



-
Date of birth
28. 1. 1913 Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, Vsetín district -
Date of death
3. 3. 1996 Prague
After his parents' marriage was dissolved in 1923, Cesar Grimmich lived with his mother in Prague. As a child, he was a member of the Federation of Workers' Gymnastic Units (Federace dělnických tělocvičných jednot, FDTJ). After his mother was expelled from the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, he joined the Social Democratic Workers' Gymnastic Union (Dělnická tělovýchovná jednota, DTJ). In 1930, he became a member of the Social Democratic Youth (Sociálně demokratická mládež), which he later left because he disagreed with the policies of the Czechoslovak Social Democracy and became a member of the architectural section of the Left Front (Levá fronta), an organisation of left-wing and anti-fascist intellectuals. In 1933, as a student at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University, he responded, together with four other fellow students – Miroslav Kouřil, Jiří Novotný, Karel Poličanský, and Josef Raban – to Emil František Burian's call, published in Leták D 34, for students to collaborate with his D Theatre. A group called D. a. s. (Divadelní architektonické studio – Theatre and architectonic studio) created the sets for an award-winning production of Molière's The Miserin early 1934, after which Grimmich and Poličanský left the theatre due to the difficulty of this collaboration.
After Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, Cesar Grimmich became politically active. He claimed to have co-organised the victory of a Communist candidate in the faculty association and participated in all demonstrations and meetings in Prague organised by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ). After graduating and completing his military service, he worked as an architect in Bohuslav Fuchs' studio in Brno, where he was involved in the design of hotels and public buildings. At that time, he independently worked on a project for a villa for Mr and Mrs Pospíšil in Prague’s Smíchov. At the beginning of the 1940s, he took part in a competition for the smallest electrified flat, announced by the Electricity Enterprise of the Capital City of Prague (Elektrické podniky hlavního města Prahy), and won one of the two second prizes. After the occupation, he became involved in illegal work. In 1941, when arrests were being made among the Brno communist intelligentsia, he went to Jihlava, where he joined the Aryanised woodworking company Josef Offenböck in Bedřichov, which specialised in the production of wooden houses, which were in great demand during the war. He established contact with the workers there and joined an underground movement, which resulted in the takeover of the plant on 5 May 1945.
After the liberation, he actively participated in political and public life in Jihlava. He was involved in the renewal of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, was a member of the District Committee (Okresní výbor), and in June 1945, the party appointed him chairman of the Local Committee (Místní národní výbor) in Jihlava, where he replaced the communist František Hons. He sought to create the so-called Great Jihlava (Velká Jihlava) by annexing the surrounding villages, including Bedřichov, and to establish the Jihlava Region. In 1946, he refused to run for deputy chairman of the Local Committee (MNV) because he wanted to pursue his profession as an architect, but he remained politically engaged – he was a member of the regional committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ), worked in the regional counselling and study room of the Communist Party and was a teacher at the Bohumír Šmeral Regional Political School (Krajská politická škola Bohumíra Šmerala) in Jihlava, from which he had also graduated. He was replaced as chairman of the Local Committee (MNV) on 1. 7. 1946 by Ludvík Čutka.
After arriving in Jihlava, he lived in rented accommodation in the now lost house at Masarykovo Square 75. During the war, on 12. 2. 1944, he entered into a civil marriage with Bohumila Nováková (born 12. 4. 1923 Prague), a private clerk and later an architectural engineer. After their wedding, the Grimmichs lived in the house of his wife's mother, Marie Nováková, at Příkopy Street 55 (now Fibichova Street). In the second half of the 1940s and early 1950s, Bohumila Grimmichová studied at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University in Prague. She first lived with her mother-in-law at Schnirchova Street 4, and later, until 1951, at Jankovcova Street 21.
Most likely in 1946, Cesar Grimmich set up an office as a civil engineer for architecture and civil construction at his mother's, and at that time his wife's, residence in Prague, which he moved to Jihlava, Fibichova Street 55, at the beginning of 1947. On 1. 1. 1949, his office was nationalised. On 1 March 1947, together with the builders Bedřich Gerža and František Horák, he became a partner in the Stavební společnost construction company, originally intended as a private limited company. The events of February 1948 prevented the processing of the application for its registration in the Commercial Register of the Regional Court in Jihlava, and the partners ran it as a consortium throughout the entire period of its operation. The authorities were not even able to issue a building permit to the company, so it operated on the basis of František Horák's trade licence. This company was also nationalised in 1948 and on 1. 1. 1949, it was incorporated into the national Czechoslovak Construction Enterprise (Československé stavební závody).
