Bozkovského dům House

Bozkovského dům (no. 184) in Prachatice is originally a late Gothic townhouse, which was remodeled in 1573. The object is particularly remarkable with a massive risalite with a painting of the Rozberg rider and rich decoration in the arch. It is one of the most valuable buildings of the city's monument reservation and has been a protected cultural monument since 1958.

The current form of the house dates back to the end of the 15th or the beginning of the 16th century. It's probably connected to a city fire from 1501. Jiří Janček and Pavel Mokrý were the first documented owners in 1551 and in 1562. The fundamental Renaissance reconstruction was carried out in 1573 by Jiřík Bozkovský, originally from the Moravian Boskovice. In 1559, the house was married to the widow Catherine after the township Mathes.

The construction consists of a complex comprising a front house near the Grand Square, a central wing with a courtyard and arcades to the Salt Street and a rear house in the Upper Street. The dominant feature of the facade to the square is the massive pillars of the rizalite with the arches on the crackers. The area of the rizality is decorated with painted illusory quacking by chiaroscura and wall painting of the Rozberg rider. This is based on the design of Wilhelm from Rožmberk, 1557. At the top of the medallion is the inscription Whilhelmus Rosenberg. The arch risality is encapsulated by two arches of cross arches with nails and contains a late Gothic arched entrance portal.

The facade to Salt Street is five axes; There were originally eight entrances to meat shops on the ground floor. The facade to the Grand Square is triple-edged with a smooth classical stucco, cordon robes and a profiled crown ledge with a Fabion. In the building there are preserved gothic structures, for example cellars in front, perimeter wall ground floor and floors of the western tract. From the Renaissance period come cellars in the back, vaults above the ground floor and first floor, rizalite and painting decoration. Also valuable are the stoneware elements of the dusthatic diorite, especially the entrance portals and consoles of the arches.

In addition to painting by the rider, the decoration from 1611 is painted in the arcade. It contains the family coats of arms of the richest townspeople in laurel wreaths with accompanying motts in Latin and old Czech. Details like red roses refer to the House of Rožmberks. Under one of the coats of arms is a sign that some owners of the painters did not pay for the work. The similarity of the technique and the composition of the plaster with the Old Town Hall building suggests that the same builders worked on both buildings.

The ownership of the house has changed over the centuries among personalities such as Lukáš Bohauf, Stepan Petrhanzl, Matej Ubermesser, Stepan Vajmon, Kaspar Stögbauer and Felix Spinka. After the fire in 1832, a Renaissance aetika with shield attachments was brought down. Another repair took place in 1868. Meat shops on the ground floor of the corner house were in the possession of butcher families until 1893. They were then bought by the husband and wife Jakub and Marie Hrbk and set up the café Caffe restaurant Habsburg, run by the Vienna Hanz Paupie. Between 1882 and 1885, there was a Czech school in the house.

The interesting thing is that on the corner of the house to Salt Street was previously placed an iron lighting basket on a moving shoulder. The basket was filled with lit stools that illuminated the street and the square. This item is today stored in the City Museum.

The cultural centre of Otto Herbert Hajek is currently located in the building, since 1962 the town ceremonial hall has been located here. The house presents a unique combination of Gothic foundations and Renaissance aesthetics with elements of later classicism. The visit to this building offers a direct insight into the history of the rich town and influence of the family Rožmberk in the region.