On 24 October 2026 the writer Jan Štifter dived in the Lipno Reservoir to the remains of the flooded Dolní Vltavice, about which he wrote a novel.
On 24 October 2026 the writer Jan Štifter dived in the Lipno Reservoir to the remains of the flooded village of Dolní Vltavice in the Český Krumlov area, to which he devoted his new novel Vltavice. The book was published in mid-August 2026.[1]
The dive
Štifter took a diving course for the sake of the novel. The dive took place with the assistance of the Český Krumlov Water Rescue Service of the Czech Red Cross; on the shore, a commented video screening about the vanished village was prepared from 3 p.m.[2] The author explored the surroundings of the church and the old cemetery. In water at a temperature of around eight degrees and with visibility of 30 centimetres, he saw the standing wall of the church and the old path to the river.[1] In his own words, he left the dive until after the book was finished so as not to influence the story.[1]
Dolní Vltavice
According to Novinky, the village was founded in 1263 and flooded when the Lipno Reservoir was filled in 1959. When the water level dropped in September 2026, the cemetery reappeared for a time.[2] In the week before the dive, the Regional Museum in Český Krumlov completed the relocation of more than 90 gravestones that had been underwater since about 1958. The stones were taken to Černá v Pošumaví, where exhumed bodies were also moved in the 1950s. According to the museum's director Martin Nechvíl, the museum will negotiate with the municipality and organisations of displaced residents on how the cemetery is to be presented, and will supplement it with an information board.[1]
Chronology
- — Writer Jan Štifter dived to the submerged remains of Dolní Vltavice in the Lipno Reservoir, while the Regional Museum in Český Krumlov completed the relocation of more than 90 gravestones from the village cemetery. ČTK / České noviny Novinky.cz
Sources
- ČTK / České noviny — 24 October 2026
- Novinky.cz — 24 October 2026