On 2 September 1948, the national design institute Stavoprojekt was established, concentrating all nationalised architectural studios and offices, including Grimmich's. The company was part of the aforementioned Czechoslovak Construction Enterprise (Československé stavební závody). In 1949, Cesar Grimmich became the head of the regional architectural studio of Stavoprojekt in Jihlava, which was located in the former Seidner's villa at Roosevelt Avenue 24 (now Legionářů Avenue). In 1951, he was dismissed from this position, and in 1954, he reported that he had to leave Jihlava. He moved to Prague, where after a number of stints in various design institutes, he settled in the Prague centre of the State Design Institute of Commerce Brno (Státní projektový ústav obchodu Brno). His wife, Bohumila, worked in the State Institute for the Design of Connection Structures and Equipment Spojprojekt (Státní ústav pro projektování spojových staveb a zařízení Spojprojekt), where she designed utility networks. Two children were born to the Grimmichs in Prague. According to his son, Cesar Grimmich worked at the Architectural Service of the Czech Fund of Fine Arts (Architektonická služba Českého fondu výtvarných umění) on Voršilská Street in Prague after leaving the State Design Institute of Commerce (Státní projektový ústav obchodu), and after 1989, he renewed his authorisation and devoted himself to smaller commissions. He died on 3. 3. 1996 in Prague.
Grimmich's post-war work was undoubtedly influenced by his time in the studio of Bohuslav Fuchs, "our best architect", as Grimmich described him, in the second half of the 1930s and early 1940s. In Jihlava, he left behind several high-quality projects from the second half of the 1940s, of which four apartment blocks and his partner Bedřich Gerža's villa are particularly noteworthy. The surviving plans of this villa bear only the stamp of the Stavební společnost Jihlava construction company, but Grimmich's handwriting can be recognised on them. His adaptations of Löw's textile factory in Helenín into an apprentice knitting factory and Jindřich Pokorný's former printing house into the Jihlava Hospital Paediatric Pavilion were also successful, but both later underwent major renovations. Among the less successful projects, which, however, were also in the spirit of his architectural views influenced by functionalism, were the new façade of the Besední House in today's Svobody Square and the modification of the façade of the former Golden Lion Hotel (Zlatý Lev) on Jihlava's square, whose ground floor and the areas between the windows on the first and second floors were clad in red ceramic. According to Grimmich's original design, the ground floor was to be lined with granite slabs, a large shop window was to be installed, and the areas between the windows were to be given a brick-red clinker facing. In addition to the generously conceived design for the development of Jihlava as a regional city from 1949, Grimmich came up with a controversial – to say the least – idea for the redevelopment of Jihlava's square in early 1948, which envisaged the demolition of the historic Krecl and the construction of an H-shaped building for the District National Committee (Okresní národní výbor) located on an west-east axis, which would divide its area into two parts. Grimmich's participation in the tender for the vocational school in Jihlava in 1947 is also noteworthy, with the architects Vojtěch Kerhart and A. Přikryl, both based in Prague, also participating.
Cesar Grimmich continued to espouse the aesthetics of interwar architecture into the 1950s. According to Rostislav Švácha, none of his buildings from this period are a product of socialist realism. He confirmed his openness to the influences of contemporary Western architecture in a poll titled "What lessons from the development of Western architecture can be drawn for our work?" organised by the editors of the Architektura ČSRmagazine in 1957.
Unfortunately, we are only aware of a few buildings that Cesar Grimmich designed after his departure to Prague. Petr Koudelka, the author of the text about the villa for Mr and Mrs Pospíšil, states that his list of works is very extensive, but he only specifically names the department stores in Vodňany, Třebíč, and Třeboň and his involvement in the Konopiště motel project. The architect's son added a department store in Kadaň to this list. The life and work of this undoubtedly interesting figure really would be worth mapping in more detail.
PD
Tenement house for the Railway Housing Fund Brno (Železniční bytový fond Brno), Bezručova 1594/4, Jihlava, 1947–1950
Tenement house for the Railway Housing Fund Brno (Železniční bytový fond Brno), Jana Masaryka 1595/5, Jihlava, 1947–1950
Tenement houses for the Local National Committee Jihlava (Místní národní výbor), Wolkerova 1886/41 and 1887/43, Jihlava, 1947–1949
Bedřich Gerža's house, Fritzova 1553/25, Jihlava, 1947–1950 (the plans only carry the stamp of the Stavební společnost Jihlava construction company, but the designer was probably Cesar Grimmich, who was one of the partners)
Design for the tender for the vocational school buildings on Vrchlického Street in Jihlava, 1948, unrealised project
Adaptation of the Neo-Renaissance Besední House to the Regional Political School, Svobody Square 1373/11, Jihlava, 1949, readjustment by Ing. arch.Petr Holub, 2006
Modification of the façade of the former Golden Lion Hotel (Zlatý Lev) for the knitting factory Pletařské závody, n. p., Jihlava, Masarykovo náměstí 65/16, Jihlava, 1949, removed 1958
Stage I of the adaptation of the textile factory in Helenín into an apprentice knitting factory, Hálkova 2919/44, Jihlava, 1949–1950, rebuilt 2009–2013
Adaptation of Jindřich Pokorný's printing house into a Paediatric Pavilion, now the State District Archive Jihlava (Státní okresní archiv Jihlava), Fritzova 4800/19 (originally Legionářů 1470/9), Jihlava, 1951–1953, rebuilt according to the design by Ing. arch.František Laub, 1997–1998
Stone entrance to the wood-processing plant in Bedřichov (now Kronospan), Na Hranici 2361/6, Jihlava, second half of the 1940s, demolished
Unrealised project for a Prior department store, Letců, Hradec Králové, 1968
Unrealised project from a limited tender for the Máj department store in Prague, with Jaromír Liška, 1970
Grand Hotel, originally the Slavia Hotel, designed as the Třebíč Social and Accommodation Centre (Společenské a ubytovací středisko), together with Jaromír Liška, Karlovo náměstí 133/5, Třebíč, 1974–1978
Koruna department store, together with František Petrlík, náměstí Svobody 4, Vodňany, 1973–1978
Department store, kpt.Jaroše 1486, around 1980, Kadaň
Rozkvět shop, together with Jaromír Liška (?), Karlovo náměstí 134/5, Třebíč, completed around 1982
At the White Lamb department store (U Bílého beránka), Masarykovo náměstí 108, Třeboň, completed 1987
Literatura:
Petr Koudelka, Rodinný dům Pod Děvínem, in: Slavné stavby Prahy 5, Praha 2005, s. 154–155.
