The Choir of Master Jakoubek of Stříbro

The most recent church building in Březové Hory, the construction of which incorporated functionalist and constructivist architectural elements, is the church of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church dedicated to the memory of Master Jakoubek of Stříbro.

The foundation stones were laid on 24 May 1936. Contributions totalling 300,000 crowns were raised from the church’s followers and supporters, particularly local miners, to fund the construction of the church. It was built over a period of six months in 1936 on Prokopská Street to a design by the architects Vachata and Bílek, and was officially opened on 25 10 May 1936 in the presence of many prominent figures from the town and clergy, led by Patriarch Dr G. A. Procházka.

The building is dominated by a 30-metre-high tower topped with a double-barred cross. At the top of the tower is a gallery serving as a viewing platform. The nave is entered via a marble columbarium, illuminated by stained-glass windows bearing the inscriptions: ‘Peace be with you’ and ‘Truth prevails’. The artist behind this design was the academic sculptor Václav Šára. His works also include the reliefs by the altar and the sculpture group entitled ‘Labour’ (a miner and a legionnaire), Love (a male and female student from Jirásek’s work) and Freedom (the Czechoslovak presidents T. G. Masaryk and E. Beneš), situated in the corners of the nave. The reliefs on either side of the chancel depict The Communion with the chalice by Master Jakoubek of Stříbro, a preacher in the Bethlehem Chapel modelled on Master Jan Hus, and the Lord’s Supper featuring the likenesses of Professor František Kalous, the parish priest at the time and the main initiator of the church’s construction, alongside those of his close associates within this church.
Beneath these reliefs are two further works by the sculptor and painter Václav Antoš: *Mourning after the Battle of White Mountain* featuring Jan Ámos Komenský and the exiles, and *Joy at the Liberation of 1918* featuring Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. Below, we read Comenius’s prophecy: “I believe in God that, once the storms of wrath have passed, the rule of your affairs will return to you.” In the chancel, behind the altar, rests a luminous double-barred cross made from stones from the Březohory mine and the town of Stříbro.
On the altar table stands a candlestick in the shape of clasped hands above Mount Říp, bearing the inscription: ‘Prayer for the Fatherland’. Beneath the choir loft is a second, glass-enclosed columbarium.
Three bells, named Hus, Masaryk and Farský, were acquired for the congregation. Two of them were forcibly requisitioned by the Nazi occupiers on 19 March 1932 for the needs of the Third Reich’s arms industry during the Second World War.

Source: PaedDr. Josef Velfl: Monuments of Příbram in Pictures

Address:
Czechoslovak Hussite Church, Příbram – Březové Hory
, Master Jakoubek of Stříbro
Congregation, tel. 318 623 788

Services:
Sundays: 9.00 am

More information here