Gathering the Background Materials

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This trip to the Czech Republic includes a week to explore my ancestral villages in South Bohemia followed by a 4-week immersion in Czech language and culture at Dobruska and the surrounding area in Northeast Bohemia. Here is a map of the Czech Republic. The area for my ancestral villages in South Bohemia are No. 78 & 79, though I will also be spending time in No. 94 (České Budějovice) and No. 77 (Strakonice).

Dobruska is in No. 32, but excursions will take us to No. 17-21, 33, and 48-49, as well as Prague (No. 44).

Map of the Czech Republic

Here is a closer look at South Bohemia:

South Bohemia

Here is some correspondence from me to the Pathfinder guide agency I have hired concerning the villages I’d like to visit and how they are connected to my family:

There are many villages relevant to my ancestors and I would prefer to spend some in depth time in a few, rather than making brief stops in many.

• The most important village for me is Sviny, where No. 8 was in the Trnka family at least back to 1790, No. 21 was in the Malecha family at least back to 1725 and No. 34 was the birthplace of Mariana Klima in around 1750.

• I would also like to see the church in Veseli nad Luznici where Matej Trnka and Rosalia Malecha were married on 27 Jan. 1835. Veseli nad Luznici was also the birthplace of Vavrince Hanzla on 6 Aug. 1749.

• Hrusov No. 4 was the birthplace of Alzbeta Hanzl (10 Nov. 1849) and her father J. Matej Hanzl (3 Feb. 1808).

• Nearby is Zimutice. No. 15 was the birthplace of Anna Rocha (2 May 1777) and her father Jakub Hrach, and where she married Jan Hanzl on 21 May 1799. No. 2 was the birthplace of Alzbeta Vesele (wife of Vavrince Hanzla).

• Dubove Mlyny No. 3 (Dubovych Mlynu) was the birthplace of Maria Toman (29 Aug. 1811) and where she married J. Matej Hanzl (5 July 1831); also the birthplace of her father Vit Toman.

• Dolni Knezeklady (Dolejska) was the birthplace of Jan Hanzl (No. 3 - 5 May 1776) and his grandfather Ondreje Hansla (don’t know house number) and where his father Vavrince Hanzla married Alzbeta Vesele (No. 7 - 12 Aug. 1773).

While I realize visiting villages is different than researching archives, there are some family history questions that I'm hoping by chance might be illuminated while I'm there.

1. I have found a fair amount of information about the 7 children of Matej Trnka and Rosalia Malecha who came to the United States, but I know nothing about what became of the other 5 who survived infancy but apparently remained in Bohemia.

2. There was a Josef Trnka from Sviny who arrived in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1859, a year before my great-grandfather's brother Mathias and 3 years before my great-grandfather. I'm assuming this was a cousin or uncle, but I don't have any documentation or other information about him.

3. I found evidence of a number of Trnkas in the Kyjov region of south Moravia (Zeletice and Zarosice) going back to the early 1700s and I'm curious if there was any migration in either direction that would link them to the Sviny Trnkas.

As promised, attached is an ancestral chart for my grandfather with the missing house numbers included (if I have them), as well as "descendants of charts" for the Trnka, Malecha and Hanzel lines of the family. Much of the information comes from people who have done research in the Trebon archives (Trnka, Malecha) or have had research done for them (Hanzel). I was very grateful that these people were willing to share this wealth of information with me, which often includes volume and page numbers. Is there any reason to bring those research documents with me or send copies of them to you ahead of time? (The Malecha one is a 90 page PDF file!)

I know at this point I am a total stranger to you. A little about my background. My great-grandparents were among the early settlers around New Prague, Minnesota in the 1850s. I am part of the St. Paul Czech and Slovak Folk Dancers in Minnesota and am also working on preserving the 125 years of music archives at the St. Paul Sokol Hall. I am a musician and have performed Czech and Slovak music on the piano for various Sokol events here. I have ordered a Czech bagpipe from Pavel Cip in Zubrí, Moravia, but with a year wait after ordering, it won't be ready until probably March of 2010.