Rostislav Švácha, Learning from What? The Czechoslovak Debate on the Architecture of the Capitalist West in 1957, in: Book for Mary: Sixty on Seventy, Praha 2020, s. 356–366.
Ostatní zdroje:
Zemský archiv Opava, fond Sbírka matrik Severomoravského kraje, inv. č. 15153 – Matrika oddaných farního úřadu Rožnov pod Radhoštěm 1903–1937, https://digi.archives.cz/da/permalink?xid=29e3f91ac933f2f4:5a11043e:14ab923af5e:-7ecc&scan=8b1dc7c281ea40b9899238102e72d5df, vyhledáno 19. 3. 2023.
Moravský zemský archiv v Brně – Státní okresní archiv Jihlava, fond Městský národní výbor Jihlava, inv. č. 339 – domovní arch domu Masarykovo náměstí 75; inv. č. 283 – domovní arch domu Fibichova 55; inv. č. 752 – domovní kniha domu Fibichova 55; fond Okresní úřad – Okresní národní výbor Jihlava, nezpracováno – sňatek Cesara Grimmicha a Bohumily Novákové; inv. č. 1067, kart. 558, spis 12287-VI-3-47 – přeložení kanceláře z Prahy do Jihlavy; tamtéž, fond Berní správa Jihlava, nezprac., firma Ing. arch. Cesar Grimmich; tamtéž, fond Bezděkovský Bohumil, nezpracováno; tamtéž, fond Archiv města Jihlava od roku 1849, oddělení Stavební archiv, Komunikace (úprava Masarykova náměstí) a stavební spisy budov, na jejichž realizaci se Cesar Grimmich podílel; tamtéž, fond Sbírka map a plánů Jihlava, sign. 2-30, 31, 36 – soutěžní návrhy na stavbu odborných škol v Jihlavě; tamtéž, fond Jednotný národní výbor Jihlava, ukl. jednotka 119/7 – náměty k výstavbě krajského města Jihlavy.
Památkový katalog Národního památkového ústavu – Hotel Grand Třebíč, https://pamatkovykatalog.cz/hotel-grand-13873820, vyhledáno dne 20. 3. 2023.
Hana Reisigová, Rudý a rudější: angažované – politické divadlo E. F. Buriana, nepublikovaná diplomní práce Katedry divadelních studií Filozofické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity, Brno 2013, s. 56 a 60, https://is.muni.cz/th/rb151/Reisigova_magisterska_prace_bmeobmgm.pdf, vyhledáno 19. 3. 2023.
Veronika Rýznarová, Miloslava Grimichová (1891–1957), nepublikovaná diplomní práce Historického ústavu Filozofické fakulty Univerzity Hradec Králové 2017, https://theses.cz/id/4o4i4b/STAG86444.pdf, vyhledáno 19. 3. 2023.
Miloslav Šikl, Utváření spotřebitelské sítě a konzumní jednání ve východních Čechách v druhé polovině 20. století, nepublikovaná diplomní práce Filozofické fakulty Univerzity Pardubice 2017, s. 63–66 a 184–185, https://dk.upce.cz/bitstream/handle/10195/70419/Diplomova_prace_i_se_zadanim.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y, vyhledáno 19. 3. 2023.
Kateřina Novosádová, (Ne) Přítel města? Obchodní domy 60.–80. let v malých městech jižních Čech, nepublikovaná diplomní práce Ústavu věd o umění a kultuře Filozofické fakulty Jihočeské univerzity, České Budějovice 2019, s. 40–49, přílohy s. XII–XVI, https://theses.cz/id/gdon3y/diplomka_Novosdov.pdf, vyhledáno 19. 3. 2023.
Pavlína Vojtová, Scénografie v počátcích Divadla D, nepublikovaná bakalářská práce Ústavu pro dějiny umění Filozofické fakulty Univerzity Karlovy, Praha 2020, s. 37–41, https://dspace.cuni.cz/bitstream/handle/20.500.11956/124936/130299652.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y, vyhledáno 19. 3. 2023.