St Prokop’s Church

The oldest church building in Březové Hory was the wooden St Prokop’s bell tower, situated on the summit of Březová hora. It stood here as early as the 16th century. A very valuable artefact from this period is the original bell from 1580, cast by the Prague bell-maker Brikc from Cimperk. The bell is now on display at the Příbram Mining Museum in Březové Hory.

In 1709, a windstorm damaged the belfry. Thanks to the assistance of the Březové Hory Mining Guild, it was soon repaired. Even then, efforts were already gaining momentum to replace this modest belfry with a small stone chapel.
The initiative to convert the wooden belfry into a stone chapel came from the mine master, Jiří Tomáš Pusch. The funds for the construction were provided by the Březové Hory municipality and were also raised through voluntary contributions. In 1732, the chapel was completed and consecrated on St Prokop’s Day, the patron saint of miners, in 1733. Given the number of miners settling in the area, the chapel became too small over the years.
In 1835, a wooden extension was therefore first added to the chapel, and in 1879, most of the old chapel was demolished and the present church building, in the Pseudo-Romanesque style, was erected according to plans drawn up by František Vit. The work was carried out by the renowned Příbram builder Antonín Bastl (1838–1901).

This small single-nave church, with a prismatic tower on the western side, has a rectangular chancel. A new, enlarged nave with two entrances was added to the chancel, which has been preserved in its original form.
The main entrance faces south and the side entrance faces east. At the front of the nave stands an octagonal tower with a slender roof. A small bell turret was added above the chancel.
A sacristy was built onto the west side of the chancel. The high altar is a portal-style, columned altar featuring a painting of St Prokop. The altar was donated by one of the local patrons, Tomáš Kadeřábek. The altarpiece had already been donated to the chapel by Jan Eliáš in 1758.
The side altar of St Barbara is in the Rococo style. Part of the church’s sculptural decoration, including the well-known Baroque sculpture of St Prokop, was provided in the mid-18th century by the reeve Josef Káš, another of the generous donors. In the 1730s, the Káš family had a crypt built in front of the altar; however, this suffered considerable damage as a result of subsequent building alterations and was subsequently removed.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the church began to fall into disrepair. Although the Koráb forest in its vicinity was converted into a small park, and a war memorial to the victims of the First World War was erected nearby in 1927 (now located on Hynek Klička Square), the church continued to fall into disrepair. In 1936, the residents of Březové Hory founded the ‘Association for the Interior Restoration of the Little Miners’ Church of St Prokop in Březové Hory’. Professor Karel Pobuda was the chairman of the association. Thanks to the association’s efforts, the necessary structural repairs to the church were carried out.

During the First World War, in 1916, two of the local bells were requisitioned. As part of the renovation work, new paving made of Nečín granite and supplied by the firm Rada and Son from Prague was laid in the chancel in 1938. The year before, the main tower had also been renovated. The work was carried out by craftsmen from Březohory – Alois Šmerhovský and František Tater – along with Josef Dudáček from Příbram, Jan Sedláček from Pičín and Jan Hahner from Podlesí.

After the Second World War, the church fell into further disrepair. Following the events of February 1948, the Association for the Interior Renovation of the Little Miners’ Church of St Prokop in Březové Hory was restricted and subsequently dissolved (in 1951).
Masses ceased to be held in the church; the windows were smashed by vandals, so the entire building was clad in sheet metal. However, even this cladding did not spare the church from several unwelcome visits by vandals and thieves. The organ, the chandelier and the interior décor were almost irretrievably destroyed.

The little church did not undergo any further significant repairs until after 1989, largely thanks to Rudné doly Příbram, s. p., ahead of the revived St Prokop’s pilgrimage in 1990, and subsequently in 1991 –1992, thanks to the company Congesta, s. r. o., Příbram.

At present, the Church of St Prokop is on long-term loan to the Orthodox Church, which regularly holds services there.

Not far from the Church of St Prokop (about 20 metres to the west) stands a stone cross dedicated in 1831 by Antonín Káš. At the junction of the paths leading from the church to the Prokop Mine and the Anna Mine, a cast-iron cross was consecrated on 4 July 1859 to mark the Prokop Miners’ Festival. It stands on a plinth bearing the inscription: “Gott segne den Bergbau” (God bless mining). It is adorned with emblems of faith, hope and love, as well as mining symbolism.

The Church of St Prokop is an important cultural monument listed on the Register of Immovable Cultural Monuments of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.

Sources:
PaedDr. Josef Velfl: The Monuments of Příbram in Pictures
; Mgr. Jiří Schmidt: The Churches of Příbram – St Prokop’s Church

Photo: Mgr. Jiří Schmidt, 2014