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Name
Cooperative dairy (Družstevní mlékárna) -
Address
Jiráskova 2430/94, Jihlava -
Date
1928, 1947 -
Author
-
Trail
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Code
100G -
GPS
-
Type
Industrial Object, Technical Object -
Monument preservation
No protection
Director Emil Strowik was very popular among his employees. He was described as a man of noble character, incorruptible, and fair to everyone. During World War II, many employees who worked in the dairy were of Jewish origin, and Strowik tried hard to protect them from being transported to labour camps. Perhaps for this reason, the Gestapo in Jihlava later reported that the director was not in control of the company, and as a result, Strowik committed suicide in 1944.
Although the dairy remained fully operational, its capacity was no longer sufficient after the end of the war. To meet the growing consumer demand in the Jihlava Region, it was necessary to build a larger and more modern company. As part of a two-year plan to rebuild the war-torn economy, it was decided in 1946 to build a new dairy. A large plot of land on the opposite side of the Jihlava River, on what is now Jiráskova Street, was selected for this purpose. The construction work was undertaken in 1947 by the local construction company Zahradník a Liška. The finishing work was carried out by the Czechoslovak Construction Enterprise (Československé stavební závody), namely its branch in Havlíčkův Brod.
The designer of the project was the Brno architect Eduard Žáček (1899–1973), one of the younger generation of functionalist architects. He was one of the first students to graduate from the newly founded Department of Architecture at the Czech Technical University in Brno in 1925. After graduation, he designed mainly for Prostějov and Brno. However, the post-February political regime ended his career in 1952. He was no longer allowed to design or teach at the Technical University. Žáček worked as a site manager and a construction supervisor until the end of his life.
He designed a three-storey main building with a cellar and a hipped roof for the Jihlava dairy. Typical functionalist balconies on each floor provided a view of the courtyard. The offices were also located in this part. The manufacturing plant was at the rear of the building. Today, the top floor houses the purchasing and economic departments, while the headquarters offices are one floor below. The production part of the building is still functional.
Behind the building was a boiler house with a chimney. At present, the old chimney is newly lined, the original boiler house has been equipped with new boilers and is in operation. The complex also included a freezer, a cold store, garages for milk delivery vehicles and other auxiliary buildings. The single-storey workshop buildings in the rear part of the yard and the single-storey staff accommodation near the premises are still standing today. When entering the dairy, the original fence made of a bent metal strips set diagonally into the cassettes catches the eye. The two-storey detached gatehouse is built on a square floor plan and has a hipped roof. On the ground floor, in addition to the entrance, there was a factory outlet. The building has been preserved, but the layout and the material of the windows have been changed compared to Žáček's original design.
In 1947, the dairy was still called Rural Dairy and Poultry Cooperative in Jihlava s. r.o. (Rolnické mlékařské a drůbežářské družstvo v Jihlavě s. r.o. ). After nationalisation in 1948, it became part of the national enterprise Horácké Dairy Jihlava (Horácké mlékárny) , and in 1950, it boasted a daily production of 30,000 litres of milk. Six years later, the national Dairy Enterprise (Mlékařské závody) in Jihlava was established and the Jihlava plant became its central facility. Under the banner of the national Dairy Enterprise (Mlékařské závody), later Lacrum, dairy products were then also produced in branches in Telč, Studená, Slavonice, Žirovnice, Pelhřimov, and Pacov. In 1969, a new drying plant was built and, in addition to the production of fresh cheese and yoghurt, the company also focused on the production of compound feed from dairy raw material.
Today, the dairy makes its products under the brand of Moravia Lacto, a. s., and has two separate establishments – a dairy in Jihlava and one in Olešnice. In terms of technological equipment and quality of production, it ranks among the most modern dairies in Central Europe. It uses traditional methods in combination with new technologies, and milk is sourced exclusively from Czech farmers. In 1997–1998, a new building with a glass side extension was constructed, obscuring the view of Žáček’s original building from the street. The designer of the new hall is Ing. Ota Klos from Stavounie, construction and trading company s.r.o. (Stavounie, stavební a obchodní společnost s.r.o.).
MP
Literatura:
Nová mlékárna rolnického družstva v Jihlavě, Svobodné noviny, 24. 6. 1947, s. 8.
Dagmar Broncová (ed.), Historie mlékárenství v Čechách a na Moravě, Praha 1998, s. 184.
Ladislav Likler et al., Historie mlékárenství v Čechách, na Moravě a ve Slezsku, Praha 2001, s. 115–116.
Herma Kennel, Bergersdorf: dokumentární román, Praha 2011.
Lukáš Beran – Vladislava Valchářová – Jan Zikmund (eds), Industriální topografie / Kraj Vysočina, Praha 2014, s. 45.
Ostatní zdroje:
Státní okresní archiv Jihlava - fond Ústřední mlékárna Jihlava.
Moravský zemský archiv v Brně - fond Jihlavský mlékárenský trust, n. p.; fond Jihlavské mlékárny, n.p.; inventář ev. č. 2970.