The monument is named after the character Bretschneider, a police spy who constantly stalked the protagonist in Jaroslav Hašek's satirical novel.
The sculptor Radomír Dvořák carved the relief directly into the living granite rock of the quarry walls.
The project is officially titled the National Monument of Eavesdropping, a satirical commentary on historical and modern surveillance.
The three-part project is linked by a trail that explores the intersection of literature and the region's industrial quarrying history.
The granite used in the carvings was sourced from the same quarries that provided stone for local historic architecture.
Bretschneider's Ear is a massive 26-ton stone relief of a human ear carved directly into the abandoned granite quarries of Lipnice nad Sázavou. It serves as the first installment of the 'National Monument of Eavesdropping' project created by sculptor Radomír Dvořák. The monument references a character from Jaroslav Hašek’s novel 'The Good Soldier Švejk,' a secret police agent known for listening to citizens. The site is part of an open-air gallery that includes two additional nearby stone reliefs: 'The Mouth of Truth' and 'The Golden Eyes.' These sculptures are situated in the former Bretschneider quarry, once used for local stone extraction. The installation symbolizes the historical atmosphere of surveillance and paranoia in mid-20th-century Central Europe. The sculpture stands approximately three meters high and is integrated into the rugged rock face. It remains accessible as part of a hiking circuit connecting the village of Lipnice to the surrounding granite mines.
From the center of the quarry floor looking directly up at the ear relief to capture the scale against the rock face.
Wear sturdy hiking boots as the quarry terrain is uneven, rocky, and can be slippery after rain.
Bring a flashlight if you plan to explore the deeper crevices of the surrounding quarry walls.
Download an offline map of the area, as cell signal can be inconsistent within the deep quarry pits.
Do not attempt to climb the vertical sections of the quarry walls surrounding the sculpture.
The site is outdoors and accessible year-round, though paths may be difficult to traverse during heavy snowfall.
