The story of Green farm

Zdoňov (previously Merkelsdorf) celebrates 660 years since the first written mention in 2019 and it would be nice to say that there already was a green farmhouse here, but we have not been able to prove it yet. All we know is that people farmed on this site. They fertilised the stony mountain soil, which gave them little in return for the sweat and blood they had shed on the windswept fields. Most commonly grown crops did not thrive in the freezing basin, but there was one plant. It was flax. In an age without man-made fibres, flax offered a wide range of uses from rope to clothing. It was grown here on large acreages and processed in local flax mills. It was only thanks to the profits from the sale of flax that small cottage was turned into a house that still captivates with its beauty today. The Green Farm.Those to whom we owe the fact that the Green Farm stands here today is the Renner family. They came to local wilderness in seventeenth century from the Austrian Alps and settled here. They found harsh Central European mountain climate to be kinder and much milder than the Alpine wilderness, and their farm began to flourish.
Founder of the dynasty was Anton Renner and he certainly had no idea how his name would be tied to the history of family and Green farm. His descendants have farmed here for centuries and five Anton children have been born over time. The one who completed farm to its present form was Anton IV with his wife Marianne /b. Patzelt/ in 1886. It was one of the largest estates in Merkelsdorf and shone in the distance with its green facade. Such a large farm required a lot of work, yet Anton Renner managed to found time for other activities. He was a passionate musician and a member of local band, where he played the French horn. He also encouraged his children to play music and apparently did it very well, because his son Emil proved to be such a skilled musician that he even directed the local band of twenty-one members in memorable year 1928, when it celebrated its 100th anniversary.
Male members of the family have passed down from generation to generation since 1804 a trade that is very popular with tourists and lucrative for the Rener family. It involved playing the French horn and firing a cannon at what is now called "On the Echo." This was in the early days of tourism, and even then farm sometimes housed visitors discovering the beauty of local area. The authorities only allowed Renners to do this if accommodation capacity of the manor hotel was already full.
The last major reconstruction of farmhouse took place after the March fire in 1932. Two farmhouses in Merkelsdorf were on fire that night, which raised many questions, but the gendarmerie never managed to find out the reason for the blaze. A major repair work began and the Green farmhouse rose from the ashes in new splendour. Rear wing was built over 1.5 metres further into the garden and connected to a new barn adjoining the house. This rebuilding was carried out by Emil Renner's son, named Anton after his grandfather.

Then came hard times for all the inhabitants of Merkelzdorf, the Second World War. A draft order took all Renner sons to war. Uncertainty and fear reigned on the Green farm, but agricultural production was not allowed to cease. On the contrary, an increase was required and this meant a lot of extra work. Gradually, tragic news from the Russian front began to arrive in these troubled times of fear and hard work. All the Renner sons had fallen.

Since 1804, the male members of the family have passed down the very popular (and also popular for the Rener family) bow from generation to generation. The Green farm was sold!
Josef Juptner became the new owner. This merchant already owned several properties in Merkelsdorf, so he rented the farm to Leopold Flieder, who managed it until the end of the war.
The wheel of history turned and Beneš Decrees came into force, as a result of which the inhabitants of the house were moved to Rostock in Germany and Green Farm became orphaned. In 1947, however, it came to life again.
It was chosen as their new home by Kožárský family, who heard the call of their old homeland and left Volyn plains to find a new home in abandoned borderlands of Czechoslovakia. They farmed according to the knowledge they had brought from the Volynian plains, and for the first year they rubbed poverty with hardship. The climate in foothills required a different approach, which they had yet to learn. By second year, however, the harvest was a source of joy and by third year they had adapted perfectly to the local climate and were celebrating success. But then came the blow of collectivisation.

The nationalization was the last big blow for the hard-pressed region. All the great estates lost their source of income overnight and their owners became employees. The monthly salary was no longer enough to maintain such large buildings, and the landscape began to change. There was a period of stagnation and then decline.
The Green farm, however, did not share fate of most other farms. Mr. Kožárský refused to submit to the pressure of history and did not join the JZD. He continued to farm privately until 1960, when he was the last farmer in Zdoňov. Field was sown, eight cows were mooing in the barn and two horses were neighing. But the social pressure was already too great, so Mr. Kožárský joined the JZD. Despite the adversity, farm still lived and so did its stable. It included a small field with poppies and a vegetable garden. Last horse remained in the stable, and the chickens and rabbits still reminded of the declining glory of manor. It was managed in a small way until the death of Mr. Josef Kožárský. He mowed the meadow all day and in the evening, tired from the day's work, he went to bed and died. He was 89 years old.
The house was then bought by Zdeněk Kindl, a painter and bohemian, in 1993. His plans for the estate were grandiose and no longer related to agriculture. Reconstruction was started, which ended right at the beginning. The house began to deteriorate and was eventually abandoned. It was for sale for several years, but no one was interested in it, as the price did not correspond to its impoverished condition. But then a miracle happened and the house chose its new owners. Two madmen who saw beauty where others saw rubble. Fools who gave all their strength and the strength of their children to return the house to its original beauty, and even its original color. Spouses Petr and Míša Prokop with their children Lukáš, Petr and Pája.
Today, the Green farm is used as accommodation for tourists and bears the name of St. Prokop, whose remains are kept in the nearby Broumov monastery. The farm's revival continues, and if you too spend at least one night under its roof, you will become part of its story and contribute to the further flourishing of the Green Farm.