Our next junket out from Český Krumlov was to Vyšší Brod Monastery, founded in 1259 by that Rožmberk family. A victim of benign neglect during the Communist period, they are restoring buildings as they can. The church is wonderful, but the real jewel is a 70,000-volume library, complete uncatalogued, alas, so no one knows what all is there and it's not really accessible to scholars - shelves are packed three-deep and haven't seen a dustcloth for a long time, although a restorer comes in three times a week to dust and repair the volumes in worst shape. If they only fixed the brewery and got it going, they could probably fund all the restoration they need!
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