The reconstruction of museum buildings in Jaroměř is expected to be completed in February 2022

Jaroměř – The reconstruction of the historical Wenke House, which houses the city museum, is continuing in Jaroměř in the Náchod region. The repair also concerns the adjacent building no. 91, which originally served as the apartment of the merchant Wenke family. Rudolf Havelka, the museum director, said this to ČTK. The main building of the museum is closed. The museum also has exhibition spaces in the Josefov district, where a permanent exhibition is generally accessible.

The Wenke House was last reconstructed in the 1980s, while the adjacent house has never been renovated. The project budget, including the creation of a new exhibition, is around 27 million crowns, most of the costs will be covered by a grant.

"So far, there is no indication that the construction company RITUS will not meet the contractual deadline for the completion of the reconstruction of both buildings, that is, the end of February 2022. After the construction work is completed, a new permanent exhibition and additional minor furnishings will be installed," Havelka told ČTK. He hopes to reopen to the public in early summer 2022.

At the beginning of winter 2020, builders demolished non-original garages in the courtyard of the complex, and during the winter months, they removed non-original floor coverings and demolished non-original partitions in both buildings. All demolition work was completed in spring and cost more than one million crowns. Construction is currently underway, Havelka said to ČTK.

The museum stated that the new permanent exhibition will provide insight into the history of the international trade activities of the Wenke family, including a section on automobiles. Not only young visitors will be able to try making the famous shell products, which were among the original assortment of the Wenke department store.

"A Czech-Polish project of the Center for Traditional Crafts on Via Fabrilis will also be presented, which the city of Jaroměř is implementing together with the cities of Boleslawiec and Klodsko and from whose funds the extensive reconstruction is being financed," Havelka stated.

The main building of today's museum was commissioned by the entrepreneur Josef Wenke and built between 1910 and 1911 according to the design of architect Josef Gočár. The Wenke family established a department store there. Before the war, they fell into debt, and so the house passed to the city. The house is a national cultural monument.

The adjacent building no. 91 dates from the late 19th century, and the museum previously had storage and office facilities there. After reconstruction, part of this building will be opened to the public, an educational room will be created in the attic, and an exhibition on the paper production of the Wenke family will be established on the ground floor. The construction work and landscaping also concern the courtyard, which will also be made accessible to the public after repairs. Play elements for children, a gazebo, and a barrier-free ramp for wheelchair users will be created there.

The founder of the Jaroměř museum is the city of Jaroměř. The museum in Jaroměř was established in 1883 and is one of the oldest in the Czech Republic. The collections were first exhibited in the school building Na Ostrově in 1886. The museum obtained its own premises in 1946 in what was formerly the Wenke department store.