Why come here
Jurkovič's original building from 1899
Neighbouring Libušín is a faithful copy built after the fire. Maměnka is the original house from the late 19th century – its timber remembers the first tourists, and it still works as a hotel.
Mountain lodge • Pustevny • national cultural monument
Maměnka
A house due for demolition after the war was saved by its own architect, shortly before his death. It still takes guests.
The lodge nobody pulled down
Maměnka is the second of Jurkovič's pair of lodges at Pustevny. Meals are cooked in Libušín; Maměnka is where you stay the night. It opened in 1899 with fifteen rooms and a shared dormitory.
It survived the war, the threat of demolition and closure in the 1980s. It still stands in its original form, and has taken guests again since 2003.
Not to be missed
Balconies outside, a painted ceiling inside
Outside, balconies, turrets and the sun gable; inside, the painted ornament and carved furniture of the rooms. The Libušín dining hall stands next door.
When to stay
All year – whenever suits you
In the evening and early in the morning, once the day trippers have left, staying guests have the saddle to themselves.
On the walls and ceilings
Painted ornament
Instead of figural scenes (Libušín is full of those), here you find floral and geometric ornament – a band below the ceiling, hanging motifs on the walls, decorated beams and carved doors.
Furniture
Carved bed heads, corner wardrobes
Beds with fan-shaped heads, carved corner wardrobes, wooden crowns above the window drapery. The furniture keeps to the vocabulary of the house – building and furnishings work as one whole.
Textiles and details
Tapestries and yellow curtains
Woven tapestries with floral motifs hang in the rooms, and the windows are framed by yellow drapery and lace curtains. The colours are muted: yellow, green, pink.
The story of Maměnka
Built for tourists who wanted to sleep in the mountains. Twice it was to disappear – and each time it was saved.
1897–1899
A house to sleep in
Pohorská jednota Radhošť ordered the new lodges at Pustevny from the Vsetín building firm of Michal Urbánek. The design was drawn up by the young Dušan Samo Jurkovič, who gave the two buildings clear roles: Libušín became the dining hall, Maměnka the house to sleep in. Both opened on 6 August 1899.
Maměnka was built as a mountain lodge with fifteen rooms and a shared dormitory. Anyone wanting privacy took a room; anyone counting the cost slept in the dormitory. One house thus accommodated both the demanding guest and the walker with a thin wallet. The tall, richly articulated building with its balconies, turrets and the sun fan in the gable is folk Art Nouveau in its purest form: the log walls and shingles of Wallachian farmhouses, the vocabulary of Vienna.
1945–1947
Demolish, or save
- 1947
- Jurkovič pleads for them
- 1950
- Pohorská jednota dissolved
- the 1980s
- Maměnka closed
In the closing stage of the Second World War the lodges were used to billet military units and fell into such disrepair that demolition was considered after the war. Pohorská jednota Radhošť, which owned them, had no money for repairs.
Their architect came to plead for them himself
Their architect came to Pustevny himself at that point – the almost eighty-year-old Dušan Samo Jurkovič – and pleaded in person for them to be saved. According to reports of the time he remarked that he would not design such buildings today: they are not durable enough for this climate. He died shortly afterwards, in December 1947.
1950–2003
Eighteen years of silence and a fresh start
After Pohorská jednota Radhošť was dissolved in 1950, Maměnka passed into state ownership. The state enterprise Valašské hotely a restaurace repaired the run-down building, whose demolition had been under discussion three years earlier, and brought it back into use for guests. It stayed open after further repairs in the 1960s, but the building kept deteriorating until it had to be closed in the mid-1980s as unsafe. For the next 18 years it stood entirely out of use.
A thorough reconstruction came with Valašské muzeum v přírodě. The work began in 1995, when the Pustevny complex was declared a national cultural monument and passed into the museum's care. The dining hall in Libušín came back into use first, in 1999, and Maměnka opened in 2003. It now offers eleven rooms - after eighteen empty years, the house is doing again what it was built for.
Timeline
Maměnka in dates
From the opening of the lodge through the war and the threat of demolition to eighteen years of silence and a fresh start in 2003.
1897–1899
Building the pair of lodges
Pohorská jednota Radhošť builds the Libušín dining hall and the Maměnka lodge to a design by Dušan Samo Jurkovič.
