Bezruč's dwelling is taken care of by ex-miner Jan Šerk

“Coal dust got in my eyes, my lips turned into rubies, coal icicles hanging from my hair, beard and eyebrow”…“ If only the author of this description of an anonymous miner from “Ostrava“ poem knew that his bequest is upkept by such a person! Jan Šerk is a retired miner operator in coal getting who now takes care of the log cabin of Petr Bezruč, the poet, in Ostravice.

“I was born right opposite the barn that Bezruč had converted into his own dwelling. It is only three years older than me,“ he continues, stating that he himself lived to meet the “Silesian bard”. According to him Bezruč used to cross their land every evening when going to the nearby river where he had a favourite spot where he would have a swim, completely naked.

The poet who became immortal thanks to his “Silesian Songs” collection was said not to be very talkative. He never forgot to say hello, though. “Last time I saw him when I was almost twenty and was about to leave for military service. Then in nineteen fifty eight Bezruč died in Olomouc,“ noted Šerk, adding that he himself left his native village in Beskydy a made himself at home in a miner's flat in Ostrava-Poruba.

“The following thirty one years I spent at Vítězný únor (Victorious February), later renamed Odra Mine. I started by filling away coal from seam to wagons. I attended just about all the courses I could and acquired the ninth qualification class. I also worked in level seams and in the end as a machine operator in a coal face where mining combines were used. Together with the team of Milan Tesařík we broke many records,“  recalled Šerk.

Once he retired, he returned to Ostravice. To live in the house opposite the log cabin of Petr Bezruč, a heritage site currently managed by the Silesian Provincial Museum in Opava. When the preceding janitor died, the municipal office asked Mr. Šerk whether he wanted to take up the job. “I said yes. And for eight years already I have been guiding visitors around the place. There approximately three hundred of them per month,“ he specified.

The following rooms of the log cabin of Petr Bezruč are open to public: the living room – a larger room (where the poet would also sleep), the kitchen (where visitors would be received and entertained), the bedroom (where his male or female secretary would sleep) and a storeroom (where he would store various all kinds of things and fuel wood). “The interior has not been changed since Bezruč himself had designed it. There are also period photographs, presents he got, or paintings,“ informed the guide.

The mining topic is certainly not absent. It is present in photographs, paintings or in lanterns. The nature of the poet who used to visit miners at the colliery and whose name was given to a mine in Ostrava is also manifested by a notice for his guests that he had put up on the door. “He did not like them much. On the other hand, though, he would respond to people's letters. That is why he had a secretary,“ added Šerk.

When and how to visit the log cabin?

The log cabin of Petr Bezruč is open from May to October, except for Mondays, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. In the period from November to April guided tours are to be booked in advance, either in writing (Jan Šerk, Ostravice 654, 739 14), by phone (732 974 060) or via the Internet (spb@szmo.cz).

Radek Lukša