Border guards in Chodsko, 1978

I was raking through some old books at Czech Village Antiques in Cedar Rapids when this image caught my eye:



This is the cover of a tourist guide to Domažlice and surroundings, situated in the Chodsko region of today’s Czech Republic. The book was printed in 1978 by Merkur Publishers in Prague for the Domažlice Tourism Commission.

Chodsko borders Bavaria, and according to this website dedicated to the Chodové (people from Chodsko), tradition has it that:

“The Chods guarded the borders along with their trustworthy companions, the Bohemian Shepherds (Chodský pes, Chodenhund)... They were Czech-speaking people granted rights and freedom by their king for hundreds of years - certified by proclamation.”

Inside the Chodsko guide, there are a number of interesting illustrations, which accompany texts about a plastics factory, a collective farm and local castles and monuments:



But the motif of the border guard and man in traditional Chod costume (or kroj) is the prevailing image throughout the book:



This choice is explained on page eight, in the following fashion:



A translation of this text reads something like:

BORDER GUARD

“A border guard and dog on the cover might come as a surprise for those who, in a book about Domažlice, can imagine nothing other than a traditional Chod motif. But we have chosen this image quite deliberately. Isn’t after all the border guard, the protector of the border of socialism, a continuation of an old Chod tradition - guarding the westernmost frontier of the Czech kingdom? The guard dog and the mark of the Chods on his lapel are more than just expressive symbols.”

The reason I wanted to post this series of images and text in this blog is because I found it an interesting example of the way borders were being discussed within Czechoslovakia, at least at an official level, during the 1970s. In the course of this oral history project, we have heard many accounts of individuals’ own experiences at the Czechoslovak border - or the ‘borders of socialism’ as this book would have it - but the stories we have heard have been very personal. It is interesting for me, therefore, to be able to contrast them with official literature about Czechoslovakia’s borders during the Cold War period.

-posted by Rosie Johnston