Vincent Navratil, Mlejnek z Viru/Mill in Vir

this and the next picture courtesy of  

the Horácké Muzeum (Nové Mesto na Moravé)

Vir is a small community of some 750 inhabitants in the Bohemian-Moravian highlands of the Czech Republic, attractive because of its location in beautiful surroundings and surprising because of a unique artistic installation.

Life and work

To please his children, Vincent Navratil, in the forties of the former century near his house began constructing an installation with movable characters made from wood, depicted two-dimensionally and mainly in side view, showing scenes from daily life, like carpenters and  blacksmiths at work, dancers, people drinking, trapeze artists, and so on.

The machinery could be put in motion by a paddle wheel in the nearby flowing creek, and when water supply was low, Navratil would operate it manually. In wintertime it would be safely stored in a shed.

Having a job as a handyman at the local textile factory, Navratil could easily acquire surplus machinery parts to build up the installation.

Begun modestly, the number of characters in the course of the years would grow, also because Vincent's son Adolf joined his father in making them, and eventually, in the seventies, the installation included some 70 characters.

 above and below pictures (2012) of characters 
(installation in the museum) 
courtesy of Babeta from her weblog Babetina Galerie

Donated to the Horácké Museum

In 1986 Vincent's grandson has donated the installation to the Horácké Museum in Nové Mesto na Moravé, where, after having been renovated, it is on show in the museum's garden, and has become one of its main attractions.

A replica in Vir

The community of Vir, however, has arranged that a replica of the installation has been made, which in 2007 got a place on a spot along the Bystnce stream that boards the village.

The video below (by Hana Procházkóva, Youtube, june 2009, 2'51') shows the replica in action

Vincent Navratil

Mlejnek z Viru

Vir (nr 205e)

replica, free to visit

Nové Mesto na Moravé 

original in Horácké Museum    

Czech Republic

location in Vir

Virsy Mlynek weergeven op een grotere kaart