Cheb: Schlaraffia Lodge

When Gentlemen Play Knights

There is still only one "burg" in Cheb - the headquarters of the German recessionist society Schlaraffia. It is a unique monument that testifies to the activities of the already half-forgotten table society in Bohemia. The headquarters of the Cheb Schlaraffia society is located at Vrbenského Street No. 14 and today we can find the Hus congregation in Vrbenského Street (under the hospital). This house, interesting even from the outside, was built by the Cheb recessionist society Schlaraffia. It is the only preserved authentic burg in the Czech Republic. There was another one in Jablonec nad Nisou and it has already been demolished. The interior of this lodge has also been preserved in Cheb, which is a real unique thing. Some monuments are in the Cheb museum (e.g. a sword) and in the archive (photo album). Hints of battlements reminiscent of a medieval castle, a coat of arms with a mysterious Latin inscription In arte voluptas above the entrance. The Latin inscription, which in Czech reads "There is pleasure in art", as well as the omnipresent divine owl Uhu.

Headquarters of the Cheb Schlaraffia association

Schlaraffia was founded as an all-male association on October 1, 1859 by actors of the German Theatre (Estate Theatre) in Prague, led by their director Franz Thomé (1807-1872). The members of the association cultivated friendship, art and humor with the aim of escaping from everyday worries. The idea of Schlaraffia quickly spread outside Prague, and other branches were established - called Reych (Empire) not only in German-speaking countries, but also in places where there were larger groups of German-speaking populations, for example in North America. The second oldest is Berlin and the third is Leipzig. The association's working language is German and the so-called schlaraffenlatein, which, like many other activities of the association, continues the medieval tradition, or rather parodies it. In the 19th century, dating back three centuries was even used, but later the dating from the founding of the association, i.e. from 1859 (with the designation a. U.), became more prevalent.

The Cheb Schlaraffia Egra was founded on December 21, 1902 and operated until 1938, when the Cheb region was annexed by Nazi Germany. The “mother” of Egra was the Plzeň Schlaraffia Pilsnea, founded in 1888. Egra received serial number 148. The members of the association came from the upper classes of Cheb and the Cheb Schlaraffia reached its greatest expansion around 1930, when 52 members joined it. The Cheb “burg” – Stauffeburg (Stauff Castle) was designed and built in 1913 by the prominent Cheb architect Franz Kraus – the author of, among others, the Cheb Art Nouveau library. Both the exterior of the Cheb “burg” – the Gothic battlements on the attic of the house, as well as its preserved interior and furnishings, which belong to the Neo-Romanesque and Neo-Gothic styles, refer to the knightly tradition. The Great Owl is also omnipresent - a symbol of wisdom, which also made it into the coat of arms of the Reich Egra - which, in paraphrase of the Cheb city coat of arms - the eagle was replaced by an owl with its wings spread. P After World War II, due to the deportation of the German population, the Cheb Schlaraffia was not restored and the building was lent in 1947 and handed over to the Czechoslovak Hussite Church in 1950, which still resides there. Fortunately, the Cheb Staffenburg has been a protected monument since April 2020.