Alice Horáčkova's 'Geteiltes Haus' Traces a Sudetenland Village Across Half a Century
Alice Horáčkova's book, Geteiltes Haus, spans over fifty years in a village located in the Riesengebirge, intertwining elements of history with fiction. Set in Benetzko within the Sudetenland, it explores the conflict of German-Czech identities. The story follows friends Zdenka and Anežka, who grew up during the K.u.k. monarchy and faced two world wars, three republics, and significant political changes. Both women marry into the German Hollmann family; Zdenka's husband Vinzenz serves as a soldier, while Hans is focused on business, and both align with Nazi ideology. The narrative consists of brief chapters emphasizing character traits over psychological depth, with nearly 900 pages devoted to Benetzko. Horáčkova's work was recognized on the best books list for October 2026.
Key facts
- Alice Horáčkova's novel Geteiltes Haus follows a Riesengebirge village over half a century.
- The central setting is Benetzko in the Sudetenland, known in Czech as Benecko.
- The book ends with a bilingual list of all mentioned towns and villages.
- Characters Zdenka and Anežka are born under the K.u.k. monarchy and live through two world wars and three republics.
- Both women marry sons of the German Hollmann family; both husbands later become Nazis.
- Horáčkova used her own family's fragmentary history as a model.
- Benetzko's German Wikipedia article is about 200 words; the novel runs nearly 900 pages.
- Geteiltes Haus was named among the best books of October 2026.
Entities
Artists
- Alice Horáčkova
- Zdenka
- Anežka
- Vinzenz
- Hans
- Matthias Jordan
- Jarka Kubsova
- Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre
- Udo Lindenberg
- Yves Ravey
- Dana Vowinckel
- Max Czollek
- Franziska Gänsler
- Gabriel García Márquez
- Thomas Mann
Institutions
- kulturnews
Locations
- Benetzko
- Benecko
- Sudetenland
- Riesengebirge
- Prague
- Czech Republic
- Germany