Dům čp. 6 (Štramberk) House

Welcome to Štramberk. You're standing in front of a house with a descriptive number of six that stands right in front of you. If you look at him carefully, you probably think of his appearance as a whole that's always been there. But it's an illusion. This house is a living witness to how fashion, technology, and the needs of people have changed over the last 200 years. There's not only one structure in front of you, but layers of history that overlap each other. The facade you are now seeing has a clear print of the Czech Neo-Baroque from the 1920s. It's a style that added the house to its distinctive appearance today, full of details and certain festivities. But let me lead you deeper into his story, because under this elegant mask is a much older and simpler root.

Let's go back a few centuries in time. Originally, this object was not a walled building we know today. He started out as a grafted building. Roubenka was a common form of living at the time, built from wooden beams that were clenched together. Imagine what this house would look like if it was made of dark wood, with simple windows and without decorated robes. This wooden foundation was later, at the end of the eighteenth century, replaced by a brick construction. This reconstruction was not random. It reflected architectural trends at a time when brick buildings became a symbol of stability, wealth and modern approach to housing. The transition from wood to bricks and stone meant a change of status for the owner of the house. The house began to adapt to a changing lifestyle.

Now pay attention to the top of the house. Look up, to the roof line, and to what's lining it. In the middle of the nineteenth century, the original building was joined by the Empire Atika floor. Empire was a style inspired by ancient Greece and Rome, and characterized by peace, symmetry and dignity. Adding this floor wasn't just an aesthetic task. It was used to visually connect the house No. 6 with the neighbouring house No. 5. At that time Štramberk, as well as in many other cities, discussed how to create a harmonious whole in the square. Architects and builders tried to make each house complete and form a united front. What you see as part of this house today was once a separate architectural decision aimed at unifying the surroundings.

But time passed, and with it, the tasteful level changed. Another fundamental change took place in the 1920s. The facade and the facade have been adapted to the style of Czech novobarok. This style, which appeared at the turn of the century and blossom experienced just at that time, brought to architecture rich decoration, curves and sensitivity to detail. These are exactly the elements you see on the facade before you. The Neo-Baroque design added its distinctive appearance to the house today, which distinguishes it from neighbouring buildings and makes it so remarkable. It is the layer that dominates today and that decides how we remember this house.

Interestingly, this house wasn't just an apartment. At the same time, in the 1920s, it was converted into a commercial space. In particular, there was a trade in meat and sausage. The operator was Josef David older. Imagine what it was like to be a customer of this store at the time. Here, fresh products were sold, which were an essential part of the diet of the then families. Business was part of the daily life of the city. Štramberk was a city with a rich history, and thus shops played an important role in economic and social life. Josef David older became part of the history of this place by running his business here.

The history of this house does not end with his business era. In 1948 there was a major political and economic break in Czechoslovakia. The shop of Joseph David the Elder was nationalized. This means that the State has taken over the ownership and operation of this company. The David family lost control of the place where their business activities took place for many years. This process of nationalization affected many traders and craftsmen at the time. So the house changed its owner and its fate became dependent on state decisions.

Until the 1990s, the house remained in state hands. Only then, with the advent of new political conditions, did there be restitution. This is the process in which the property returns to the original owners or their descendants. House No. 6 was returned to the descendants of the David family. This return was a symbol for the family of recognition and return to the roots. For decades, the house has once again become a private property that bears the name of the family that identified with it. This fact gives the history of the house a human dimension. It's not just bricks and plaster, but the fate of the particular people who lived here, worked and left their tracks.

Let us now look at what this house tells us about broader cultural and architectural trends. Its variability is a key element. From a simple garb to a walled structure, an empirical floor to a neo-Baroque facade. Each of these changes corresponded to a certain period and a certain social context. Roubenka corresponded to wooden architecture, walled construction of urban class growth, empir of the quest for harmony and classical beauty, and novobarok of expression and decorativeness. This house is a kind of architectural palimpsém where individual layers overlap and complement.

The interesting thing is that the architects who performed these reconstructions are not known. They're not connected to any famous names that would be listed in the history of architecture. That doesn't mean their work was less important. On the contrary, it shows that it was a common practice at a time when houses adapted to the needs of owners and changing taste. It was not monumental buildings for kings or emperors, but housing and trading for ordinary people. And it is in these ordinary houses that the true history of the city takes place.

When you search, notice how the individual elements of the facade complement each other. The neo-Baroque details you see now are the result of work from the 1920s. But if you could see beneath the surface, you would see traces of the empir floor and even further, of the wall structure from the late eighteenth century. And underneath it all, in the foundation, lies a monument to the original grafted structure. So this house is a kind of time machine that allows you to see how the look of Štramberk changed.

When you look at the house, try to imagine what it looked like a hundred years ago, 200 years ago. How