Ambassador Norman Eisen Visited Historic South Bohemia

February 25, 2011

Ambassador Eisen meets with Juraj Thoma, Mayor of České Budějovice

Ambassador with students from the Gymnazium Pierra De Coubertina in Tábor

In their first trip outside of Prague, Ambassador Norman Eisen and his family visited historic South Bohemia from February 20th-23rd, 2011. First, they traveled to Telč, where they toured the beautiful town with Mayor Roman Fabeš. Enroute to Telč, Ambassador Eisen stopped in Třebíč and marveled at the UNESCO heritages sites of the Jewish Quarter and St. Procopius' Basilica with Mayor Pavel Heřman.

On Monday February 21st, Ambassador Eisen traveled to Český Krumlov, stopping briefly in Jindřichův Hradec and Třebon on the way, where he wondered at the beauty of these Bohemian towns and learned about the history of Czech fish farming. In Český Krumlov, Ambassador Eisen visited the Egon Egon Schiele Art Center and the Museum Fotoatelier Seidel.  Deputy Mayor Jitka Zikmundova gave the Ambassador a tour of the UNESCO-protected town.

In České Budějovice, Ambassador Eisen had lunch with Hejtman Jiří Zimola (CSSD), and discussed the cutting-edge transparency initiatives of Lord Mayor Juraj Thoma (see below). He also visited the University of South Bohemia and Hluboka Castle as well. 

On February 23rd, Ambassador Eisen traveled to Tábor, where he toured both the Šechtl & Voseček Museum and the Hussite Museum. He had lunch with Vítězslav Dohnal, director of the Pro Bono Alliance, and Hana Jančíková, a Holocaust survivor from Tabor who recently wrote a book on Jews in Tabor, and American Fulbright Exchange Teacher Emily Dykstra, who is teaching this year at Gymnazium Pierra De Coubertina. 

Finally, Ambassador Eisen met with 57 young Czech students from the Gymnazium Pierra De Coubertina. They grilled Ambassador Eisen on his views on the democracy movements in the Middle East, his work at the White House, his friendship with President Barack Obama, and his love of Czech food and beer.

Ambassador Eisen told the students that his mother, who was born in Czechoslovakia, had never been impressed with his professional accomplishments -- which include being the first member of his family to attend university; an illustrious career as an attorney; his founding of a watchdog NGO on government accountability; and serving as the White House’s Special Counsel to the President for Ethics and Government Reform – until his appointment as U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic.