Velká Bíteš (formerly Velká Byteš) is a town in Moravia in the
district of Žďár nad Sázavou, in the eastern part of the
Bohemian-Moravian Highlands, approximately 30 km from the Moravian
metropolis of Brno. The city is part of the Vysočina Region and is
one of the micro-regional centers. Approximately 5,200 inhabitants
live here.
The neighboring villages of the seat are Ruda,
Vlkov, Stanoviště, Svatoslav, Katov, Březské, Křoví, Deblín, Zálesná
Zhoř, Přibyslavice, Čikov, Krokočín, Hluboké, Jinošov, Jasenice,
Pucov, Záblatí, Nové Sady and Tasov.
The Czech name Bíteš (originally masculine) was derived from a
personal name ending in -ech. Which name it was is not clear due to the
imperfect spelling of medieval records. It could be the name Vítech, as
a document from 1266 Vitis (i.e. Víteš; the personal name Vítech would
be the suffix -ech extended name Vít, a domestic form of names such as
Vítoslav or Vítorad) could show, or the name Bytech, as indicated by
written documents from 14th to 17th centuries, in which there is Byteš
(the personal name Bytech would be the suffix -ech extended name Byt,
the domestic form of the names Radobyt, Chotěbyt, etc.). The initial
form of the local name (whatever it was) was probably influenced by the
existence of a similar personal name Bít. The meaning of the Czech local
name was "Vítech's/Bytech's property". The epithet Velká appears in
sources from the first quarter of the 16th century. The current name
Velká Bíteš comes from 1924, when the definitive names of municipalities
were published in the Lexicon of Municipalities of the Czechoslovak
Republic. Until then, the city was called Velká Byteš. The change was
accompanied by great displeasure of the population, which also provoked
a formal protest (without success). Until then, Byteš was also part of
the listed words after b.
In German, the name Heinrichs
("Jindřich's") was used at first, which was derived from the name of
Margrave Vladislav Jindřich. After the capture of the city by the
Hussites, it ceased to be used, and the phonetic and spelling variant of
the Czech name was used in German since then.
Form of the name in
written sources: Bytes, Heinrichs (1240), Bytess, Heinrichs (1259),
Vitis (1266), Heinrichs (1346), Bytesch (1379), Bithess (1386), Bytess
(1498), from Welike Bytesse (1522) ), from Welike Bijtesse (1531),
Bytesch (1633), Gross Bittesch (1720, 1755), Gross Bitesch, Biteš Welká
(1846), Gross Bittesch, Velká Byteš (1872), Velká Biteš (1881), Velká
Bíteš (1924 ).
Velká Bíteš was founded in the first half of the 13th century,
probably as a feudal town on the site of an earlier settlement or court.
Around the year 1250, however, it came under the lordship's
administration. That is probably why it was just a small town in the
middle of the 14th century, but in the seventies of the 14th century it
turned into a city under the temporary margrave administration. Velká
Bíteš achieved full municipal rights in 1408, when it had approximately
850 inhabitants. It experienced further development after the Hussite
Wars from the middle of the 15th century, which peaked at the beginning
of the 16th century. Apparently, the town already had a population of
1,200 at that time. During the Thirty Years' War, almost half of it was
destroyed. The post-war recovery was slow and lasted until the middle of
the 18th century.
From the end of the 14th century until the
abolition of serfdom in 1848, Velká Bíteš used to be the only town on
the estate, while the lordship was based in Náměšt nad Oslavou. It meant
that Bíteš enjoyed greater independence than was customary for lordly
towns, but lordly business was locally tied to its seat. Thus, Velká
Bíteš only experienced the industrial revolution in the middle of the
20th century with the establishment of the technically demanding company
První Brnoské strojírny. At that time it had approximately 1,800
inhabitants, now over five thousand.
