Města a obce online - Hostinné

History of the town

The town of Hostinné is located approximately 18 kilometres west of the district town of Trutnov with scenic foothills of the Krkonoše Mountains in its neighbourhood. Hostinné is situated at the junction of the rivers Labe and Čistá in the altitude of 350 metres above sea level. Nowadays it has about 5000 inhabitants.

Hostinné belongs to one of the oldest towns situated at the foothills of the highest Czech mountains, the Krkonoše Mountains. The town was established during the reign of the Czech king Přemysl Otakar II. as a consequence of colonization of the upper stream of the Labe river. This fact is also indicated by the oval shape of the town with a regular square from which two parallel west-eastern streets lead. This way of building town is typical for the period of the reign of this Czech ruler. The town was originally fortified by wooden stockade and later by stone Silesian-type walls with a moat. The walls had two main gates and two portals, which have kept its medieval appearance until today. The town’s foundation charter has not been preserved. However, the first writings come from around the year 1270. It is an entry in the book of concepts of the royal charter connected with a conflict concerning the consecration of the local church. Czech kings were the first owners of the town. In 1316, Jan Lucemburský pawned the town to Půt of Turgov, who later became the owner of the town. In the time of Hussite Wars the town was in hands of Krušina family from Lichtenburk, who stood on the emperor Zikmund’s side. That is the reason why Hussite commander Jan Žižka from Trocnov sieged the town and tried to conquer it on Shrove Sunday in 1424. However, after several attacks, Žižka failed to conquer the town and left. The biggest prosperity of the town came in 1521 – 1634 during the reign of Lords of Valdštejn, especially, after the fire in 1610, when the whole town burnt down. At that time, a famous Italian architect Carlo Valmadi was invited to the town to reconstruct all the important buildings in the Renaissance style. Dynasties like Lamboy, Kinský, Šlik, and the last dynasty owning the estate of Hostinné, Deym from Střítěž played their part in the history of the town.

Although the historical town centre was affected by many fires and floods, it offers many places of interest. A dean’s Holy Trinity Church with a 53 metres high tower is the most valuable town monument. It was established in the early Gothic style around the year 1270. In 1529, after the fire, it was rebuilt in the late Gothic style. Other construction work took place in 1552, when presbytery, sacristy, and a tower were rebuilt, and in 1572 when a nave was reconstructed. The following repair work of the church was made in 1877 by Fr. Schmoranz. Next to other objects of interest of the church interior there are precious gravestones of Valdštejn dynasty members preserved in the christening chapel. The church area is accessible through the baroque gate from the time around the year 1750. A deanery is situated in the neighbourhood of the church and its present appearance comes from the year 1578. The centre of the town is made up of a square surrounded by arcade houses from 16th – 18th century. A Renaissance town hall is located on its west side. Originally, it is a late Gothic building from the year 1525, rebuilt in the Renaissance style in 1591. The highest floor of the tower was reconstructed in the baroque style. In 1779, the tower clock was installed and the front of the tower was later decorated with a town’s emblem. In the tower corners two statues of giants in Roman armour stand. In the middle of the square there is an early baroque column dedicated to the Virgin Mary, which was built by Sibylla Lamboy from Bemelberg in 1678 as a protection of the town against the plague. The column is decorated with six statues of saints and gilded emblems of the Lamboys dynasty.

In the eastern suburb the grounds of a former Franciscan monastery with a baroque church of Immaculate Conception of Our Lady is to be found. It is a unique double nave building, which is a Central European curiosity. Today an antique art gallery with unique collection of copies of antique statues is situated in the monastery area. An annual celebration called Porciunkule, which is connected with the Franciscans, is the climax of the summer cultural life of the town.

Hostinné is well known for its long-time tradition of paper producing and processing. The first paper mill was founded by Kiesling brothers in 1835 in a building of the former castle. Three years later, a stationer František Lorenz bought it and joined paper production specialists Julius Eichmann and Gustav Lorenzo. Together they created a modern and prosperous company. Later, Julius Eichmann established his own paper mill in the lower part of the town, which became a basis for today’s modern company Krkonoše Paper Mill Inc.. Opening the railway line Velký Osek - Trutnov leading through Hostinné in 1869 - 1871 had great influence on the town’s industry development. In 1872 a gasworks and a steam brewery, in 1881 a starch factory and in 1884 a machine producing factory and ferrous foundry were built. In 1893 a silk mill and in 1894 an automatic weaving mill were built. Nowadays, paper, textile, and wood processing industries are developed in the town’s surroundings.

Today’s Hostinné is a town, where restoration projects of the town’s historical centre and the whole town’s infrastructure are realized. The town and its favourable location is a great place for summer and winter sports and recreation. Slopes of Krkonoše foothills offer excellent conditions for hiking and cycling with beautiful views of the highest peaks of the Krkonoše Mountains.

