Dům U Černého psa v Olomouci House

The House of the Black Dog, located on the Upper Square in Olomouci, is a historical object with a home sign. This building combines elements of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque and since 1958 it has been protected as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic. The house belongs to the statutory city Olomouc.

The oldest mention of the house dates back to 1413 when it was owned by Jan Grapler. The building was built on the site of two narrow Gothic plots, which were connected at the latest in the first half of the 16th century, after a city fire from 1492.

From the time of Gothic, the surrounding wall of cellars with parts of vaults and walls of ground floor with a Valen Vault passage to the yard was preserved. On the first floor above the passage are preserved spaces with ribs. During the 16th century, the house was converted into a Renaissance palace of tritract with two court wings. At this stage, the Gothic arch was abolished, and the spaces were encapsulated with vaulted vaults with lunettes and nails, which is best seen in the ground mazhaus.

After the fire of the city in 1709 there was a Baroque reconstruction of the facade, especially stucco decorations and windows. The interior remained baroque stucco and painting decoration in the northeast room of the first floor. In the 19th century, the courtrooms were rebuilt, the second floor was built with a storehouse and in 1898 the original saddle roof was replaced by a low saddle roof with gutters. In 1907 a large reconstruction was carried out under the leadership of Viktor Mader, which included construction of the third floor, reconstruction of the facade and portals. The Renaissance mazhaus was divided at the time, with a neo-gothic vault and a three-arm Art Nouveau staircase with a glass skylight. A new stone staircase leading to the attic was built in the corner of the courtyard.

In 1582 the house was owned by the lasher Hanush Eckhart, also known as Kleinsmidt. Since 1585, he was followed by his son, city doctor Hanush, who had a inscription in the stone portal confirming the construction of the house. Then the house belonged to the nobles Stephen the younger of Vrbno and Hynek the Vrbno, then Karel Berger z Bergu (1629-1631). In 1631 the object was purchased by Jan Rudolf Mandel, Olomouc notary and court scribe who was present during the torture of Jan Sarkandro. After his death, the house in 1640 switched to the widow Eufrosi Mandela.

After leaving the Swedish troops in 1650, the owner became the Purkmaster Martin Neumann. From 1665 to 1685 the house belonged to the governor of Plumlov Manor Šebestian Vavríc Todtenwolf, then to the magistrate Matthias George Buchff. In 1716, Johann Bernard Roller von Ausse, a wine merchant and tax collector, was acquired by the company, which was subsequently confiscated for embezzlement. Since 1749, the house has belonged to the family of the ironmonger Leopold Schmidt for over a hundred years. In the 20th century it was owned by Bedřiška Mlčochová and later by Bedřiška Hohlová, before he became the owner of the JNV Housing Municipal Company in Olomouci in 1949.

The history of the house is associated with dramatic events, as was the hit by the grenade on August 4, 1644 during the Swedish occupation during the shooting by imperial troops. The object carried different names according to the businesses operated. In 1685 there was a wine bar at the Golden Lamb and since 1769 the iron shop at the Golden Dog. The current name dates back to 1907, when the house was converted into a drugstore with a stucco relief of a sitting dog with a medallion and a cartouche with an annual.

The House of the Black Dog is situated in the southeast part of the Upper Square at the foot of the Michal Hill, where the most wealthy residents' homes were concentrated. According to the medieval division, it belonged to the Second Quarter and according to the 1771 Josephine cadastral, it bears descriptive number 205, which remained unchanged for more than 200 years.

The house represents a valuable architectural layered record of Olomouc history from Gothic to Art Nouveau. Its preserved vaults and historic portals make the building an important monument to urban construction. Visiting this place offers insight into the social development of the historical centre Olomouce.