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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