Cultural Monuments

Renaissance Town Hall – the building of the Renaissance town hall is situated on the west side of the square and was built on the foundations of two gothic houses. The first reference to the building comes from the middle of 15th century. In 1525 a town hall tower was built. After the fire in 1610 it was rebuilt by an Italian architect Carol Valmadin and decorated with sgraffito. In the front of the tower two statues of 4.8 metres high giants – Rolands in Roman armour stand. They were placed at the corner of the town hall tower in 1641. The tower clock was placed in the upper part of the tower in 1789. As the town hall was repeatedly rebuilt, it was changing its look. The last and the most important reconstruction was done in 1912, when badly damaged sgraffito was renovated. The tower facade is decorated with plastic town emblem from the year 1759. The tower concludes with a gallery and baroque dome with a lantern. The last reconstruction was performed in 2002. In the town hall arcade there is a window to the main hall of the house with a late gothic style portal. On a moulding of the entrance there are Czech and Silesian cubits, which commemorate the town’s rich business activities in the past. What is worth mentioning is a big plastic map of the Krkonoše Mountains on a scale of 1:25 000 from the year 1933 from R. Bienert from Liberec.

Plague Column – in the middle of the square there is an early baroque plague column, which was built in 1678. It was built by a wife of the estate owner Sibyla Lamboy as a protection of the town against the plague. It is a hexagonal column with statues of saints in its corners: St. Antonín, St. Jan Nepomucký, St. Roch, St. František, St. Sebastian, and St. Ignác. In an alcove in the lower part there is a statue of a sleeping St. Rozálie - a patron of the people ill with plague. On the pillar foot there are symbols of Lamboy dynasty and a figure of Our Maria protecting children with its gown. In the most upper part of the column there is also a statue of Our Lady. In 2000 a general reconstruction of this monument including an installation of display lighting and protective fence was done.

The Memorial to Emperor Josef II - on 24th June 1906 an unveiling of the emperor Josef II. memorial took place in front of a grammar school as a mark of respect to his reforms in the period of enlightened absolutism and as a reminder of his three visits to the town. The statue was created by a sculptor Jiří Leiska from Vienna. The statue is made of Carrara marble and the pedestal and the stairs are made of granite from Baveno in Italy. The statue stood in this place until 1921, then it was covered with wooden boarding and later removed as a symbol of no-more existing Habsburg Monarchy. However, the statue was not destroyed but transported to nearby Fořt. There it stood unnoticed for decades and in 1999 it was renovated and placed in its original place. The memorial is one of the few reminders of the Art Nouveau period in town.

Franciscan Monastery – in 1651, a poor Dutch owner of Hostinné – Vilém Lamboy intended to invite one of the religious orders to Hostinné. After the failure with the Jesuits he invited the Franciscans. They were given a small graveyard church from the year 1598 behind the lower town gate. They extended the place and built their own monastery. A footstone was placed in 1678 and the building was finished in 1684. Later the monastery was too small for all the pilgrims so they decided to extend it. In 1743, the northern wall was taken down and the second nave was built. Under the original nave there is a crypt with mortal remains of the Lamboy dynasty. Today’s double nave building is quite unique in Central Europe. Nowadays, there is a unique collection of plaster casts of antique statues from the year 1912 in the monastery.

Dean Church – dean Holy Trinity Church is the oldest stone building in town. The first reference to the church comes from the year 1270 in connection with its consecration. Another reference comes from the year 1345. The main parts of the church come from the reconstructions in the Renaissance period. The presbytery comes from the year 1552 and the nave from 1573. Some parts of the building are decorated with Gothic tracery. The pointed ceiling is decorated with symbols of the town owners and church patrons. The main altar in pseudo-Gothic style is from the year 1878. Side altars come from the barocco period and remind the stay of the Jesuits in town. The Renaissance pulpit comes from the year 1612 and is carried by Moses and Aaron. The organ was made in 1785 in Kutná Hora. In the side chapel of St. Jáchym there are precious gravestones of the members of the Czech dynasty of Valdštejn, who were the town owners since the year 1521. A 53 metres high tower with two bells from the years 1599 and 1612 is attached to the church.

Renaissance Presbytery – the building of presbytery in Hostinné was built in 1525. Its northern wall was built right in the town walls and the western wall was attached to the upper town gate. In 1555 the presbytery burnt down and in 1578 it was reconstructed in the Renaissance style. The year on the main entrance comes from the time of this reconstruction. After the following fire in 1610 another reconstruction was done by an Italian architect Carlo Valmadi. The facade of the presbytery was decorated with sgraffito. The presbytery area is surrounded by a baroque wall with a gate from the year 1750.