The repairs of the August Printer building in Litomyšl will continue

Litomyšl – The August Printing House Museum Society wants to continue the restoration of the historic August Printing House building in Litomyšl this year. With the help of grants from the city and the Ministry of Culture, the roof of a part of the building should be primarily repaired. There are also plans to install exterior windows on half of the building, said Michal Šimek from the Museum Society to ČTK.

"If everything goes according to plan, we should do a new facade on the large wing next year," Šimek stated. According to the society's vision, the exterior of the building should be restored by the end of 2024.

Litomyšl will provide 200,000 crowns for repairs this year and next year. These will serve as the city's contribution towards the restoration of the monument, for which the Ministry of Culture has promised a grant from the Urban Heritage Zone Regeneration Program. The society must seek additional funds on its own.

The August Printing House hosts occasional exhibitions and cultural events, and the interior is in good condition. In the past, for example, the society exhibited paintings by the Litomyšl native Julia Mařák for a day, and last year there was again a one-day exhibition of correspondence from the writer Božena Němcová concerning her collaboration with the Litomyšl publisher Antonín Augusta.

The first written mentions of the building date back to the end of the 15th century, but some parts of the house may be even older. The printing house has existed there since the 16th century. In the mid-19th century, it belonged to František Bergra, who passed it on to his son-in-law Antonín Augusta. Other family members continued operating it later. The building is a cultural monument.