World Wars memorial in Lelekovice

The World Wars memorial in Lelekovice honours the residents of this village near Brno who died during the First and Second World Wars. The monument standing today in the village centre is actually the result of two separate building phases decades apart – an older plaque bearing the names of the fallen, and a post-war Liberation Memorial into which that plaque was later incorporated.

What did the original 1921 memorial look like?

The first memorial to those who fell in the First World War was unveiled on 16 May 1921, in front of house number 3 in Lelekovice. It carried a plaque listing the names of villagers who never returned from the front. This original monument did not last long in its initial form, however: during a road reconstruction in 1940, it was demolished. Fortunately, the plaque with the names survived and would find a new home more than a decade later.

Where did today's memorial in the village centre come from?

The surviving plaque was incorporated into a new, larger Liberation Memorial (Památník Osvobození), built in the centre of Lelekovice. It was erected on the site of a former fire station building, which was cleared away in the early 1950s to make room for the new memorial. The monument was ceremonially unveiled in 1965, to mark the 20th anniversary of the liberation of Czechoslovakia — creating the structure that today ties together the memory of the victims of both world wars with the village's post-war history.

Where exactly does the memorial stand?

The monument sits in the central part of Lelekovice, a small village just outside Brno, in the South Moravian region of the Czech Republic. Its GPS coordinates are 49.291656, 16.577975, making it easy to find for anyone exploring the village on foot or heading toward the nearby Drahanská vrchovina hills or the Moravian Karst.

Why is it worth a stop?

For visitors to Lelekovice, the memorial is a small but telling stop that shows how the village's local history is interwoven with national events — from the first wave of First World War commemorations, through wartime destruction and reconstruction, to the post-war liberation celebrations. It offers a quiet moment of reflection typical of many Czech villages, where plaques bearing the names of the fallen form part of the everyday landscape of the village centre.

Frequently asked questions

Who does the memorial in Lelekovice commemorate? Villagers who died during the First and Second World Wars. Their memory is preserved on a plaque originally unveiled in 1921, now incorporated into the Liberation Memorial.

Is it the same monument as the one from 1921? Not entirely. The original 1921 monument was demolished in 1940 during a road reconstruction. The plaque with the names, however, survived and was later built into the new memorial.

When was the current memorial built? The current Liberation Memorial in the village centre was ceremonially unveiled in 1965, on the 20th anniversary of the liberation of Czechoslovakia.

Where did the memorial originally stand? It originally stood in front of house number 3 in Lelekovice, before a 1940 road reconstruction forced its demolition.

How do you get to Lelekovice? The village lies just outside Brno, in the South Moravian region, making it an easy short trip from the city centre.