Abstract
Explorer Čeněk Paclt (1813-1887), the first Czech to travel across all five inhabited continents, is one of the most important figures of modern Czech exploration, although in a literal sense, he was more an adventurer than a professional explorer like Emil Holub or Enrique Stanko Vráz. Paclt was an ardent Czech patriot, passionate about Czech history and especially the Hussite period, claiming in his writings that he himself was a descendant of the Hussites.
During his travels, he even taught indigwnous Australians to pronounce the names of Jan Hus and Jan Žižka. On several occasions he spoke out vocally against Austrian law, and as a result, a warrant for his arrest was issued in 1869.
He then fled to Prussian Berlin. Despite his strong national feelings, he maintained friendly ties with Germans.
This was not an unusual phenomenon, but it was not entirely common among adventurers and travellers. From the middle of the 19th century, Czech and Germans abroad would often behave warmly towards each other.
Paclt was already familiar with German from the region he grew up in, and he was able to speak German well. He felt much closer culturally to the German people than to other nationalities, and worked with Germans on many occasions during his travels around the world - for instance, in managing a farm in Virginia in 1854-1855, mining gold in Castlemaine, Australia, with a group of German adventurers, and working with Teich traders in South Africa.
This study looks at Paclt's oscillations between Czech patriotism and his German friendships.