We associate Besední dům, a venue for Czech national life in Brno, with the construction of the Czech social centre between 1870 and 1873, with the seat of the current Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, and then with the declaration of independent Czechoslovakia in 1918. However, it is interesting to note that this space also became a place where women activists gathered around 1900. There are several meetings related to this topic that we would like to highlight. In the last quarter of the 19th century, there was a significant political emancipation of both the Czech and German national movements. Nationalism gradually transformed from a predominantly cultural project of the elites into a mass-shared value that structured the political actions and economic strategies of the population.The existence of the Besední dům (Meeting House) and the Německý dům (German House), which became the natural political and social centres of the ethnically divided population, also served as evidence of the "barricades" between the Czechs and Germans in Brno.
Defense associations
One of the visible manifestations of the growing ethnic friction among the population was the establishment of so-called defense associations. These were mass associations conceived on a national basis, whose activities extended into all areas of life – from politics, especially local politics, to the economy and culture. Their aim was to strengthen the influence of the Czech or German population, especially in those regions where it was not possible to bridge national differences. They were therefore most visible in education. Among the most important representatives of these associations in Brno were, for example, the Brno School Association, the National Union for Southwestern Moravia, the Union of Germans of South Moravia, and the Union of Germans.
Unlike the older elite associations, the membership base of the defense associations was massive, ranging from hundreds to thousands. Their members were recruited not only from the elite, but also from the lower and middle classes. Importantly, unlike the vast majority of existing associations, these associations accepted women into their ranks.
However, it must be said that despite the new opportunities for women to participate in political life, their role in these associations was conceived in a rather stereotypical way—women were mainly involved as mothers of the next, even more ethno-nationally conscious generation. The relatively traditional model, in which women were initially seen by these associations as an untapped, "dormant human resource" and then participated mainly in behind-the-scenes work, began to change in favor of voices for women's civil rights under the influence of the social liberalization of the turbulent changes around 1900.
At the forefront of these efforts was the Brno Women's Branch of the National Union for Southwestern Moravia. In September 1898, a meeting was held at the Besední dům, which followed on from the first congress of Moravian and Silesian associations ever held, and whose ambition was to unite the hitherto fragmented women's movement. This meeting later led to the creation of the Moravian-Silesian Women's Organization, which had a similar purpose to the better-known Prague Committee for Women's Suffrage, led by Františka Plamínková.
In March 1901, another meeting of women took place under the auspices of the aforementioned women's organization in Besední dům, at which the Moravian women committed themselves to the "struggle for national emancipation" and political cooperation with men. The speaker, Eliška Machová, an activist and retired teacher from Vesna, had to be tempered several times during her speech by the police commissioner present. The meeting resulted in demands for the consistent protection of the Czech language, national identity, and Czech property by women—women were to boycott German shops when shopping, thereby improving the economic situation of the Czechs. Four years later, on 13 October 1905, the Women's Department of the National Unity for South-West Moravia organised a meeting of women to establish a Czech university in Moravia. Under the impression of the ongoing Czech-German unrest, Eliška Machová demanded not only the establishment of a Czech university in Moravia, but also active voting rights for women. A petition for the recognition of women's suffrage was also signed here. However, this was not the last time that Besední dům hosted active women. Another important gathering held there was a women's protest meeting on 1 April 1912 against the Vienna government's intention not to grant women the right to vote on the grounds that women do not perform military service. Another important meeting was the demonstration congress of Moravian women held as part of the Exhibition of Contemporary Culture in August 1928, which took stock of what had already been achieved in the field of feminism and what still remained to be done.
Hana Krutílková, Moravské zemské muzeum
