Šumavské povídky – Klostermann Karel (2020)

This collection preserves the original charm of Karel Klostermann’s language and contains the following stories from the Šumava region: Srul, Neighbours, The Fiddler’s Return, The Registrar, The Ferryman’s Daughter, Black Friday, The Troubles of Mr State Prosecutor, When the Clerk Was Promoted, Living at Someone Else’s Expense, Flood in America, What Caused the Fateful Easter, Petr Řimbaba, and Revolution in Písek. The contents are in Czech. Karel Klostermann devoted his entire literary work to Šumava and the lives of its inhabitants. Although born in Haag am Hausruck in Upper Austria, he soon returned to Bohemia with his family, first settling in Sušice, where his father worked as a general practitioner. He spent his childhood in Žichovice near Rábí and later attended school in Stříbrné hory, now called Nalžovské hory. He began his secondary studies in Klatovy and completed them in Písek, then studied medicine at the University of Vienna before family circumstances forced him to find work. He became a tutor, an editor, and eventually a professor of German and French in Plzeň. Though of German origin, Klostermann identified with the Czech nation and became a Czech writer. His stories drew on real events and accounts, with particular emphasis on the landscape, nature, life, and traditions of Šumava. He died in Štěkeň in the Strakonice region from emphysema.