‘Back At Home’: Inmediaone And Wissen Media Present ‘Troppau’ To Prague’s National Museum

The curators of Prague ’s National Museum were absolutely delighted when the Managing Directors of Inmediaone and Wissen Media Imprint presented a “prodigal son” of Czech cultural history to them last week, in the shape of a facsimile. The work in question is the Gospel of John of Troppau, one of the pivotal works in Bohemian book painting of the latter half of the 14th century. Bertelsmann’s direct-to-customer businesses published it in October as a facsimile in a limited edition of 333 copies. 

The handover took place in the Pantheon of the National Museum as a prelude to the upcoming opening of an exhibition that deals with the cultural/historical highlights of that era. Numerous guests, including noted art historians and Kenner medieval manuscripts, were there to hear the opening remarks by Armin Sinnwells, Managing Director of Wissen Media Verlag. He compared the donation of the work, which was originally created by John of Troppau in Brünn, to a homecoming. “The gospel left what was then Bohemia in the 14th century and became part of the estate of Archduke Albrecht III of Austria . Today, it returns to its original home in the form of an exceedingly well done facsimile,” said the publishing director.

Guest speaker Professor Ivan Hlavácek, professor for historic auxiliary sciences and archive studies at the Philosophy Department at Prague’s Karlsuniversität, a world-famous authority on medieval manuscripts, had nothing but praise for the facsimile: “Today we stand in awe of the Gospel of John of Troppau – not of the original, but of its facsimile, which not even an expert would be able to distinguish from the original at first glance.” 

As he presented the Troppau to Milan Stloukal, Director General of the Prague National Museum, Inmediaone’s Managing Director Thomas Holz explained his reasons for ordering the facsimilation of the original in the Austrian National Library: “Beyond the economic success that accompanies the sale of these 333 copies, I am especially pleased at having made this cultural and historical legacy available to the population again.”

The original of the “Evangeliar des Johann von Troppau” is an unmatched rarity in art history; its value can hardly be estimated in terms of money. So precious is the manuscript that it is only taken out of the Austrian National Library’s air-conditioned safe on extraordinary occasions. By creating facsimiles of the document, the Arvato subsidiary Inmediaone has at least restored access for a select circle of interested parties. With considerable success – just six weeks after it went on sale, 200 of the 333 copies in this limited edition were already sold, at a cover price of nearly €20,000 each. Wissen Media spent nearly two years reproducing the original in collaboration with a wide range of specialists.