Traditional baking in public bread ovens
The oven was designed for poor people without sufficient means to build their own oven in the house. Several families usually agreed to bake jointly to save on firewood. Previously prepared dough by the housewives at their homes was inserted into the well heated oven to collect beautiful golden loafs of bread at the end of the procedure.
Originally, there were several public ovens in the village. The one that has survived was still commonly used for baking after the World War II.
The municipal bread oven has been listed in the Register of Cultural Heritage since 1958.
In autumn 1998, Mr. Václav Mráz restored the tradition of baking. Several enthusiasts founded in 2000 a civic association named "Great Furnace-men Lodge". The roots of the modern bread baking grow mainly from respect to creative human work. The baker Augustin Sobotovič and his assistants have been devotedly preserving this tradition and bake bread as well as buns, pies and delicious Lenora garlic pancakes.
The oven stands right next to the main road in the centre of Lenora. The car park is near the building of Municipal Authority, from where you can walk along the side-walk to the freely accessible oven. Baking takes place each last Saturday in a month from April to December from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The baker prepares leaven for the bread a day ahead. He than must start heating up of the oven from early morning hours, the most frequently using hard wood, to the temperature of about 220 °C. In the meanwhile he prepares dough. Embers are swept out of the oven, which is then ready for thrusting of pancakes, buns and finally bread loafs. In course of baking the atmosphere is unique, the air smells of fresh pastry, which is distributed for tasting. All the products baked in the Lenora oven are unsellable in principle and are distributed free of charge to all participants of public baking. The products also bear a regional brand „ŠUMAVA originální produkt®“ (Šumava original Product).
The last Saturday in the month of July has been traditionally dedicated to the Lenora Feast of Bread. Besides bread baking there are many other accompanying interesting events.