Beneš's meadow

The place where the history of Czechoslovakia was written

A rather inconspicuous place, a small clearing in fact, commemorates the illegal crossing of the future Minister of Foreign Affairs and President of Czechoslovakia, Edvard Beneš (1884-1948), to Bavaria, and from there to Switzerland to follow the head of the foreign resistance, T. G. Masaryk. Beneš left here on September 1, 1915. The return to his homeland took more than three years.

Beneš's meadow in a drawing by V. Alberti in 1947

Benešův palouček can be found on the outskirts of Aš, right next to the state border, near the border bollard 17/15. It is certainly worth mentioning that Benešův palouček was the first Czech (Czechoslovak) memorial to be built in the territory of Aš and the entire district. The memorial was built in 1947 by the 1st Aš National Committee. As already mentioned, it was built right on the state border. It consists of a horseshoe-shaped mound 50 cm high. At the head of the arch is the date 1. IX. 1915 created from white and blue paving stones. In the middle of the horseshoe, the Czechoslovak national emblem – a two-tailed lion – was depicted from red crushed stone. A hedge of privet grew around it. After the Border Guard was established, Benešův palouček found itself in a forbidden zone. For many years, no one entered the memorial site, and it was almost forgotten. The memorial site was restored after November 1989. We know that Edvard Beneš visited this site with his wife Hana on August 1, 1922.

Edvard Beneš during his visit to Aš in 1922

The second reminder of Edvard Beneš and his short stay in Aš is the so-called Beneš Column, which stands today in front of the monumental building of the Aš grammar school. I was disappointed to find that information about this Beneš monument is contained in German publications and there is a minimum in Czech. The monument was unveiled on September 1, 1947 by the Minister of Finance of the Czechoslovak Republic, Dr. Karel Czesaný, on Benešov palouček. The monument, made of granite quarried near Nový Žďár, is 3.5 meters high. It consists of two blocks. It bears the Czech national emblem, a plaque depicting Edvard Beneš, and a plaque with the inscription: "This is where President Dr. Edvard Beneš went abroad to open the gates to freedom for his people on the battlefields of the world. September 1, 1915." These words were formulated by Karl Weiss, chairman of the Aš National Committee. On June 11, Prague Archbishop Josef Beran (1888-1969), a political prisoner of the Nazis and Communists who lived as an exile in the Vatican, visited the memorial site. He was accompanied by other clergy. When the border zone was declared in 1951, the Beneš monument was abandoned. In 1995, the Beneš column was unveiled in front of the Aš gymnasium, which was also the place where Dr. Amerling worked.