“Peroutova” map of Ostrava celebrates an anniversary
This year marks the 90th anniversary since the first detailed orientation map of the so-called Great Ostrava appeared on the shelves of Adolf Perout's bookstore in Moravian Ostrava. This large city was formed in 1924 by the merger of Moravian Ostrava with Přívoz, Mariánské Hory, Nová Ves, Vítkovice, Zábřeh, and Hrabůvka. Orientation was indeed a significant problem for its residents. Each of the merged municipalities had its own street naming conventions, which were left in place. In Great Ostrava, for example, there existed several streets named Bezručová, Smetanová, Palackého, Havlíčková, but also Nemocniční, Hřbitovní, Tovární, etc. It is understandable that postal carriers in those days had their work cut out for them; however, ordinary citizens could easily end up in a completely different city district when trying to find a desired address. It wasn't until 1931-1932 that a comprehensive renaming of streets took place, which eliminated these duplications, and the new orientation map became an absolutely essential tool.
The initiator and publisher of the map was Adolf Perout (* January 1, 1887, Šebrov-Kateřina, Blansko District – † March 31, 1959, Ostrava), the owner of a renowned bookstore, antique shop, and music shop on Zámecká Street in Moravian Ostrava, which he had been operating since 1912. The map is still unofficially referred to as "Perout's" after him.
In contrast, the actual author and map drawer, although highly regarded in his time as a skilled cartographer and mathematician, is today a virtually unknown figure; Ing. Leopold Kohut (* November 10, 1886, Silesian Ostrava – † October 21, 1952, there), worked as a city official in the service of the Regulatory Board of Ostrava from 1924, an organization tasked with urbanistically unifying the future development in both the territory of Great Ostrava and the eight neighboring Silesian municipalities that today also belong to Ostrava. As an interesting detail, it can be noted that he likely contributed to the preparation of materials for renaming the streets in the 1930s, but later also to another major renaming that followed after 1945.
The map, officially titled "Moravian Ostrava. Overview Map of the City and Merged Towns and the Immediate Surroundings," was created at a scale of 1:10,000, measuring 64×93 cm, and primarily covered the area of the seven merged municipalities mentioned above. However, the author also captured the peripheral parts of Hrušov, Muglinov, Silesian Ostrava, Kunčičky, and Kunčice. His work in the Regulatory Board not only ensured excellent knowledge of the Ostrava terrain but also contributed to a certain peculiarity. Ing. Kohut did not only depict the existing situation in the plan but also proposed future developments in the area of the city, which aimed to integrate the separated Ostrava municipalities, previously divided by vast vacant lands, into one cohesive whole.
In addition, the map contained an enormous amount of other details; among other things, it color-coded the usage of all vacant and built-up areas, described public buildings in detail as well as all industrial sites. It captured the network of mining sidings, mining railways, as well as the local tram transport (including distinguishing between regular and on-demand stops). And - which was the primary purpose - it, of course, provided new street names.
An integral part of the plan was a slim booklet containing lists of all current streets, renamed streets, and newly named streets, supplemented by a brief directory of offices, institutions, shops, and businesses, including commercial advertising.
The map is currently stored in several original copies in the Archive of the City of Ostrava. However, it is also available to interested parties electronically in the digital research room at the address https://badatelna.ostrava.cz/vademecum/permalink?xid=248F8FC3A31711E9B75D000C29D8B843&scan=a2ec7517cceb403d8931048f76a69f22.
The initiator and publisher of the map was Adolf Perout (* January 1, 1887, Šebrov-Kateřina, Blansko District – † March 31, 1959, Ostrava), the owner of a renowned bookstore, antique shop, and music shop on Zámecká Street in Moravian Ostrava, which he had been operating since 1912. The map is still unofficially referred to as "Perout's" after him.
In contrast, the actual author and map drawer, although highly regarded in his time as a skilled cartographer and mathematician, is today a virtually unknown figure; Ing. Leopold Kohut (* November 10, 1886, Silesian Ostrava – † October 21, 1952, there), worked as a city official in the service of the Regulatory Board of Ostrava from 1924, an organization tasked with urbanistically unifying the future development in both the territory of Great Ostrava and the eight neighboring Silesian municipalities that today also belong to Ostrava. As an interesting detail, it can be noted that he likely contributed to the preparation of materials for renaming the streets in the 1930s, but later also to another major renaming that followed after 1945.
The map, officially titled "Moravian Ostrava. Overview Map of the City and Merged Towns and the Immediate Surroundings," was created at a scale of 1:10,000, measuring 64×93 cm, and primarily covered the area of the seven merged municipalities mentioned above. However, the author also captured the peripheral parts of Hrušov, Muglinov, Silesian Ostrava, Kunčičky, and Kunčice. His work in the Regulatory Board not only ensured excellent knowledge of the Ostrava terrain but also contributed to a certain peculiarity. Ing. Kohut did not only depict the existing situation in the plan but also proposed future developments in the area of the city, which aimed to integrate the separated Ostrava municipalities, previously divided by vast vacant lands, into one cohesive whole.
In addition, the map contained an enormous amount of other details; among other things, it color-coded the usage of all vacant and built-up areas, described public buildings in detail as well as all industrial sites. It captured the network of mining sidings, mining railways, as well as the local tram transport (including distinguishing between regular and on-demand stops). And - which was the primary purpose - it, of course, provided new street names.
An integral part of the plan was a slim booklet containing lists of all current streets, renamed streets, and newly named streets, supplemented by a brief directory of offices, institutions, shops, and businesses, including commercial advertising.
The map is currently stored in several original copies in the Archive of the City of Ostrava. However, it is also available to interested parties electronically in the digital research room at the address https://badatelna.ostrava.cz/vademecum/permalink?xid=248F8FC3A31711E9B75D000C29D8B843&scan=a2ec7517cceb403d8931048f76a69f22.
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