Prague, October 4, 2016

Dear Deans,

dear Senators,

dear members of the academic community,

dear students,

dear colleagues,

Perhaps every generation of our ancestors had a hand in building the St. Vitus Cathedral, founded by emperor and king Charles IV. Construction on the cathedral was ostensibly completed in 1929, however, work on its portals and interior fixtures continued until the 1960s.

            Nevertheless, to this day the cathedral lacks its most substantial feature – an organ. Therefore, the archbishop of Prague, cardinal Dominik Duka, turned to the Bohemian Heritage Fund, which involves private backers of Czech culture in the process of obtaining the new organ. The Endowment Fund helped to organize the Society of St. Vitus Cathedral, in which individuals (including the rector of Charles University) who support the construction of the new organ are represented. This society turned to the foremost academic and cultural institution of the Czech Republic, Charles University, with a plea for financial support.

            Thanks to donations from sponsors, the Endowment Fund has so far succeeded in raising enough financial means to begin the main phase of the project; there are currently nearly 14,5 million CZK in the account of the Endowment Fund for the St. Vitus Cathedral. The Endowment Fund is preparing relevant documentation so that it can move on to selecting the organ manufacturer and thus begin work on its construction. An expert committee has chosen a small group of organ manufacturing companies, which will be asked to prepare specific proposals. The requirements for the final appearance of the instrument are already known, and the committee will be judging the artistic, technical, and economic aspects of each proposal. The organ’s delivery date will also play a certain role, because the deadline for delivery is 28th September, 2019. Another important selection criterion will be the quality of the competing companies’ previous work. The final selection of the contractor, who will construct the turn-key organ for the St. Vitus Cathedral will be made known by the end of this calendar year.

            The bulk of the new organ’s financing will be borne by the Catholic Church and by large companies because a new organ of this size represents a sum of tens of millions of crowns.

            More detailed information can be found at www.svatovitskevarhany.com.

            Charles University will support the construction of the St. Vitus organ with a collection which will fund one of the larger organ pipes. Therefore, I ask members of the academic community of Charles University to join this cause by making individual financial contributions to a special university bank account, number 909 999 389 / 0800. The funds from this account will then be handed over to the Endowment Fund.

With warm regards,

Prof. MUDr. Tomáš Zima, DrSc., MBA