To restore the town hall, nearly one hundred million crowns were invested in Jablonec nad Nisou

Jablonec nad Nisou - Nearly one hundred million crowns have been invested in the restoration of the functionalist town hall in Jablonec nad Nisou since 2011, which this year celebrates 90 years since its commissioning. Recently, work on the restoration of the mayor's office has been completed, which has returned to its original form from the 1930s based on period photographs; a model office for an official has also been created in the tower with original furniture. The building will be opened to the public on European Heritage Day on Saturday, September 16, spokeswoman for the city hall Jana Fričová said today.

According to secretary Marek Řeháček, they want to celebrate the work of the officials who have served the public interest in the building for 90 years with the retro office in the tower. "We managed to find many original artifacts that have been preserved in the building in various ways since the 30s. We have an original typewriter here, we have a writing desk and an official cabinet, and we complemented it with period artifacts so that the public can see how the office was run not so long ago," added the secretary.

The town hall in Jablonec is an important building of Czechoslovak interwar architecture and is the most significant and well-known work of the Liberec architect Karel Winter. "In November 1928, the city announced an architectural competition for the construction, to which an incredible 177 architects and collectives from all over Central Europe applied. The jury did not select a winner at that time, but the second in line was the proposal by Liberec architect Winter, which was then realized," said Řeháček. The city then paid 22 million crowns for the construction, which would be over one billion crowns in today's prices, according to him.

The town hall building is gradually returning to the form it had in the 1930s, with the façade of the building repaired, including the windows and the tower; the most visible changes have taken place in the meeting rooms. "We removed the modern laminate paneling that covered some original, now restored, wooden elements," noted Řeháček. The halls now have new parquet floors due to woodworm damage, but workers discovered, for example, the original sliding doors under the paneling that separated the main hall from the neighboring lounge. The laminate from the 1970s also hid the original oval table from hall 201.

However, not everything has been preserved in the building; missing elements like tables or chairs, as well as lighting, have been replaced with replicas made according to Winter's original designs. The vestibule of the town hall is adorned with lamps based on the architect's original designs, for which there was no money at the time of construction. "We have a great ambition to modify the spaces of the ceremony hall, which reflect the renovations from the 1990s. We would like to return it to the design of the 1930s; this is a bit of a problem because there used to be a restaurant there, but documentation and photographs have been preserved, so I think we can take inspiration from that," said the secretary.

The city leadership is striving to include the town hall on the list of national cultural monuments. For visitors who will visit the town hall on Saturday, September 16, and climb the tower, they have prepared a commemorative stamp. "It consists of the original historical Czech-German stamp from the time of the town hall's establishment, and there is also a facsimile of the signature of the town hall's creator, architect Karel Winter," added Řeháček. On the occasion of European Heritage Day, in addition to the Jablonec town hall, another 17 sites will open to the public, including churches, the restored Petřín lookout tower, and Kantor's villa.