The local hospitality has
deep roots in the past. It is permanently tied to long-distance roads
and agricultural background. The creation of Velká Bíteš was already
connected with the crossroads of long-distance roads, and the Bíteš
people already in the Middle Ages obtained privileges linked to this
fact, such as, for example, the right to a parcel belonging to 33 houses
on the square. The current era also confirms the viability of the
indicated assumptions, which are personified by the D1 Prague - Brno
highway.
In the years 1990–1998, Josef Šmídek worked as mayor, in
the years 1998–2010 Mgr. Miroslav Báňa, and since 2010 this function has
been performed by Ing. Milan Vlcek.
House No. 117, Hrnčířská ul.
House No. 117 in Hrnčířská street opposite the church used to be a
potter's yard. It has been owned by the Cistercians of Old Brno since
the Middle Ages, and in the years 1688–1715 it was the manor of the
Collalts. Subsequently, the city bought it. After the city's efforts
with its own management, the house continued to serve as an expanded
school from 1790, to which a rear section was added in 1877.
The
basic art school was founded in June 1950. Since 2004, it has been a
subsidized organization of the city of Velká Bíteš, and its total
capacity allowed by the Ministry of Education and Culture is 300 pupils.
The school prepares pupils for future amateur and professional
practice - for exams for further study at conservatories, music
gymnasiums or schools of art and pedagogy.
Rumors
One day the
shepherdess saw that one of her bulls and one of her sows were still
digging in the same place, and she could not drive them away. So she
went to see the place and found that they had dug up a bell that was
completely filled with betel. A golden monstrance was hidden in the
millet. The bell was hung in the church of St. John the Baptist, but his
voice was so deafening that a hole had to be drilled in it and filled
with lead to muffle the sound of the bell. When the bell is rung, it is
said to call out: "The pig carved me, the buck dug me up, the virgin
found me!" The found monstrance is said to be so valuable that when the
entire town is destroyed, the residents sell it to rebuild it. These
bells were hidden because at that time the Thirty Years' War was raging
and there were Swedish troops in our territory who stole the bells,
melted them and cast weapons from them. In order to preserve these
precious bells, they were hidden in the place "U Antoníček", where,
according to legend, they were later found by this shepherdess.
Culture club of the city of Velké Bíteš
The Culture Club and
Information Center is located at Masaryk Square 5. For the citizens of
the city, it organizes concerts, entertainment, children's events and
theater performances in the cultural center, as well as talks and
exhibitions in the exhibition hall. In the summer months, the
Cinematograf invites the Čadík brothers to the square. In the month of
September, it sponsors the largest event of the year, the "Traditional
Bíteš Feast", whose roots date back to the 1920s. The main actors are
the feast characters, the magistrate and the magistrate, the aldermen,
the scribe and especially the chasa, who have been preparing the feasts
for a long time before them. Part of the main feast program is an
inherent Moravian and Czech conversation, the word of the scribe and a
parade of brass and dulcimer musicians not only on the main stage, but
also in the feast cellars and mázhauses. The character of the feasts is
co-shaped by the festival of local and cross-country folklore groups
"Meeting on Podhoráck". Cellars full of delicacies and good wine,
burčak, music of all kinds, including dulcimer, and an amusement park,
all this creates an inimitable atmosphere, which is why thousands of
people visit Velka Bíteš.
Tourist information center
The
Tourist Information Center on Masaryk Square is a member of the
professional organization A.T.I.C. CR. It provides visitors with
information about events in the city, culture, monuments. It offers for
purchase tourist maps and cycle maps of the Bítešsko region and adjacent
regions, informative brochures, postcards, pictures and book
publications relating to Velká Bíteš and its surroundings, tourist
stamps, ceramics, etc. The information center provides free internet,
provides advance ticket sales for cultural and social events events,
mediates accommodation and offers the services of the travel agency CK
REKO.
Recreation area "Letná"
The excursion forest park
Františkov, called Letná since 1900, was "opened" in 1879. At that time,
under the leadership of the townspeople Seka and Singra, the area was
improved, on which the excursion building was built later in 1899. In
its beginnings, this area called the wheel was lined with linden trees,
under which tables and benches were planted, and in the middle was a
solitary linden tree. Larch trees bordered the upper bank. The place was
thus intended for dancing and as a gathering place for the people.
