Hradec Králové Region has a building permit for Škroup's House, preparing a call for its use

Hradec Králové - The Hradec Králové Region has obtained a building permit and is ready to renovate Škroup's house in Osice for about 40 million crowns. Martina Svatoňová from the governor's office told ČTK today. The region, which owns the building, received it as a gift from Osice at the end of 2018. The aim is to transform the neglected building into a multifunctional facility designated for culture, education, and sports. The facility consists of a hall, an anteroom, two rooms on the ground floor, and three rooms on the first floor.

"The region is currently preparing an open call for its use, to which municipalities, Local Action Groups, non-profit organizations, and similar entities will be able to apply with their projects. The region will then decide on the potential initiation of the investment," Svatoňová told ČTK.

Škroup's house, designed by architect Jindřich Smetana in the interwar modern style, served its purpose until 1951. It hosted theater performances, dance parties, and balls, and local schoolchildren and Sokol members went there to practice. Until 1966, a cinema operated in the building, and it also housed a post office, library, barber shop, and a clubhouse for the Socialist Youth Union.

Composer and conductor Škroup was born in Osice in 1801. He worked at the Estates Theatre in Prague until about the mid-19th century. He spent the last two years of his life at the Rotterdam opera. Škroup's song "Kde domov můj" was first performed in Josef Kajetán Tyl's play "Fidlovačka aneb Žádný hněv a žádná rvačka," and in 1918 it was enacted as the national anthem.