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The Wheel Bet

The Wheel Bet. The wheel hanging next to the dragon in the Old Town Hall passage is said to be made by Birk, a wheelwright from a small town - Lednice. pub.

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The Wheel Bet

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  1. The Wheel Bet

  2. The wheel hanging next to the dragon in the Old Town Hall passage is said to be made by Birk, a wheelwright from a small town - Lednice. pub

  3. One sunny day in May 1638 some friends gathered in Lednice inn to have a draught of wine after work, as usual. Jiří(George) Birk was among them, a master-wheelwright who was famed for his skill far and wide. Birk`s cheerful voice rang out, saying: "What do you bet, neighbours, that at six o`clock in the morning, at sunrise, I shall fell a tree in the forest, make a wheel, and a roll it to Brno within that same day, before they close the city gates?" They all mocked at him and made a bet of twelve talers (old money). They believed that the wheelwright could not possibly succeed, and that they would earn their money easily.

  4. Birk, however, was a real master of his craft.

  5. George Birk is making the wheel

  6. On his way to Brno

  7. Before the bells on Brno`s towers rang Ave Maria, he passed the Jewish Gate,…

  8. …passed through the Vegetable Market …

  9. …and reached the Town Hall.

  10. There he presented the wheel to the amazed Mayor of Brno.

  11. Since the wheel was a true masterpiece, the Mayor Gabriel Schramm hang it in the town hall`s carriage way.

  12. Birk won the bet but the twelve talers did not bring him any good. Everyone believed that he had been helped by the devil, and so people started avoiding him. The orders dried up and the handy wheelwright died as a poor man. However, Birk`s wheel, still hanging in the Old Town Hall, reminds us of him to this day.

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