HOUSE NO. 133
Introduction
This article is based on information provided by the owner Martin Hruška, who purchased the building with the aim of saving it and demonstrating that even severely damaged historic houses can be restored properly. The reconstruction is carried out in the original spirit, including the installation of precise replicas of Renaissance beam-and-board ceilings.
The house dates back to the early years of the town. The importance of its original builder is reflected in its location – directly opposite the former burgher house of the Schlik family with the mint (later the town hall and a separate mint building) and near the Dean’s Church of St Joachim, in what is today the architecturally and historically most valuable part of the town.
The building has a Gothic cellar vaulted over a central supporting column known as the “monk.” Particularly valuable is the preserved massing and spatial arrangement with numerous older Gothic elements. The Gothic bench-type portal with moulded ribs, from the workshop of Jörg of Bamberg, was unfortunately damaged and amateurishly altered in the past.
The house is oriented towards the street by the eaves side of its gabled roof with eight dormers. The owner also reopened secondary bricked-up ventilation windows. The main façade is divided into eight window axes on the upper floor.
Owners
The earliest documented owner was Jacob Geusen, who purchased the house on 13 June 1551. Since 1545 he had also owned the neighbouring House No. 134. Geusen was a mathematician, a member of the town council and an authorised official for marital matters. In 1552 he introduced the use of a water-powered saw in Jáchymov. However, he was most likely not the original builder, as he is listed in the feudal register as a merchant.
He was succeeded by Jacob Geusen the Younger, who sold both houses on 10 February 1575 to Hermann Schmidt for 300 guilders.
Further owners are documented from 6 January 1696, when Petr Möhling is recorded as the owner. According to the Theresian Cadastre of 1713, the house belonged to the widow Franziska Möhling, described as the holder of a mining share. The condition of the house was rated as good and valued at 100 guilders.
Between 1770 and 1810, a register of houses by conscription numbers was created. Franziska Möhling is initially listed, later replaced by the butcher Florián Scharf. Subsequent owners included his son Florian Scharf, Ignaz Tippmann and Anton Goller with his son Johann. Depictions from this period show a fully masonry, single-storey house with a gabled roof oriented towards the street in a manner similar to today.
In the Josephinian Cadastre of 1785, the house appears under the earliest number 19, together with a garden measuring 6 by 4 fathoms.
On 20 July 1801, Barbara Beck (née Hofmann) and her husband Johann Beck inherited the house. Johann Beck transferred brewing rights to the building, which he had purchased on 21 May 1817 for 118 guilders. This right was attached to the building, not to the individual.
On 9 January 1836, the house was transferred to their adult son Ludwig Beck. The contract granted the parents lifetime use of part of the house and recorded the transfer of garden, mining share, barn, fields and meadows, with a total value of 3,100 guilders. The house received its present number 133.
On 23 December 1846, Ludwig Beck sold half of the brewing rights to Johann Tauscher, making him co-owner of the property.
During the devastating fire of 31 March 1873, the house burned down. Reconstruction followed immediately, using surviving walls. An 1874 report states that the staircases were made of wood. The ground floor contained a vaulted shop, a taproom, a living room and a kitchen; the upper floor had two living rooms and a dance hall.
After further ownership changes and national administration after 1945, the building became state property. In 1967, a field laboratory for washing geological samples was established on the ground floor, during which historic structures were insensitively damaged.
After 1989, a restaurant operated on the ground floor, and the portal was unprofessionally altered by replacing the moulded arch with a pseudo-Gothic pointed arch.
In autumn 2014, Martin Hruška and Gabriela Šístková purchased the house and immediately began extensive restoration work. In 2017, a new roof including the roof structure was completed, and the building was entered on the list of cultural monuments. Exact replicas of Renaissance beam ceilings are currently being produced and installed.
House website: https://www.cp-133-jachymov.cz/
Photo gallery 1: https://www.palfi.cz/fotoalbum/ruzni-autori/hruska-martin/
Photo gallery 2: https://www.rajce.idnes.cz/mipalfi/album/dum-c-p-133-jachymov/
