REGION

The Radegast Statue Has Been

Watching Over The Beskid

Mountains For Over 90 Years Now

The famous sculptor, Albín Polášek, first revealed his statue on the mountaintop in 1931. Due

to harsh weather conditions, the original statue was replaced in 1998 with a replica, which was

gifted to the region by the Radegast brewery so that all visitors may enjoy one of the region’s most

famous symbols in all it’s beauty.

Man Carving His Own Destiny

The world renowned sculptor, Albín Polášek, was born in Frenštát pod Radhoštěm in 1879. When he was 22 years old,

he left for the United States, and in 1907,

he captivated the art world with his statue

dubbed “Man Carving His Own Destiny.”

Thanks to the success of this piece, he was

able to travel, and gather inspiration from

all over Europe. Polášek loved returning

to his home region and it also served as

the main inspiration behind the statue of

the god Radegast.

There Are Two Radegasts

The figure of a large man with a massive

lion head, prominent helmet, and bull horns

holding a cornucopia. This is the form Albín

Polášek gave the god Radegast. The statue

was first revealed to the public on July 5th,

1931. Polášek made two original Radegast

statues, however, the first of which was

later transferred to the town hall of Frenštát

pod Radhoštěm and the second remained

in Prague, where it can still be found today

at the local ZOO.

The Replica Was a Necessity

Due to harsh weather conditions, which

were damaging the statue over time,

a replica Radegast was created in 19961998. This granite replica was made

by the sculptor Miroslav Machala and

The Radegast brewery has been making beer since 1970 and

on December 3rd 2020, it celebrated the 50th anniversary of

its first beer batch. The Nošovice based brewery is a part

of the Technotrasa (Technotrail) project, which includes all

of the most important monuments of the Moravian-Silesian

Region. Over the last 20 years, through their “Radegast for

the people” program, the brewery has dedicated around

40 million czk to projects helping with the sustainable

development of the Beskydy mountains, environmental

protection vof water sources, and the development of local

traditions. Radegast is currently a very popular beer brand not

only in North Moravia, but in the entire country. Therefore

Radegast, his statue in Pustevny and his entire story are still

growing in popularity thanks to the Radegast brewery.

the stonemasons Jan Sobek and Miroslav

Zubíček. The new statue now also includes

information about its authors, the creation

of the original and the myth of the god

Radegast. The creation of the replica was

funded by the Radegast brewery.

How Did The Radegast Brewery Get Its

Name?

The Radegast statue was incredibly well

known and popular in the 60s. So much

so that people wanted to name a newly

created brewery in Nošovice after it,

and eventually they went through with it.

The name of the Radegast brewery and

brand was decided by a contest open to

the public in March of 1969. The brewery

received around 3 500 submissions. Other

ideas included names such as Beskyd,

Nošovjan, Ogar, Jantar or Pinoš. However,

in the end, the name referencing Slavic

mythology and its god of hospitality,

abundance and harvest won the contest.

The Name Radegast appeared a total

of 44 times in the contest, therefore,

the winner of the 1,000 czk prize money

was decided through a lottery.

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