Strakonice got into my list as a possible base location because of the bagpipe culture there. Even though I won't be there during the annual bagpipe festival, I thought it might be possible to find some music being performed locally while there.

The only modification I'd like to suggest, unless you think it's a really bad idea, would be for me to spend the night of the second guided day in Strakonice and take the train or bus back to Prague from there the following day, regardless of whether Irena (a local bagpipe player) was available for a visit or not. I'd love to spend some time wandering around Strakonice and if by chance there was a pub where some dudy music was being played that evening, that would be a total dream. If getting a ticket and finding the train station would be too difficult for me on my own with my trusty Czech phrasebook, perhaps Zuzana (my reserved guide from České Budějovice) could help me get a ticket as part of her time before she dropped me off at the end of the second day? Let me know what you think.

This family tree shows what I know now about my grandfather's side of the family - the Czech side:

Ancestors of Frank C. Trnka

These 3 documents work the family trees from the other direction and therefore show siblings and cousins as they branch out:

Descendants of Vaclav Trnka

Descendants of Josef Malecha

Descendants of Ondreje Hansla

This map shows the detailed area where the villages are located - all within less than a 10 mile radius:

My Ancestral Villages

Here is a copy of the Baptismal Certificate for my great-grandfather's brother, Matej Trnka, provided to me by Denis Novak. This document was the missing link to locate Sviny as my great-grandfather's village - something I had wanted to know since I was about 15!

Baptismal Certificate for my great-grandfather's brother, Matej Trnka

This is the information on the document translated:

Information in English from the Baptismal Certificate for Matej Trnka

Here is a photo of Matej and Rose's tombstone in the cemetery at St. Wenceslaus in New Prague, Minnesota, where he and six of his siblings (including my great-grandfather) established their families.

Matej and Rose's tombstone

Here is a link to the New Prague Historical Society, where a number of historical photos of old New Prague can be viewed:

New Prague Historical Society

Here are the obituaries for my great-grandparents, John and Elizabeth Trnka, from the New Prague Times:

Obituaries for my great-grandparents, John and Elizabeth Trnka

Here's some information about the places visited during the Language Immersion Program at Dobruska last year:

• Adrspaske Skaly, a park with fascinating sandstone rock formations


• a monastery in Broumov with a library of ancient hand- scribed books


• Kuneticka Hora, 13th century castle ruins


• Litomysl castle


• the Orlicke Hory or Eagle Mountains


• a glass craft fair in Destne


• Dobrosov fortress


• a large fair in Opocno


• Prague with a visit to the Karolinum, the inner sanctum of Charles University


• Ratiborice castle, Ryzmbursky and Babička Udoli, Grandmother’s Valley, the setting of “Babička”


• the Krkonose mountains and Janske Lazne


• Josefov, a military town near the Polish border


• Opocno castle


• Liberec to see the Botanical Gardens and hike to the top of Jested, part of Cesky Raj or Bohemian Paradise


• the Bethlehem museum and Hradec Kralove


• an Opocenka Koncert in Podbrezi


• Nachod Pivovar (brewery)


• Nove Mesto to tour the castle and gardens


• Cerveny Kostelec for the International Dance Festival

Here's a map of Northeastern Bohemia which includes the places mentioned above:

Map of Northeastern Bohemia

This is a less detailed map showing Dobruska in relation to Prague and České Budějovice:

Dobruska CZ - Google Maps

Here is a higher resolution map of Northeastern Bohemia which allows enlarging enough to see the smaller details. Unfortunately the file size is very large (56MB) and it may not be practical to download it for viewing.

High Resolution Map of Northeastern Bohemia

One project I wanted to complete before leaving on this trip was a new web site for the St. Paul Czech and Slovak Folk Dancers, of which I am a part. That can be viewed at:

St. Paul Czech and Slovak Folk Dancers