Petr Bezruč Culture House

In the first half of the 19th century the Chamber of Business and Commerce was established in Opava with the objective to support merchants and traders in Silesia. In 1906 a decision was made to build a new representative building that would serve as the seat of the Chamber. As the best location was chosen the so called Glacis, a circular road with public buildings inspired by the Ringstrasse in Vienna and designed by the former town architect Eduard Labitzký.

Viennese architects Oskar Czep, Siegfried Kramer, Rudolf Sowa and Arnold Karplus entered the public tender. The winning project of a palace called Emma was submitted by a native from Krnov, Leopold Bauer, who later designed the department store Breda & Weinstein and St. Hedwig’s Church. The Viennese architect and student of Carl Hasenauer and Otto Wagner is also the author of the park surrounding the building, and the building interior including lights, ornamental grilles and fittings. The elegant neoclassical house was built in the years 1908–1910 by Alois Geldner’s construction company. The building was one of the most modern and utalitarian public buildings in the monarchy.

The two-wing building with a robust T ground plan and mansard roof measures 33 x 33 meters. The Classical facade facing the circular road has three tall windows and four Tuscan pillars with above life-size sculptures of men symbolizing crafts. The sculptures as well as sixteen sandstone reliefs on the facade depicting children allegorizing Silesian towns were made by Josef Obeth. There used to be captions with names of the towns under the reliefs, but they were removed during World War II. The front door of the building is covered in a metal sheet richly adorned with reliefs made by a prominent Viennese sculptor and architect Gustav Gurschner. The upper window panes of the three front windows feature stained glass designed by Adolf Zdrazila from Opava. They were made in a specialized workshop of Richard Schlein from Hrádek. The windows depict nine women symbolizing typical Silesian crafts.

The heart of the three-storey building is a central hall with a three-part staircase that provides access to all parts of the building. The hall is richly decorated with stucco by Adolf Kohler. In charge of the interior decorations were also blacksmiths Franz Pohl and Ludvík Blucha, and stonemason’s shop Kubitschek & Binder. The chandeliers were made by the company Melzer & Neuhardt from Vienna.

The Chamber of Business and Commerce had its seat in the building until it was dissolved in 1949. The house was then nationalized and turned into Petr Bezruč Culture House. At the beginning of the millenium the building underwent a trhee-part reconstruction. On the ground floor there are offices and the town central library with a reading room. Upstairs there is a reception hall and an anteroom to the organ hall, where cultural events as well as wedding ceremonies are held.