Folk Architecture

The village of Slatina lies approximately eight kilometres as the crow flies from the town of Horažďovice in the Klatovy district. Jews began to settle here after 1650, under Alexandr Záborský of Brloho, who admitted to his estate Jews who had been forced to leave Horažďovice. The main development of the Jewish settlement of Slatina is, however, associated with the Kunaš family. The Kunaš family of Machovice provided Jews on their Slatina estate with protection ('Schutzjuden') and gave them land for the construction of cottages and a synagogue, which also included a Jewish school. In 1723 Václav Kunaš of Machovice authorised by a special charter the establishment of a Jewish cemetery at a site called Na Hradcích. The original cemetery, in use since 1678 and measuring 15×15 metres, was at that time extended to 58×28 metres. Twelve surrounding villages were part of the Slatina Jewish religious community, but Jews from an even wider area were buried in the cemetery. In 1996, during research for ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites — a non-governmental organisation of UNESCO) in Israel, 172 gravestones were recorded at this cemetery. The number of bodies interred there is, however, many times higher.

The main core of the Jewish ghetto in Slatina consisted of a row of small stone-clay cottages measuring approximately 6×5 metres. For example, in 1846 a total of 19 families comprising 110 persons lived in 11 cottages, representing one third of the village's population. A further 19 Jews lived with 'Christians'. After 1850 the emigration of Slatina Jews began — primarily to the United States of America (1), but also to the Balkans (Bosnia-Herzegovina) — and the last Jewish family left Slatina in 1917. Of the Slatina ghetto only three cottages have survived to the present day (now house numbers 19, 29 and 31), and even these have been radically rebuilt and now serve recreational purposes. During the renovation of cottage no. 29 carried out around 1980, the stone-clay core of one of the original ghetto cottages was discovered, confirming the local chronicle's statement that the cottages were 'clay-built'. It was a combination of stone and large unfired clay bricks.

The synagogue, which is shown in the stable cadastre plan of the village of Slatina from 1837, was entirely of wooden construction, built on four massive supporting columns, and measured 8×6 metres. It stood in the centre of the ghetto. In 1868 the Jews purchased a plot of land and built a new synagogue. This brick-built building, grand by rural standards, contained a prayer hall, school and rabbi's flat and served its purpose until 1893, when the Slatina Jewish religious community was transferred to Horažďovice. Afterwards it served various economic purposes, leading to its considerable deterioration. Only thanks to its present owners was it saved from destruction and repaired — it is a pity, however, that the internal alterations partially disrupted the original functional layout. The prayer hall itself was not affected by the alterations and its space is preserved in its original architectural configuration, including the remains of the coloured interior plasterwork.

An interesting later manifestation in Slatina's folk architecture was historicism. In the collection of the former Slatina Village Office held at the State Regional Archive in Plzeň, Klatovy branch, there are several dozen plans for residential and farm buildings from 1880–1920. Three plans for the rebuilding of houses nos. 2, 6 and 22 particularly attract attention. Their author is the builder Josef Bláha of Dožice, hitherto unknown in this part of the Horažďovice area. The plans were drawn up in 1913 and represent the structural and spatial design of a homestead for a smallholder, a cottager and a farmer (2). Their author evidently drew on the architectural vocabulary of the Slatina manorial court buildings, which were entirely rebuilt after the fire of 1883. The most interesting solution is certainly the rebuilding of homestead no. 22. The Art Nouveau elements in the masonry structures, as well as the details (gates, doors, windows, etc.), are quite unprecedented and wholly unique for the folk architecture of the northern Horažďovice area. The plans are very precisely drawn. It would be worth examining the work of this builder more closely. His main area of activity, however, was evidently predominantly in the Blatná and Kasejovice areas.

Fig. 1: Slatina (Klatovy district), front view of the gable of the residential building and view from the yard of the Jan Krůta homestead, no. 22 — plan by Josef Bláha, 1913.

Fig. 2: Slatina (Klatovy district), view of the gable of the residential building of Josef Kroupa, no. 6 — plan by Josef Bláha, 1913.

Fig. 3: Slatina (Klatovy district), view of the gable of the residential building of Václav Kandr, no. 2 — plan by Josef Bláha, 1913.

Author: Josef Smitka

(1) It is necessary to mention a significant member of the Slatina Jewish community from the Sabath family — Adolf Joachim Sabath. His father was originally from Slatina, later moved to Záboří near Blatná; his mother, née Eissenschimmel, was also from Slatina. Adolf Joachim Sabath was a prominent member of the United States Congress and a collaborator of T. G. Masaryk. He played a significant role in Congress in the preparations for Czechoslovak independence. In the history of the American Congress he was the second longest-serving congressman — a full 43 years. Among other things, he authored an important law for Czech immigrants, who until then, as subjects of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, had been classified as 'Austria'. By recognising the nationality 'Bohemia', the immigration quotas for Czechs were significantly increased. Detailed information can be found on the partner website: Jewish Cultural Heritage in Slatina
(2) The author of this article surveyed the current state of all three farm homesteads — nos. 2, 6 and 22. All buildings have undergone considerable alterations compared with their 1913 state, although some original elements are still discernible. The alterations carried out around 1930–1940 gave these buildings the typical austerity of the folk architecture of the northern Horažďovice area — buildings requiring minimal maintenance.