Památník obětem světových válek

Památník obětem světových válek (Memorial to the Victims of the World Wars) is a small war memorial standing in the village of Hynkov, part of the Příkazy municipality in the Olomouc district of Moravia. It honors villagers who died in the First and Second World Wars, and while it's a modest, local memorial rather than a major landmark, it offers a good example of how a small Moravian village chose to remember its own wartime losses.

Where does the memorial stand in Hynkov?

The memorial sits at the heart of Hynkov, shaded by a stand of linden trees that gives the spot a quiet, almost park-like feel typical of interwar village memorials in the region. The approximate GPS coordinates are 49.670, 17.174. Hynkov itself is a small settlement administratively attached to the Příkazy municipality, within the Olomouc district — an area with a fairly dense scattering of local monuments dedicated to victims of both world wars. The easiest way to reach it is by car from Olomouc, only a short drive away.

What does the memorial look like?

The structure rests on a stone base built from rough, quarried stones, topped by a slender obelisk of polished red stone decorated with white ornamentation. The front face of the base carries a relief depicting a woman with children gazing into the distance — a scene meant to represent families waiting in vain for loved ones who never came home. This kind of imagery appears often on Czech and Moravian war memorials from the 1920s, emphasizing the civilian, family side of wartime loss rather than purely military heroism.

The obelisk bears the inscriptions "1914–1918" and "1939–1945," along with the dedication "K UCTĚNÍ PAMÁTKY SPOLUOBČANŮ PADLÝCH VE SVĚTOVÉ VÁLCE" (in honor of the memory of fellow villagers who fell in the world war). The upper section lists eight names of Hynkov residents killed in the First World War, while two further names of Second World War victims were added below at a later date — a layout that shows the memorial was expanded in stages as the village faced further losses over the following decades.

When was it built, and who created it?

The memorial was unveiled on 25 July 1926, eight years after the end of the First World War — a fairly typical gap for village memorials of the period, which were usually funded through local community collections. It was designed and carved by sculptor and stonemason V. Semerák, whose style of combining rough natural stone with polished decorative elements can be found on other memorials of the same era around Moravia. The names of the Second World War victims were added after 1945, following a common practice of extending existing 1920s memorials once a new conflict had added its own list of losses.

Why stop in Hynkov?

The memorial isn't a tourist attraction in the conventional sense, but for anyone interested in 20th-century history, commemorative sculpture, or simply passing through rural Moravia, it makes for a genuine, unhurried stop. The shade of the old linden trees and the memorial's modest, intimate scale stand in contrast to the grander monuments found in larger towns, offering a closer look at how wartime remembrance played out at the level of a single village.

Frequently asked questions

When was the memorial in Hynkov unveiled? It was unveiled on 25 July 1926, part of the postwar wave of local memorials built to honor First World War victims.

Who designed the memorial? It was created by sculptor and stonemason V. Semerák, who carved the stone base with its relief and the polished red stone obelisk.

How many names are listed on the memorial? Eight names of First World War victims are listed, along with two names of Second World War victims added later.

Where exactly does the memorial stand? It stands in the center of Hynkov, part of the Příkazy municipality in the Olomouc district, shaded by linden trees.