History

It is certain that no documents that have survived or been studied so far mention Příhrádek before 1491. Pardubice itself is recorded in documents as a serf small town of agricultural character, the form of which was shaped in the period after the Hussite wars. However, the history of the Příhrádek area can be traced from the beginning of the 16th century, especially after the fire of the town in 1507, to the present day.

The first preserved mentions are of the building no. 5. This is the house of Jana Barvířka (at the site of today’s granary) and the house of Jan Vačkář (today’s National Heritage Institute). By 1516, both buildings had been destroyed or demolished. At that time, Příhrádek still belonged to the town itself. However, around 1520, it was separated and incorporated into the castle as part of the Pernštejn reconstruction of the town, becoming a backdrop for agricultural purposes.

As part of the Pernštejn reconstruction, the town’s fortifications were composed of several elements, including moats, walls, embankments, and bridges. The original walls and embankments can still be seen today, for example, at the castle, where the river Chrudimka originally flowed around them. The surrounding park also had a defensive function and could be flooded with water in case of danger. The water castle was connected to the town by a wooden bridge (at the site of today’s path from the castle to Příhrádek), which was set on fire in case of danger.

The two towers, together with the shape of the whole area, may resemble a barbican, the essence of which as a defensive element was the broken shape of the communication between the two gates, thanks to which they could not be directly shelled and further advance of the enemy was prevented. It seems reasonable to assume that the defensive features and the character of the site were established before the construction of the houses, which were gradually incorporated into the area and used for agricultural, administrative, craft and residential purposes.

In 1538 the town suffered another fire, which led to extensive rebuilding. Houses were raised from one to two storeys. Stone was used in addition to wood, and terracotta tiles were often used around doors and windows. This technology, imported from Italy, was used to simplify and speed up the building process.

In 1560 the estate was sold by Jaroslav, heir of William of Pernštejn, to Emperor Ferdinand, who bought it for his son Maximilian (father of Emperor Rudolf II). Thanks to this sale, an inventory of the castle was drawn up, in which Příhrádek was also mentioned.

From surviving reports and records of estate managers, we gain insight into the challenges faced in maintaining the structural condition of Příhrádek. These records indicate a history of planned repairs, both minor and significant, which reflect the ongoing efforts to preserve this historic site. It would be remiss of us not to mention the state of affairs after 1645, when the town was occupied by the Swedes and suffered extensive damage from fireballs.

We are indebted to the inventories from 1680, 1719 (which describe the estate as being in a catastrophic condition) and 1726 (which provide invaluable insight into the wooden structures and their annexes) for providing us with more detailed and comprehensive information. In 1729, after a considerable period of time, mention is made of living quarters for the head forester, who resided there with a runner, blacksmith, wheelwright, and fisherman. It would seem that the adjacent houses also contained stables, coach houses and granaries.

A Jewish distiller lived here in 1745, although Jews had been banned from staying in the town since 1662. After the brewery in 1802, a shenk, a dwelling house, a bottling plant, warehouses and stables were built for the distillery (note: 1 bucket of rye spirit cost 10 gold coins). In 1838-1840, a water supply system was built for the wine cellar and the roof was repaired.

Around 1901 and 1903, two new smaller passages in the southern gate were built almost simultaneously. In 1920 the chateau was bought by the Pardubice Museum Association and the area was mainly used for residential purposes. The purpose of the buildings did not change much even after 1952, when Příhrádek became the property of the Ministry of Education. The non-residential part consisted mainly of warehouses (e.g. the ŠIPRO wholesale company). Since 1960, Příhrádek has been under the administration of the National Heritage Institute.

Although the National Heritage Institute wished to reconstruct the buildings together with Building No. 5, due to lack of funds it could only afford a temporary statistical securing of the wooden piles with steel bolts. The buildings were not used and their state of disrepair led to their closure.

In 2016, Příhrádek was handed over to the Pardubice Region free of charge by the The Office for Government Representation in Property Affairs for the needs of the Pardubice Regional Library. The necessary reconstruction began with an archaeological survey of selected places in the individual houses, which revealed stone stoves, used vessels, pottery shards, bone remains, beads, old shoes and an artefact of a letter. Other finds related to the structural and historical development of the houses – paintings and frescoes on the walls, walled passages, windows and staircases. A special find was a black kitchen (2nd floor of house no. 7) behind a brick wall.

The reconstruction took place from 2018 to June 2020 and cost 54 million CZK (The project was carried out thanks to the IROP programme within ITI project of the Hradec Králové-Pardubice agglomeration and great support from the Pardubice Region). On 20 June 2020, all three houses, i.e. numbers 6, 7 and 8, were officially opened to the public under the name of Library Centre U Vokolků (in honour of the important printing family Vokolků from Pardubice).