Gaol

The history of the infantry barracks on Křížová Street in Jihlava, referred to as the Great Barracks (Velká kasárna) in the archives, dates back to the last third of the 18th century. In 1773, Pope Clement XIV abolished the Society of Jesus, as a result of which the Jesuit Scholasticate of St. Michael (Jezuitská kolej sv. Michala) at the Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola (Kostel sv. Ignáce z Loyoly) ceased to exist too. The area of the former scholasticate and seminary was taken over as the military headquarters. In 1784, Emperor Joseph II ended the activity of the Dominican Order in Jihlava. After the premises of the former Jesuit scholasticate, the seminary, and the Dominican monastery were joined, a non-commissioned officers' school for boys aged six to twelve was established there for the purposes and accommodation of the Eighth Infantry Regiment.

Surviving reports about the earliest barracks layout are very scarce. An isolated reference is made in a report from 1825 about the handover of the former scholasticate and seminary to the administration of the Military Treasury. According to the report, there were four married non-commissioned officers, 117 men, one sutler, two taprooms, and three storerooms. The seminary contained barracks for 190 men, four storerooms, an officers' inspection room, and two kitchens.

The military gaol, a disciplinary prison for soldiers who violated the military order, could be found in a separate section of the barracks. Jihlava's gaol is located between the former Jesuit scholasticate and seminary. Based on the literature, the gaol origins have been dated to 1869 so far, but without a relevantly provable source. A plan of the present building dating back to 1895 is preserved in the building file of the Jihlava archive. Such dating is indirectly confirmed by a plan of the barracks area, stored in the Military Central Archive in Prague and dated 1876. The plan primarily shows the rifleman's house with the layout of the individual rooms. The plan also shows an older gaol, which was located in a side niche of the chancel in the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Kostel Povýšení svatého Kříže), in the area of what is now the sacristy. This gaol is also depicted in a plan from 1892, which shows the layout of the building. It consisted of two large cells for several prisoners. The cells were connected by a corridor, with three other small rooms marked on the side of the corridor towards the chancel. However, the plan lacks a written legend. There were stairs to the attic at the entrance to the gaol.

Three years later, in June 1895, a plan was drawn up for a new, more spacious gaol. The plan was designed by the Military Building Authority in Vienna, and the author's signature indicates the name Kassal Mronel. The gaol is a single-storey building with a rectangular floor plan built of fired bricks. According to the building plan, the layout of the individual cells corresponded to the military position of the person concerned. Out of the fourteen cells, ten were one-man cells, one was designed for four men, and one for six men. Officers and three non-commissioned officers would have their own cells. Everything was subject to strict subordination. A corridor with cells on both sides led through the centre of the building. Two thirds of the way along, it broke into an L-shape towards the exit of the building. There were also four toilets in the gaol, and stairs to the attic at the entrance. The roof is gabled, and the windows are rectangular with segmental arches. Soldiers were serving time in the gaol until the 1980s. After the closure of the barracks in the 1990s, the building was privatised and the property of the former monastery and military complex was acquired by a private owner.

The historic value of the Jihlava gaol building lies primarily in the authentically preserved interior layout. In the 19th century, this type of building was a common feature of most barracks. However, apart from the Jihlava goal, there is no similar building left in the Vysočina and South Moravian Regions. The value of the Jihlava building lies in the authentically preserved internal layout and the arrangement of the individual cells, original doors, bars, and trusses. It thus provides a valuable testimony to the way of life in the military disciplinary prisons of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

MS