Torsello, Davide - Pappová, Melinda: Social Networks in Movement. Time, interaction and interethnic spaces in Central Eastern Europe - Nostra Tempora 8. (Somorja-Dunaszerdahely, 2003)
Interaction, migration and change
Property, power, and emotions 239 To realise his dream, the Dutchman needed to buy buildings which could be turned into living space for himself and his family, a game-keeper, and the future members of his hunting lodge. Two buildings in Vesnice which could easily be transformed into comfortable living spaces were the old Sudeten German school and the parsonage. Hulshoff managed to purchase them from the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church within a year.13 Buying land as a source of frustration While the purchase of the school and the parsonage had been relatively easy, acquiring the thousands of hectares of land the Dutchman needed for the shoot, was to prove far more difficult. The fields around Vesnice were still owned by the Czech state, having been collectivised under Communism, and had been assigned to a state farm which was eventually privatised in 1992. The new private owners of the farm which was run by director Jan Nový, were not yet allowed to buy the fields they worked due to the slow transformation of land ownership, as well as their own lack of capital. Instead, the farm rented the fields from the national government body which officially oversees the lease, restitution, and the sale of state-owned land, known as the Pozemkový fond. Hulshoff contacted Nový, and proposed buying the land on the basis of the restitution claims which he had already purchased.1'’ In return Nový would be given a lease contract for a period of twenty years. Nový agreed to the idea because it meant he would no longer need to fear the sudden loss of land were it bought by developers or simply somebody who did not wish to lease it to him. Hulshoff, as the lessor, had first right to purchase the land thanks to the rules of the Pozemkový fond. This right, by means of various legal contracts was to be assigned to Hulshoff. Restitution, however, was a slow and painful process. As Hulshoff noted with irritation: “My restitution claims have been with the Pozemkový fond for seven years (...) But sim-
