Bývalá radnice (Chotěboř) Town hall

The Old Town Hall in Chotěboři (Havlíčkova Brod district) is a monument protected building on the Square of T. G. Masaryk. It originated as a Renaissance townhouse around 1600. The building has undergone successive reconstruction in Baroque and Classicist style and has served as a town hall, district court and music education headquarters over the centuries.

It was originally a Renaissance house known as Urbanovský. In 1633 Count Jan Rudolf Trčka of Lipa donated this property to the city, making the building a city hall. In this period, when Czech countries under the rule of the Habsburgs were undergoing significant political and cultural changes, for example, the Thirty Years' War had a major influence.

The current architecture corresponds to the storey construction of a rectangular plan with a saddle roof. Today there is an inner mazhauz with three arches of cross vaults. The right part of the ground floor includes two rooms with a Valen Vault and a side staircase leading to the Town Hall Basement, which also ends with a Valent Vault. In the back of the building there is a Baroque extension with six rooms with flat vaults and one large unarched room. The premises on the first floor are mostly flat ceilings; the exception represents one room at the stairwell with a valence vault. In the rear wing of the building there is a music hall with unloaded ceiling.

The fate of the construction was associated with many functions. During the Baroque period there was a village inn, while there were bakery shops and city weight under the former arch. Since 1850 there was a district court in the building, which worked here until 1926. Since 1885, a local museum has also been located here. The city office returned to the original premises after 1926 and was based here until 1962.

Key events include the fire from 1832, after which the shell was abolished. The Classicist reconstruction was followed in 1863 and a year later the town hall tower was built with clocks. The reconstruction of the town hall and the tower started in 2007.

Today, the building is the headquarters of the Basic Art School, which has been operating here since 1962. The historical building is an important monument element of the city and offers insight into its building and social development. Visiting this place is suitable for anyone who wants to learn more about the history of Chotěboř.