Pardubice

In 1295 in the place of today’s Pardubice, the pope Bonifác confirmed the origin of the monastery of the Knights of the Red Cross and St. Bartholomew’s Church. In 1340 a small town was in the property of the lords of Pardubice. The first Prague archbishop, mentor and friend of Charles IV Ernest of Pardubice came from this family. In 1359 he founded the Annunciation of Our Lady’s Church in Pardubice.

The biggest prosperity came in the 16^th century when Pardubice became the property of Vilém of Pernštejn. He was one of the most powerful Czech noblemen. At that time he had an old water castle rebuilt into the Gothic chateau. He also decided about the character of the construction of the town. In 1510 he had St. John the Baptist’s Church built for the Utraquist believers. His sons continued building the chateau in the Renaissance style. It became the architectural specificity of well preserved transition between Gothic and Renaissance styles. The Green Tower from 1507 is a part of the fortification. In that time St. Bartholomew’s Church was also repaired. After a big fire in 1538 the square with mostly Renaissance houses was newly built.

In the 2^nd half of the 16^th century Pardubice became a property of the Royal Chamber. It however meant the beginning of its slow decline. In the 17^th and 18^th centuries wars and fires played their role, too. The 19^th century finally brought new prosperity of the town especially thanks to introducing of the railway in 1845. Pardubice became a traffic crossroad, industry and culture life began to develop. In 1874 the first horse races took place here – the Great Pardubice Steeplechase. At the end of the 19^th century the synagogue was built according to father and son Schmoranzs’ design. The building survived war years; in the end of the 1950^s it was demolished.

In 1911 Pardubice aviator Jan Kašpar flew from Pardubice to Prague for the first time. In the 1920^s architect Pavel Janák built a crematorium in an Art-deco style.

The war years affected Pardubice and its surroundings very seriously. In June 1942 a village Ležáky was burned as a reprisal for the assassination of Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich. The Czech patriots suffered and they were executed in the famed Zámeček (Small chateau) in Pardubice. Ležáky is a national cultural monument. Nowadays, after years of stagnation Pardubice is a lively town with respect to its history. An old part of the town together with the chateau has been a Historic Town Reserve since 1964.

The beginnings of Pardubice Protestant congregation date back to the last decade of the 19^th century when a preaching station of the Protestant congregation in Dvakačovice was founded in Pardubice. Soon after, there came a decision to build a new church in a Neo-Renaissance style. A building site was bought and the church began to grow in the corner of Sladkovského and Hronovická Street. Prague builder Matěj Blecha was an author of the design. On the 29^th of June 1897 the church was solemnly consecrated. The congregation of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren (ECCB) was established in 1920. The Second World War hit the calm life of the congregation very cruelly. Some members of the congregation died in the concentration camps or they were executed in “Small chateau“ in Pardubice. In 1944 some congregation members became the victims of the air-raid.

In the post war era the effort of the congregation was focused except congregation and worship work on obtaining a rectory and repair of the church. Nowadays, it is a pleasure to look at the whole prayer room, a wooden pulpit in the front and the Lord’s table. In 1952 the new organ was acquired. The interior of the church was modified in the 1960^s and later also in 2004. In the rectory in Sladkovského Street there is a nice congregation hall and a flat for preacher. In the recent years the congregation garden was arranged purposefully and beautifully, indeed.