
The Brewing House No. 10 by Karel Votlucka - Plzen, Czech Republic
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N 49° 44.737 E 013° 22.671
33U E 383136 N 5511610
The Brewing House at Frantiskanská Street No. 10 by Karel Votlucka
Waymark Code: WM19663
Location: Plzeňský kraj, Czechia
Date Posted: 12/04/2023
Views: 3
The Brewing House No. 10 is building of medieval origin, rebuilt in the Renaissance and significantly in the High Baroque. Its stonework is in Renaissance style, towards the end of the 18th century it was modified in Baroque style and in the 19th century a wing was attached to it, facing onto Bezrucova Street.
The city of Plzen was founded in the 13th century by the Czech king Charles IV. (
visit link) . The city was established along an important trade route connecting Bohemia with Bavaria in Germany and further with Western Europe. Today, Plzen is the fourth-largest city in the Czech Republic. The development of the city can be attributed to two locally produced commodities - the production of engineering technology by The Škoda Works (
visit link) and the brewing of the renowned Pilsner beer (
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Beer has been brewed in Central Europe since the early Middle Ages. With the development of craft production and the establishment of craft guilds, brewing beer became a lucrative enterprise. To brew beer, one needed permission - the right to brew. In Bohemia, the right to brew beer (known as brewing rights (
visit link) ) was not granted to individuals but was allocated to a house. Thus, brewing housess [CZ: právovárecné domy] emerged.
In Plzen alone, there were more than 250 such houses. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Plzen Municipal Brewery, Plzen native and painter Karel Votlucka (
visit link) was commissioned to create visual documentation of these houses. Between 1939 and 1942, a collection of 256 drawings depicting these houses was created. Approximately 120 drawings from this collection were then selected and published as a whole in a book titled "Stará Plzen ocima Karla Votlucky" (Old Plzen through the Eyes of Karel Votlucka).
The book is available for example directly in Pilsen in the library of the West Bohemian Museum (
visit link) .