Jaroměř reopened the national cultural monument Wenk House after renovation for 30 million CZK

Jaroměř - The town of Jaroměř in the Náchod region today ceremoniously opened the Wenk Department Store after nearly three years of reconstruction, which houses the town museum. The restoration of the modernist building from 1911, which has been a national cultural monument since 2017, cost 30 million crowns, including equipment. Part of the investment also included the renovation of the neighboring building, significantly expanding the exhibition space of the museum.

Wenk's House, which was built according to the design of architect Josef Gočár, is one of the significant monuments of modern European architecture. The project of the reconstruction was authored by architect David Vávra. "The house has been successfully returned to its original state. For example, we managed to position some shelves based on period photographs as they appeared in 1911," said mayor Jan Borůvka (ANO) to ČTK.

Thanks to the reconstruction, the museum's spaces have been expanded with a lecture hall, and the attic has been modified for holding workshops. A gazebo with a cubist sandbox for children has been created in the garden. The original freight elevator is again in operation. The museum has moved its depository to the basement, which previously served as a civil defense shelter. This has multiplied the exhibition spaces. The builders also restored the floors, heating, and network installations.

"Additionally, we have obtained two prestigious spaces that will allow us to organize exhibitions while maintaining permanent exhibits. The original unpreserved furnishings were restored according to period photographs. The metal structures of the main facade were also restored," said the museum director and initiator of the reconstruction, Rudolf Havelka.

Today, the museum opened the exhibition "Sculpture in Clay," dedicated to 30 years of ceramic studio Jarmila Tyrnerová in Kohoutov near Dvůr Králové. The exhibition will last until May 21. City representatives also unveiled a memorial plaque today in the building for former museum director Pavel Mertlík, who was behind the reconstruction of Wenk's House in the 1980s.

The museum's renovation was funded by the city from approximately 80 percent of European grants from a cross-border project with partner Polish cities Bolesławiec and Kłodzko. The rest of the costs were covered from the city's own budget and grants from the state and the Hradec Králové Region.

The main building of today's museum, with a functionalist reinforced concrete and glass-steel structure, was built before the First World War by businessman Josef Wenke as a department store. At the time, it was the largest department store in northeastern Bohemia. After the company's bankruptcy, the building was sold at auction in 1938, and the town of Jaroměř acquired it in 1946. The museum has been housed in the building since 1947. The basement was damaged by a century-old flood in 2000.

The neighboring building next to Wenk's House dates back to the late 19th century. Before the renovation, the museum had depositories and administrative facilities in it. After the renovation, part of the building has been opened to the public; a classroom has been created from the attic, and on the ground floor, there is an exhibition focused on the paper manufacturing of the Wenk family.

In recent years, museums in Hořice and Hradec Králové in the Hradec Králové Region have also undergone renovations. Hořice in the Jičín region opened a renovated museum in 2019 with a new exhibition on the extraction, processing, and use of sandstone. The renovation of the neo-Renaissance museum building from 1877 cost 28 million crowns. In 2019, the city of Hradec Králové completed the renovation of the East Bohemia Museum. The restoration of the valuable Art Nouveau building, which is a national cultural monument, cost 100 million crowns.