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Johan Amos Comenius

Numerous schools and streets bear the name of the great Moravian educator, theologist and philosopher Johan Amos Comenius (1592-1670). In his view the life of any human comprises eight stages starting with the “prenatal evolution” and ending with the “school of death”. In the Comenius garden between Richardstrasse and Karl Marx Platz a sand path visualises the path of life; its starting point is marked by a walnut tree.
When Friedrich Wilhelm I established the settlement for the Bohemian immigrants he insisted on having a walnut tree planted in every courtyard. Walnuts are valuable as nourishing food during winter; their husks were used as detergent. The valuable wood of the full-grown trees remained the property of the king.