Interesting places
The Virgin Mary Church
Originally a Gothic church documented since 1374. It was built with a somewhat unusual square floor plan. During the Thirty Years' War, in 1620, the church was burned down and subsequently rebuilt. Further repairs were carried out in 1735-36, 1893, and 1940. During the communist regime (1948-89), the church was not maintained and fell into disrepair. Since 1995, the Roman Catholic Church has been organizing the reconstruction of the church, which has been financially supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the Austrian government, natives of Cetviny/Zettwing living abroad, and the South Bohemian Region. The main work on the reconstruction of the exterior and interior was completed in 2003, and the church was ceremoniously reconsecrated on September 6, 2003, by the Bishop of České Budějovice, Monsignor Paďour. In the following years, however, other problems arose, such as inadequate drainage, and further reconstruction work had to be carried out. Information boards were installed around the church in cooperation with the church and the non-profit organization Zukunftsforum Freiwald.
The church is opened occasionally. For example, every year in mid-August, there are gatherings of families connected with Cetviny/Zettwing.
The pictures below show the status of the church before and after the reconstruction (1995 and 2003).
Interior of the church with discovered Gothic frescoes
Chapel of St. Sebastian
The first mention of the chapel dates back to 1740. At that time, the chapel stood in the part of Cetviny/Zettwing called
Prägarten, and pilgrims organized processions to it. Saint Sebastian was traditionally regarded as a protector against fires. In 1860, the chapel was removed due to the construction of a new house (No. 59) and later rebuilt on a hill above Cetviny/Zettwing, where it stands to this day. According to tradition, this chapel is in the care of the owners of the mill (Herrenmühle). Thanks to them, the chapel has now been completely restored.
Parish and Cave Chapel
The parish chapel was built in 1827 next to the spring with healing water, which was first mentioned in 1616. In 1833, the Stations of the Cross was built next to the parish chapel. The Stations of the Cross and the chapel were not repaired in the post-war period and were in poor condition in the early 1990s. After 2000, the state forest company, Lesy ČR, carried out a complete reconstruction of both chapels and a basic reconstruction of the Stations of the Cross. The spring near the cave chapel with its healing spring and an interesting wayside shrine of unknown age were also restored.
Cemetery
The cemetery is located just off the road to Mikulov. It was founded in 1792 and the inhabitants of the town buried their dead there for over 150 years. It was destroyed along with Cetviny/Zettwing in the 1950s. In the 1990s, it was difficult to find on the site of a landfill and was partially reconstructed.
World War I Memorial
The memorial is located in close proximity to the cemetery. A marble plaque with the names of the fallen was placed on a large granite boulder.
Jaroslav Novák Memorial
The granite monument stands close to the Austrian border, on the site of a former border crossing. Jaroslav Novák was a member of the financial guard serving in Cetviny/Zettwing, who was accidentally shot dead by one of his colleagues during the tense period in the summer of 1938.
Fountain
The foundations of the granite fountain stand near the church in Cetviny/Zettwing, and today there is no indication that it was once surrounded by houses on the square.
Plague column
The plague column stood directly in front of the fountain. Statues of St. John and Paul, St. Sebastian, and St. Florian stood on a triangular pedestal. In the middle of the pedestal stood a triangular column with a statue of St. John of Nepomuk, to whom the plague column was dedicated. The fate of this valuable monument after the destruction of Cetviny/Zettwing is unknown.
State border
Before World War II, there were two border crossings to Austria in Cetviny/Zettwing: the Mayrspindt crossing and the Hammern crossing. The Czech customs office operated at the Hammern crossing. It was initially located in a building on the Austrian side, with a new building on the Czech side not being completed until the late 1930s.
Thanks to renovations in 2005-06, both bridges are once again in good condition and serve pedestrians and cyclists. The customs office building is nowadays privately owned.
Below the crossing to Mayrspindt.
Interesting links:
Cetviny/Zettwing on Wikipedia
Exhibition in Freistadt
Oral history / memories of a time witness