Budyně nad Ohří (Budin)

Stage three, stop four.

Budyně nad Ohří (Budin)

In Budin I found, at the house of the Jew Lasar Tausig, a small collection of good books. As he had lent Lessing's Nathan the Wise to a friend, he gave me instead for the evening Kant's The Only Possible Ground of Proof for the Existence of God.

The landlord of The Rose in Budin had a fine house on the outside and a poor one within. The tripe soup, the tough, dry beef, and a leathery roast of goose that might once have saved the Capitol — all were bad; the beds were worse; and worst of all was the price.

Budyně nad Ohří is a town in north-west Bohemia, set on the River Ohře about 14 km south of Litoměřice and 40 km north-west of Prague. The town was known in German as Budin

Seume found Budin 'quite foresaken'. I, on the other hand found a quiet, attractive village.

Church square in Budyně nad Ohří

If we follow the order of Seume's account, his first stop was at the house of Lasar Tausig, a member of Budin’s Jewish community, to borrow a book for the night. He had wanted Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s play from 1719, Nathan the Wise, a powerful call for religious tolerance between Christians, Jews and Muslims.

However, Tausig, had already lent this out and so he had to make do with a minor work by Kant, which I assume he read in his terrible bed at the Rose Inn.

Budyně nad Ohří Synagogue

I was curious about Seume naming a person, in this case, Lasar Tausig which led me to the recently restored synagogue.

The synagogue is now recognised as a Czech cultural monument. It began as an early 18th-century wooden building, was rebuilt in brick in the early 19th century with late classicist and late rococo features, and served the local Jewish community until the Holocaust. After the war it was reduced to warehouse use and gradually deteriorated.

Sadly the synagogue was not open for visitors but I managed a couple of photos from outside.

The castle

Somewhat frustratingly, the castle was also closed visitors, my bad luck continued! I took a couple of photos but the lighting was poor, as were my snaps. Here's one from 1908:

Budyně nad Ohří castle in 1908

At U Jandy archiváře

After all those closed buildings I need a meal and was delighted to find this excellent little restaurant.

U Jandy archiváře ('At Janda the archivist') is located in the centre of villag, opposite the church square. Perhaps this is the spot where Seume ate his memorable 'leathery roast goose' with only Kant to console him? Whatever the case, I thoroughly enjoyed my meal.

And with that, I concluded my visit to the charming village of Budyně nad Ohří and hopped on a bus in the direction of Prague.