Wilhelm Budischowsky Tannery

Wilhelm Budischowsky Tannery was located in the cadastre of the once independent village of Dřevěné Mlýny. Originally, there used to be a mill near the present-day weir. From the 14th century, it was owned by the Gruncz family, and from the 15th century by the Hölcl family. Two hundred years later, the mill bore the name Bückarbmühl. There was a farmstead in the neighbourhood, which later became a manor farm estate. From the end of the 19th century until 1914, the mill and the estate were managed by the then mayor of the village Leo B. Tomaschek. The last inhabitants of the mill were the Pekárek family. In addition to the mill and the manor farm estate, there was also a winery on the site by the river, and a wool spinning mill was opened at the beginning of the 19th century. It was founded in 1814 by Franz Wenzelides, the former director of Tost’s spinning mill and finishing shop, what is now Jihlava Terraces (Jihlavské Terasy). He had a new oblong building built to process wool yarn. In 1877, Leopold Krebs leased the spinning mill and expanded the premises. Between 1882 and 1883, he built a multi-storey building with workshops and other facilities next to the original building.

A match factory was also built near the river. It was owned by the partners Franz Oplat and Maier Loew. In 1858, they received a licence from the village of Dřevěné Mlýny to produce matches. The production plant was later run by Franz Gottfried Czap (founder of the Czap Hotel, what is now the Workers' House), who expanded it in 1863 by adding a drying room.

In 1888, Wilhelm Budischowsky (1851–1914) bought the establishments on the right bank. He adapted the premises for leather processing and transferred his Chotěbor company there. The tannery gradually became one of the most renowned factories in Jihlava. Budischowsky built new production and storage facilities, expanded the factory with an apartment block for employees, and equipped the factory with steam engines. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the factory had around 300 employees and the premises of the tannery with all its facilities covered the area as it is today. The output of the steam engines together with the steam boilers was already 300 HP. Thanks to its participation in exhibitions, the Jihlava tannery became a household name. At the 1900 Paris World Exhibition, Budischowsky received the Order of Franz Joseph and his high-quality products won the Grand Prix.

In 1909, he also built a villa for himself near the site. The villa was designed by Jaromír Roučka, the construction supervision was carried out by Vincenz Zeizinger, both renowned builders from Jihlava. Today, the villa houses a children's home and a school.

In the following years, the older three-storey building with a mansard roof – the former spinning mill – was modified. This provided offices for the company's administration as well as residential space. An elongated section was added to the building to serve as a preparation room. Behind the preparation room was a four-storey drying room. These three buildings formed the western part of the complex. Access to the premises was from the north side. A reinforced concrete bridge supported with a three-centred arch was built for cars and horse-drawn carriages, one of the first bridges in the our country built with this technology. Auxiliary buildings were situated in the eastern block, while the boiler house with a chimney and engine rooms were in the middle of the premises. The southern part of the premises consisted of buildings with workshops on three floors above each other and a high warehouse of raw materials.

The sprinkler tower, which still stands out among the buildings, was of particular importance. It contained water tanks for the sprinkler fire extinguishing system, filled with service water. A high expansion fluid head was placed in the tower. During a fire, the vial ruptured and activated the valves of the water distribution system, which could be used to extinguish the fire. This architecturally interesting tower has been preserved to this day. Even though without the helmet, the fire bells, clock, and façade decoration are still visible.

Wilhelm Budischowsky died in 1914. His sons Wilhelm, Viktor, and Theodor took over the company. From 1917–1918, a two-storey reinforced concrete warehouse with a cellar and a lift shaft was built on the eastern side of the premises. The construction was carried out by the Viennese company Pittel & Brausewetter. In 1923, a turbine was connected to generate its own electricity.

From 1928, Samuel Löwy rented some of the buildings for his company ARCO. After 1929, part of the premises was used by the knitting factory Fischer & Oestreicher. During the Protectorate, the complex was only owned by Richard Fischer and several companies were located there. After nationalisation in 1948, the national enterprise Knitting Factory Jihlava (Pletařské závody Jihlava), later the national enterprise Pal (today's Motorpal), operated there.

The complex still exists today. The premises are occupied by several companies. The former Wenzelides’ spinning mill was completely removed in 2014 and replaced by a new hall.

MP