Sudeten German Day 2026 in the Czech Republic?
The Sudeten German Congress, the traditional annual meeting held to commemorate the expulsion of Sudeten Germans from Czechoslovakia after WWII, could take place in the Czech Republic for the first time next year. A proposal to this effect, together with an invitation to Brno, was announced at this year's congress in Regensburg. Czech commentators see a significant shift in Czech-German relations.
Unimaginable just a few years ago
Lidové noviny sees a clear change in mentality:
“Could anyone have imagined a few years ago that a Sudeten German gathering would take place in Regensburg at which the Czech anthem would be played and Czech Minister Mikuláš Bek and Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder would deliver speeches? That instead of focusing on the Beneš decrees [on the collective expropriation of those who were forcibly expelled], Söder would talk about the stalled modernisation of the railway connection between the Czech Republic and Bavaria? ... What sounds so trivial in June 2025 highlights a major shift.”
German legacy awakens a longing
Echo24 comments:
“The Sudetenland remains a special region within the Czech Republic - with unhealed wounds from the past. Those who were willing to open their eyes discovered the values that the Germans created in our country, how they cared for the land, how they established industries and services such as spas, and what beautiful houses they built - not just luxurious ones, but also ordinary ones. In the ruins or remnants they left behind, the next generation of Czechs and other newcomers saw what an irreplaceable cultural layer had disappeared with their departure. ... This gave rise to an unexpected phenomenon: a longing for the Germans.”