The village of Vanovice is located seven kilometres north of Boskovice, in the region called Malá Haná, 430 metres above sea level. Eastwards, there is the Drahanská Highlands tip. The place with the population of over 500 people now was first mentioned in a deed of King Vladislav II in 1176. The history of Vanovice commemorates the originally Gothic St. Wenceslas’ Church from the 15th century which used to be a fort in the past. From 1540 till the Battle of the White Mountain, it belonged to the Protestants, living in the area in large numbers, but in 1622 it was taken over by the Catholics. The church burnt out in the late 17th century and was restored later.
Vanovice is dominated by a Protestant church with two towers. When the Toleration Patent was issued, the Protestants quickly started to choose the Reformed confession – it was 35 families in Vanovice. In 1783 a congregation was officially established as well as the first house of prayer, “poor, shabby, made in haste“, opened in February 1783. Soon it became insufficient. The demand for building a new house of prayer came in 1826, the construction itself, though, despite of numerous interventions, was delayed by authorities and was not allowed to start until 1839. It took five years to build this monumental house of prayer. Its consecration on the 11th of August 1844 became a great Protestant event. The house of prayer, though, lacked towers. They could not be built until the Protestant Patent was issued – then two were annexed to the Neo-Romanesque house of prayer. Since it was not possible to provide the church with bells, a special device started being used instead from 1843 – it consisted of three steel horseshoe bars hit by wooden mauls. The rectory was built and later repaired simultaneously with the original house of prayer.
The nearby town of Boskovice, in spite of its Protestant tradition, used to be a mere preaching station of Vanovice from 1924. Its members went regularly to the Vanovice church regardless the distance. Despite this and thanks to both Kamil Nagy, a Vanovice minister, supporting the effort to built their own church, as well as due to the courage of the members of the Boskovice preaching station, the church began to be built according to Karel Fabiánek’s project in the war year of 1940. This functionalist church was opened on the 29th of June, 1941 when the ceremonial worship was served here in the presence of prominent representatives of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren. Eleven years later, the independent congregation was established on the 1st of April, 1952.
Boskovice is an interesting town with many historical sights. The Protestant church is definitely worth seeing – it has been listed among cultural monuments since 1997.