The son of King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia was an individual with a potential for conflict not only during his lifetime. The historical and artistic adaptations of his person or his biography had already perceived him in a controversial way in the Middle Ages:Onthe one hand, he was the representative of the knight ideal, on the other hand, his thirst for power and unscrupulousness were criticized. In addition, there were reproaches that he encouraged the empowerment of theGermanminority in the Lands of Bohemia. This point of view appeared after the period of Enlightenment, and particularly in works about his person in the 19th and 20th centuries. Ottokar II has served as a projection surface for various humanistic, literary, pictorial andfilmportrayals.

The interdisciplinary conference on Ottokar II would like to discuss the range of adaptations not only in Czech and German speaking countries, but also in the rest of the world – if there are any – and find out continuities and discontinuities within the patterns of portrayals and their accentuations.

The contributions will be gathered in an anthology and published by the Institute for German Studies of Palacký University Olomouc. Travel and accommodation costs for conference participants will be covered by the Institute for GermanStudies.