German Boys' Primary and Municipal School (Německá chlapecká obecná a měšťanská škola) and Museum

   
The school building at the corner of Jana Masaryka and Legionářů Streets was built from 1888–1889 according to the project of the Viennese architects Heinrich Claus and Moritz Hinträger. They were recommended to the city of Jihlava by the Association of Engineers and Architects of Lower Austria as architects who had already proved their worth in the construction of many other school buildings. The construction work was led by Ignaz Lang, a builder from Jihlava. It was the first of many new school buildings built at the beginning of the twentieth century in the Špitálské suburb. From 1889–1890, it was supplemented in the south-west with a grammar school designed by Josef Karásek, and between 1907 and 1908, the builder Kajetán Malnati connected the Girls’ Municipal School building from the north.

The building consists of two wings connected at the corner by a decorative roundel, the most dominant feature of the building. This motif is connected with the desire to create a prestigious suburb, as defined by the regulatory plan of the 1880s. According to a text published at that time in the Allgemeine Bauzeitungnewspaper, one of the reasons for choosing this distinctive corner dominant feature was the fact that the town lacked towers. The same feature was subsequently repeated on other buildings at the intersection of Legionářů, Jana Masaryka, Bezručova, and Palackého Streets, and the corner roundel has become the key motif of this urban star.

The main frontage of the building with the entrance in a slight avant-corps faces Jana Masaryka Street. In front of it, a park forms a pleasant foreground for the school. The design of the façades correspond to the late Neo-Renaissance style that the architects Claus and Hinträger used for many other prestigious buildings throughout the then monarchy. Due to the different ground heights, the two wings are of different heights too. The ground floor (and the first floor of the wing on Legionářů Avenue) is decorated with a bossage with accentuated voussoirs above the windows. The windows on the floor above are topped with segmental or triangular pediments. The floors of the corner roundel and the entrance avant-corps are highlighted by a giant Ionic order. The axis of the main entrance is completed with a sculpture of a pair of winged animal figures, probably lions, holding the town’s coat of arms.

In addition to the German Boys' School, the building also housed a public library and the town museum. Both institutions were located on the Legionářů Avenue wing and had a separate entrance via the corner roundel. The museum consisted of five rooms on the ground floor, while the library occupied four rooms on the first floor. The gymnasium was connected to the wing on Jana Masaryka Street towards the courtyard.

The school was inaugurated in September 1889. The building has served as a school until the present day with only a few short interruptions. During the First World War, the school building, as well as other adjacent school buildings, housed a military infirmary. In the 1930s, it served partly as a Nursing and Medical School (Sociálně zdravotní škola) and partly as a Real Grammar School (Reálné gymnázium). The museum only operated there until 1952, when it was moved to new premises on Masarykovo Square. Today, the building houses the Secondary Technical School (Střední průmyslová škola).

TŠ
Literature and other sources 

Next buildings on the trail