Endangering of the Moravian cultural heritage

Řehoř Jan or Gregor Johann Mendel in German who laid the foundations of modern genetics was born in Silesia and as an adult lived in Moravia. He became an abbot of the Augustinian cloister in Brno where he died in 1884. The abbey in Brno is the possessor of the fundamental genetic document - Mendel's manuscript which is written in German - Experiments on Plant Hybridization. This document was read by Mendel in 1865 at meeting of the Society for natural science in Brno. The abbey in Brno looks after Mendel's inheritance because according to the Augustinian order the possession created by an Augustinian belongs to the Augustinian community – in this case it is the abbey in Brno. This rule is the expression of the principle of canon law which said that the monk is unable to gain neither earnings nor possession. However this principle was a part of positive state law which was effective in Moravia in the 19^th century and was binding for the members of the Augustinian order.
In 1950 the activity of the abbey was stopped but it was formally not closed. Its community tried to retain its significant relics. The Mendel's manuscript was given in custody of the Augustinians in Bohemia and in 1987 it was lend to the Augustinians in Germany. After the velvet revolution the abbey in Brno was restored and it started to regain the parts of the cultural heritage. The abbey also found the Mendel's manuscript which was in custody at the German Augustinians. However the German Ministry for Science, Research and Culture of the state of Baden-Württemberg prohibited on 10.5.2010 the return of the manuscript back to the Czech Republic with explication that it is the cultural heritage of Germany.
The relations between Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia and Germany blended together in the history. Mendel was born in a German-speaking family and as an adult he uses German language in Brno. He wrote his scientific works in German. Nevertheless he never lived in Germany. The German decision based on this fact is dangerous because it derives the German cultural heritage not from the place of origin in Germany, but from the author who is a German-speaking person. This creates uncertainty for the Moravian cultural relics which will be lent to Germany because these relics can be detained with statement that the author was a German, although he/she did not live in Germany.
The real property does not vanish by statement of a state that something is a part of its state property. The owner stays the abbey in Brno but the transport out of the country is disabled. The decision of the German authorities takes the extent of the German cultural heritage in the sense of the pan-German space and it means everywhere where the German people lived in the history. It is necessary to refuse such a practice.
zdenek.koudelka@mail.muni.cz