6 August 1899
The opening
Maměnka opens as a lodge with fifteen rooms and a shared dormitory.
1945
The lodges laid waste
In the closing stage of the war the buildings are used to billet military units and fall into such disrepair that demolition is considered.
1947
Jurkovič pleads for them
The almost eighty-year-old architect comes to Pustevny in person and pleads for his buildings to be saved. He dies in December of the same year.
1950
The end of Pohorská jednota
The association is dissolved and the lodges pass into state ownership. The state enterprise Valašské hotely a restaurace repairs the run-down Maměnka and brings it back into use for guests.
the 1980s
Closure
Maměnka has to close as unsafe and faces destruction again. For the next eighteen years it stands entirely out of use. Valašské muzeum v přírodě comes up with the idea of a thorough reconstruction.
1995
National cultural monument
The Pustevny complex is declared a national cultural monument, the Rožnov museum Valašské muzeum v přírodě takes over its care and the reconstruction begins.
2003
Maměnka opens
After Libušín (1999), Maměnka comes back into use as well – today with eleven rooms.
2014
Fire next door
Much of neighbouring Libušín burns down. Maměnka came through the fire – the timber from the late 19th century is still in it.
Visit
How to get to Maměnka
Where exactly
In the Pustevny saddle, right next to Libušín
Maměnka stands by the main path through the saddle, a short way above Brána Pusteven and right next to the Libušín dining hall.
Otevřít v mapách
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The ridge walk from Pustevny
Getting here
The simplest starting point for a visit to Maměnka is Pustevny. Getting to Pustevny is covered by the Pustevny page.
- 1
Pustevnystarting point
You can reach Pustevny by car, by bus, by bike and by chairlift. Whichever you choose, you end up right in the saddle where Maměnka stands.
Maměnkadestination · a few minutes across the saddle · you are here
You will recognise Maměnka by its height: it is the richly articulated building with balconies, turrets and a sun fan in the gable – right next to Libušín.
- ↓
Onward: Libušín and the ridgea few steps · the ridge walk beyond
Right next door stands Libušín with its painted dining hall. The ridge walk from the saddle leads in several directions – the Pustevny page has an overview of the walks.
From the southern end of the saddle (from the chairlift from Ráztoka) the lodges are a similarly short walk – just from the other side.
Before you set out
Inside only as a guest
Maměnka serves its original purpose – it is a hotel. You can walk round it from the outside at any time, but you only get inside as a staying guest: there is no room open for viewing and no public tour of the interior.
Weather in the saddle
The saddle at 1,018 m a.s.l. is colder and windier than the valley – an extra layer is worth taking even in summer.
Na závěr
Doplňující info a test znalostí
Rychlá rekapitulace
Can I stay at Maměnka?
Yes. Maměnka serves its original purpose – it is a hotel with eleven rooms. It is run by a private tenant; check the current offer and opening times with the operator.
Can I look inside without staying?
No. Maměnka has no room open for viewing and no public tour of the interior – you only get inside as a staying guest. You can look at it from the outside at any time.
Why was Maměnka closed for so long?
It was closed as unsafe in the mid-1980s and stood out of use for another eighteen years. It only reopened in 2003, after reconstruction under Valašské muzeum v přírodě.
Who looks after Maměnka?
The building belongs to the Rožnov museum Valašské muzeum v přírodě, today part of the state-run Národní muzeum v přírodě. The Rožnov museum took the Pustevny complex into its care in 1995. The hotel itself is run by a private tenant.
Závěrečný kvíz
Otázka 1 z 6
What was Maměnka used for from the start?
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Where next
Where to go on from Maměnka
Maměnka stands in the middle of the saddle – the story continues next door and along the ridge.
The dining hall next door
Libušín
A painted hall after designs by Mikoláš Aleš – a building brought back to life by scientific reconstruction after the 2014 fire.
Přejít na stránku →The whole Pustevny saddle
Pustevny
Transport, parking, the chairlift and the junction of ridge paths – a guide to the whole complex.
Přejít na stránku →
The ridge walk to the god's statue
The Radegast statue
From the lodges the ridge path leads to the Radegast statue and on to Radhošť.
Přejít na stránku →
The end of the ridge walk: Radhošť
Radhošť and the Chapel of Saints Cyril and Methodius
Czechia's highest religious building, a short way beyond the Radegast statue.
Přejít na stránku →