In 1914, the space was enriched with a music pavilion. The summer
house was built by the Pokrok association and was looked after by other
associations, such as the Okrašlavací spolek, firefighters and falcons.
After 1918, the Pokrok association ceased to exist and the ownership
rights of the flight facilities passed to the local Sokol Gymnasium.
During their administration, Letná used to be the most used. On Sunday
afternoons, a tenant with a pub concession provided a Bíteš beer tap and
also offered sodas, sausages and rolls. In 1938, one of the social
culminations of Letná was the meeting of the Sokols-Yugoslavs with Sokol
members from Biteš as part of their visit to the All-Sokol Gathering in
Prague.
After Sokol's activities ceased in 1941, the building was
locked and was not cared for much even after the war. After the demise
of Sokol, ownership of the building passed to the national committee
(i.e. the city of Velká Bíteš), which had it rebuilt for housing
purposes in 1968. The effort to return the original purpose of the
building began in 1989, when the organization of Nature Protectors took
over the building from the Municipal National Committee. However, the
building was rebuilt only after the city entrusted it to the management
of the Forests of the City of Velké Bíteš in 2006. Since 2012, it has
been managed by the Information Center and the Culture Club and is still
owned by the city.
The history of the cultural center in Velká
Bíteš
The intention to build a new cultural center in the city
appeared after the Second World War. The former distillery was out of
service, only larger social events could take place in the falconry, the
former eagle's loft was given new space, and the possibilities ended
with outdoor events at Letná. However, the plan was realized only after
the trade union leadership at the Prague headquarters was obtained for
it. And so, in April 1975, approval for the project was granted by the
council of the District National Committee (ONV), the project was
developed by the Stavba Production Cooperative, Havlíčkův Brod,
construction began as part of Action Z in October 1976. Although the
Municipal National Committee (MěstNV) became the investor in the
construction , the largest financial amount was delivered by První
Brno-ská strojírna Velká Bíteš (PBS). She also entrusted her employee
Jaromír Krupička with the technical management of the construction and
Josef Ťápal, director of the Race Club of the Revolutionary Trade Union
Movement (ROH) PBS, with providing part-time workers.
The work
was financed from combined funds from the PBS plant, from ROH and from
the ONV and MěstNV Reserves and Development Fund. Only central heating,
electrical installations and carpentry were carried out in the
subcontracts. The bricks came from the municipal brickyard. Professional
construction, masonry, and tiling work was provided by Socialist Labor
Brigades from the PBS plant and other individual centers. All plants,
establishments, schools, trade and service workers, all social and
interest organizations of the political National Front (NF) participated
in the construction. More than 128,000 free temporary hours were worked.
The cultural center was inaugurated on May 8, 1980, on the 35th
anniversary of the liberation of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Army. Its
goal was to "educate workers in the spirit of active, conscious builders
of a socialist society" according to the principle "of bringing people
together in a collective for active, diverse and creative cultural,
educational and educational work". For this purpose, a hall for 600
seated spectators, a large clubhouse for 120 participants, a stage
equipped with equipment from Theater Services – Martin, a restaurant for
80 guests, accommodation with eight rooms, club rooms, etc., were set up
in the cultural building. Seven crystal chandeliers, supplied by the
national enterprise Lustry from Kamenické Šenov, became an interesting
feature.
The groups Progres from II. planets and Lenka
Vrousínková with the GES group. The number of the following events held
here to date is counted in the tens of thousands. The building continues
to belong to the City of Velké Bíteš and is operated by the grant
organization of the city of Velké Bíteš, the Information Center and
Culture Club. The original concept of the cultural center was also
confirmed by its overhaul in 2011-2012. Currently, the cultural house
offers a full-fledged facility for organizing cultural and social events
incl. accommodation.
