Střelnice House

The Střelnice is a historic restaurant in Kadaň and for a long time it was one of the main centers of social and cultural life in the city. It stands in the lower part of Čechovy Street, which was previously called Vodní Street. At its end, until the year 1838, stood the Vodní Gate, one of the main gates of the city fortifications.

On the site of today's building was originally a moat. In the year 1756, several wooden structures with targets were created in it, where the citizens of Kadaň practiced rifle shooting. The earlier shooting range was on the Riebelsberg hill in the Špitálské district. There, every year during Whitsunday, shooting with crossbows took place, but after the Elizabeth Monastery was established, this was no longer possible.

The Ptačí domky, which were timber-framed towers of the city fortifications nearby, served the Kadaň sharpshooters as a storage for gunpowder and bullets. In the year 1788, the sharpshooters' association was granted permission to establish their own beer tavern. From the year 1789, they formed a regular military unit with two officers in green uniforms, and in the year 1810 they acquired their own flag. Construction of the restaurant began in the year 1845. After fires in the years 1888, 1893, and 1899, the building was repaired and expanded several times.

In the nineteenth century, many lectures were held here. In the year 1852, the Czech-German writer Ferdinand Stamm performed here and the proceeds from the admission fees went toward the construction of Saint Joseph's orphanage. In the year 1895, Kadaň lawyer and literary figure Josef Klinger held three well-attended lectures here, in which he devoted himself to theosophy, occultism, and paranormal phenomena.

The restaurant became popular with soldiers from the Kadaň garrison. In the years 1915 to 1916, Josef Čapek also came here, as he was stationed in Kadaň on military service at that time. Political meetings were also held here. From a meeting in support of German Austria against Czechoslovakia on March 4th, 1919, a thousand-strong demonstration emerged at the main square. An intervention by Czech troops turned it into a bloody massacre with almost thirty dead and dozens wounded.

Under Communist rule, the Střelnice served ideological agitation. In the year 1948, writer Jarmila Glazarová and ideologist Ladislav Štoll gave lectures here. During the period of normalization, on the other hand, the Střelák, as it was popularly called, became a meeting place for Kadaň music fans and the local underground. Jan Pelc writes about this in his novel A bude hůř, published in the year 1985 in German exile. In the year 2008, Ivan Martin Jirous, nicknamed Magor, held a literary evening here.

Today, the Střelnice is the main building of the administration of Kadaň Cultural Facilities.