HOUSE NO. 283
Introduction
House No. 283 was one of the less prominent buildings on the square. Tourists rarely noticed it, and locals often passed it without interest. Nevertheless, it possessed a noteworthy past, even if most of its everyday history went unrecorded. Ultimately, its most striking chapter became its gradual decline.
Renaissance Core and Development
Like the other houses on the square, it originally had a Renaissance core and two storeys. In the earliest known depiction of the town, published in Schmidt’s work, it appears between 1780 and 1820 as a masonry two-storey building.
The upper floor originally had six windows; the ground floor five windows and a portal with a fanlight. Later, the ground floor was altered with shop windows replacing the original openings, and the entrance was moved from the right to the left side. Due to the sloping terrain, the upper floor was at street level on the side of today’s Božena Němcová Street, where a covered gallery was located.
Inn and Political Centre
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the building housed the “Gasthof Drei Engel.” After the establishment of the local Social Democratic organisation, it was renamed “Volkshaus” and became a centre of the workers’ movement as well as a lodging house. The manager was Gottfried.
According to a government decree of 13 July 1939, the lodging house was classified as Category C with 18 beds.
After 1945
After 1945 it operated as “Ubytovací hostinec U Ferdy,” managed by Ferda Ježek, father of the later teacher and chronicler Oldřich Ježek.
In 1981 the building housed a state clothing store with a monthly turnover of 120,000 Kčs.
Decline and Demolition
After 1989, following the closure of the shop, the building gradually deteriorated. Although several redevelopment plans were proposed, maintenance ceased.
While official records cite fire as the cause of destruction, the decisive factor was structural weakening. After a deliberately set fire, parts of the roof structure were removed and used as fuel. In the winter of 2005, the weakened roof collapsed under snow load, and part of the upper masonry fell into the street.
By 2008, remnants of the upper floor still stood, but for safety reasons they were demolished. Only the ground-floor walls remained, later plastered in 2010. The final remains were removed after 2020.
Heritage Value
Although not architecturally exceptional, House No. 283 formed part of the historic urban fabric and reflected the town’s social evolution from the monarchy through the workers’ movement to the post-war period. Its disappearance represented another loss in the historical continuity of the square.
Photo gallery:
https://www.rajce.idnes.cz/mipalfi/album/dum-c-p-283-jachymov