City Museum
The museum was founded in
1925, and its creation has been advocated since the beginning of the
20th century. especially the teacher and historian Jan Tiray
(1853–1925). It gradually replaced rooms in school buildings, then in
the town hall, and in 1957 it moved to the former prayer hall of the
Fraternal Unity adapted for the museum, where it remains to this day.
In the main exhibition hall of the museum, there is a local history
exposition, focusing on the history of Velká Bíteš. The first mentions
of Velká Bíteš, Velká Bíteš through the city, Hrdelní court, markets,
weights and measures, crafts in Velká Bíteš, Jednota bratrská and Karel
st. from Žerotín or the last owners of the manor estate – the Haugwitz
family.
The exhibition is complemented by thematic exhibitions
with regard to the anniversary of the city of Velké Bíteš, individual
monuments, events or personalities active in the city.
In 2007,
the museum opened another exhibition space intended primarily for
short-term exhibitions of paintings, photographs or panel exhibitions.
The exhibitions held so far in this space were of a different nature.
From artistic photographs, through natural science, history, modern art
to ethnography.
City Library
Everyone can use the municipal
libraries and their services in Velká Bíteš. The library offers a
selection of beautiful, scientific and regional literature, newspapers
and magazines. For the general public, not only from the region, the
Velkóbítešska library organizes a number of events. Among the most
frequent activities are regular cultural and educational programs for
children not only from kindergartens and elementary schools. For adults,
the library organizes lectures and discussions on various topics. The
library owns approximately 14,000 volumes and registers over 600
readers.
History of the library
The first mention of the
library in Velká Bíteš can be found in the local chronicle in 1872. In
this year, the Svatopluk reading association was founded, which became
the basis of the public library. The library already had 300 books at
the beginning of the 20th century, which were stored in cupboards in the
local school. The library was professionalized in 1953 and served as a
district library until the Velká Bíteš district was abolished in the
1960s. In those years, when the district was abolished, the library
falls under the District Library in Žďár nad Sázavou until 1993, when it
becomes an organizational component of the city of Velká Bíteš.
The Bíteš Music Semicircle
The Bíteš music half-circle is a civic
association that has set itself the goal of making beautiful music
accessible to the inhabitants of the Greater Bíteš region. In the
nineties, there was a complete vacuum in the field of classical music in
the Bíteš region. Founded in autumn 1997, the Bíteš Music Half Circle
saved citizens the inconvenience of traveling to concerts in Brno,
Prague and other cities. It organizes 7 regular concerts and at least
two extraordinary ones every year.
The dramaturgy of individual
seasons offers listeners a variety of genres and interpretations. Fans
of string and wind instruments, pianists, and lovers of solo and choral
singing will be "on their own". During their existence, they also heard
the harp, dulcimer and xylophone. The performers are among the
outstanding musical personalities known to Europe and the whole world:
Guarneri Trio, Smetanova Trio, Czech Trio, Janáček Quartet, Wihan
Quartet, violinist Pavel Šporcl, guitarist Štěpán Rak, violinist
František Novotný, Ondřej Havelka, pianist Serguei Milstein – France,
cellist Markus Nyikos – Switzerland, violinist Hana Kotková –
Switzerland, cellist Michaela Fukačová – Denmark and others. Radovan
Lukavský, Alfred Strejček and Jitka Molavcová also performed several
times.
The Bíteš music half-circle closely cooperates with the Basic Art
School. Her pupils start most of the concerts with their performances.
The protagonists almost always comment favorably on the large attendance
of young listeners
Landmarks
Church of St. John the Baptist
The statue of St. John of Nepomuk, the town hall and two fountains on
Masaryk Square
School (former swimming pool yard)
Linden of
freedom
Bust of Tomáš Garrigu Masaryk on a column in front of the
town hall
Memorial plaque to Josef Robotko on Masaryk Square
Senior club
There is a senior club in the city, which meets once a
month in the cultural center. Seniors are provided with various events
within the club, such as walks, tours, swimming, excursions, bicycle
tours or discussions with famous personalities.