On 31 October 2026 a reconstructed military bunker from 1938, popularly called a řopík, was ceremonially opened near the village of Zdislava in the Liberec area. A group of active-reserve soldiers and enthusiasts turned it into a small museum of light fortifications.[1][2] The site is also meant to host events of Preparation of Citizens for the Defence of the State (POKOS) and to be used for teaching pupils.[1][2]
Reconstruction and equipment
Alan Fabik, spokesperson of the project ŘOPík Zdislava, said the organisers had been looking for a place where educational events could be held in a setting other than a school or a tent.[1] According to him, they tried to restore the structure to its original appearance. "It has been reconstructed and equipment, including weapons, worth about a quarter of a million has been lent to it. It looks as if it were waiting to be used," Fabik said.[1][2] He said most of the restoration work is finished, while the surroundings of the structure and facilities for visitors, especially for schools, remain to be completed.[1][2] The ceremonial opening on 31 October 2026 was the first event for the public.[1][2]
History of the structure
The řopík near Zdislava bears the designation S2/243/A-1207 and was part of the so-called Liběchovská příčka, which was meant to halt troops advancing towards Prague after a breakthrough of the main defence line.[1][2] Sector S2 protected Liberec from the west, from Vápenný vrch near Chrastava towards Stráž pod Ralskem.[1][2] The structure was concreted on 9 August 1938 with a concrete strength of 450 kilograms per square centimetre, roughly double the usual standard.[1][2] It was to be armed with a Vz. 26 light machine gun and to cover the approach to the road from Jitrava to Zdislava, but because the border region was ceded after the Munich Agreement in 1938, it was never fully manned or armed.[1][2]
Řopíks and another museum in the region
Řopíks were built in the late 1930s as part of the border fortifications. The name comes from the abbreviation ŘOP, for Ředitelství opevňovacích prací (Directorate of Fortification Works), which managed the construction.[1][2] By autumn 1938 more than 10,000 of them had been built on the territory of Czechoslovakia.[1][2] A similar small museum has been operating for several years in a light-fortification structure in Krásná Studánka on the edge of Liberec, where enthusiasts restored the original 1938 appearance, including period armament, and where the public can visit during events held several times a year.[1][2]
Chronology
- — Near Zdislava in the Liberec region, a restored 1938 light fortification bunker (řopík) was officially opened as a small museum, which will also be used for teaching and POKOS events. ČTK / České noviny Liberecká Drbna
Sources
- ČTK / České noviny — 31 October 2026
- Liberecká Drbna — 1 November 2026