the National Museum, adding that the estimated cost is a million and a half crowns.

A tarnish coating will be removed from the sign, corrosion products will be removed, and a protective base coat will be applied over the next six months.

The famous inscription is also awaiting a color change, it will return to its original dark blue with gilding. “Now it wasn’t in the original color, but I don’t know why. Maybe someone painted it over and it has not been decided what color it is,” said Kubíček.

A tablet that was almost 5 meters long and 1.5 meters high with the name of the paleontologist was placed on the face of the rock as a symbolic memorial one year after Barrand’s death. It was after him that the rock and the entire national national monument were named, and it belongs to the category of the oldest protected area of ​​geological character in the Czech Republic.

The first intention to create a commemorative table and its location was already proposed in 1883 by Jan Neruda in his feuilleton in Humoristické listy. Antonín Frič, a Czech naturalist, zoologist and paleontologist and head of natural science at the National Museum at the time, was most responsible for its creation and location.

A commemorative tablet bearing Barrand’s name was placed in the ancient rocks of Chuchel by the National Museum’s Natural History Group and more than 140 years ago, on June 14, 1884, it was ceremonially unveiled with the participation of the greatest abilities of the national society At the time, their representatives watched the publication of the album on the Vltava directly from a floating steamboat.

The commemorative plaque was produced and the production worth 300 guilders was supported by the First Czech-Moravian Factory in Libni. A collection was then made among famous geologists in the USA to insert a plate worth 572 gold. A large part of the costs were also paid by the Museum of the Kingdom of Bohemia itself, known at that time as the National Museum.

The deficiency in the form of a commemorative plaque was preserved for the fans of the Museum of the Kingdom of Bohemia on the basis of an entry in the land records from 1884. In 1907, the plaque was removed and decorated again due to changes in Barrandovská rock. The painting was then renewed in 1968.

“Joachim Barrande left his notes, a valuable library, and above all hundreds of thousands of fossils to the National Museum, some of which can be admired by visitors in the Historical Building of the House- National deposit in the Window to Prehistory exhibition. She is given a place of honor in the Hall of the First Mountains. His name is also listed among other important figures in our history on the front of the National Museum, and our institution believes it is his duty to take care of his legacy and memory, ” said the Director General of the National Museum, Michal Lukeš.