PATRICIAN HOUSE NO. 131
Introduction
The Renaissance house No. 131 was built around 1520, during the very beginnings of the town. Owing to its size and its location directly opposite the original Schlick palace, today’s Town Hall, it ranked among the most important burgher houses from the outset. It is associated with the Jáchymov mint master Sturtz and already in the sixteenth century played an extraordinary role in the history of local healthcare.
History
The house was probably built around 1520 by the mint master Sturtz. In 1526 his son Georg Sturtz opened a pharmacy here, regarded as the oldest pharmacy in the territory of today’s Czech Republic in the modern sense. It was open to the public and medicines were produced and dispensed both on physicians’ prescriptions and on direct request of customers. Sturtz left the town in 1527 and was most likely succeeded by the new town physician and pharmacist Johann Bauer. He worked here until 1530, when he moved to Chemnitz, where he became renowned under his Latin name Georgius Agricola.
In 1784 the municipality sold the building to the butcher Jan Scharf under the condition that no tavern be established there and that the pharmacy operation be preserved. In 1852 Johann Woraczek from Prague purchased the house including the pharmacy and operated it under the name Apotheke zum Schwarzen Adler. A later owner, Mag. pharm. Hugo Zulauf from Saaz, changed the name to Radium Apotheke. The new name reflected both the mining of pitchblende and the production of radium in the town and distinguished the pharmacy from the inn “Zum Schwarzen Adler” located in the lower part of the square.
Hugo Zulauf gave the building its present appearance. After 1918 he had a monumental portal inserted into the original Baroque-Rococo façade, executed by the local builder Franz Rehn according to a design by the artist Gellert. The motif of the mining spirit Permon used on the portal also served as a trademark for Zulauf’s products.
While the pharmacy occupied most of the ground floor, the rest of the building had various uses, including a burgher apartment, the seat of the Mining Court and offices of the District Court. After 1945 the building became state property, yet the pharmacy continued to operate. Doctors’ offices and part of the public health service for adults were located on the first floor. At the end of the 1980s the pharmacy was moved to a newly built health centre and the building began to deteriorate. After 1989 a restaurant named “Lékárna” briefly operated there, at least recalling the original purpose by name. The house later stood empty again. A turning point came when a new owner purchased the property and began gradual renovations. On 10 October 2016 at the symbolic time of 10:10, the Krušnohorská bylinná lékárna commenced its activities in the former pharmacy space, symbolically returning the house to its original mission of caring for health.
Description
The building with eight window axes on the upper floor is among the most distinctive burgher houses in the historic centre. The exterior reveals numerous elements documenting its architectural evolution, including a Gothic portal, a Renaissance portal and Baroque modifications. The monumental portal with half-columns and Ionic capitals incorporates not only the entrance but also the adjacent large window and is crowned with a circular relief depicting Permon. It represents a striking modern intervention in the historic façade.
Inside, part of the late Gothic cellar is preserved, featuring a massive supporting pillar and a short blind corridor. The concrete reinforcement of one wall and rising damp suggest that additional parts of the original cellars may be concealed. Of note are the Baroque reed ceilings with mirrored panels, likely hiding earlier Renaissance timber ceilings. A preserved black kitchen with its original stove and fragments of Renaissance wall paintings, subtle yet valuable, also survive.
Restoration
The building has undergone numerous alterations reflecting changing needs and aesthetic views of different periods. The most significant modern intervention was the installation of the portal after 1918. Following a period of decay at the end of the twentieth century, gradual restoration began under new ownership. The renewed health-related use of the premises can be seen as a symbolic closure of the building’s long historical cycle.
Curiosities
Besides being home to the oldest pharmacy in Bohemia, the house is also linked to RNDr. Jan Hloušek, a geologist, mineralogist and historian who lived here in his youth. In 1977 he lost the foundation of his mineralogical collection in a fire in the building, traces of which remain visible in the attic.
The cellar spaces are also associated with personal accounts of uneasy feelings experienced by visitors. Some describe a strong sense of discomfort that discouraged them from returning. Such subjective impressions belong to the less tangible yet frequently mentioned peculiarities of the house.
Photo gallery: https://mipalfi.rajce.idnes.cz/Jachymov_-_Dum_c._p._131_-_nejstarsi_lekarna_CR/
