U Písařů House
History of the “U Písařů” House
In Štramberk, just like anywhere else, civic houses featured
arcades. Originally, the arcades consisted of wooden beams with a wooden gable
with an attic window on top. The roof and attic thus extended over low one-floor
houses in the direction of the main square. Towards the end of the 18th century
and at beginning of the 19th century some urban families were growing
ostentatiously rich and began redeveloping their wooden houses into greater
houses from “permanent material”. The decaying Štramberk castle provided
enough of such material. The arcades, even the wooden ones, served its purpose:
on market days or when a fair was taking place the owners rented the arcades to
sellers who needed a shelter against rain and bad weather. On Sundays and public
holidays the arcades served for strolls of the local worthies. In Štramberk the
arcades were not built again after the house reconstruction like in larger
cities.
The House No. 30 (called “U Písařů” or “Písařovice“) is proven to have been standing on the Štramberk square for 400 years, maybe even since the time when Štramberk was promoted to a city (in 1359). A commemorative certificate documents this – Štramberk citizens placed the certificate into the dome of the parish church during its reconstruction in 1611–1614. The certificate bears the names of the Evangelical pastor, the city mayor, the whole town council, and of all the landlords. And the town citizens and landlords counted “from the church following the sun course…” also include Martin Žárský, mentioned in connection with house No. 30
The list shows that apart from the school, church, and parish there were about thirty houses in the city walls and nineteen in the outskirts. Martin Žárský appears also in an archive document from 1629. The certificate of Margrave Jan (1359) states the right to brew beer and spirits, but the right to sell beer, spirits and wine was not granted to all citizens. The right belonged exclusively to the owners of the 22 houses inside the city surrounded by walls. These houses have always had this right and therefore they were called taprooms. They now form the square (with the exception of house No.11 next to the Catholic House). House No. 30 belongs here, too.
• In the 18th century the house is owned by Štěpán Florián, a city citizen with the right to sell alcohol. • In the 19th century the Bajer family resides here. • For the last 20 years of the 19th century the house is owned by the Jurák family, who continue to live in the house for the whole of 20th century. The first owner of this family, Jan Jurák, served as the town scrivener, a modern secretary. And it was then that the house came to be known as – “U Písařů” (The Scriveners‘). The need for a nickname was caused by a large number of Juráks in Štramberk at that time and so nicknames helped to differentiate between them. Jan Jurák married Anežka Hývnarová of Závišice and one of their children was the later pastor Josef Jurák. Such a huge house has always accommodated a few families. This is proven in records in the Štramberk registers, deposited in the Opava Provincial Archives. Two pastors (Jurák Josef 1882–1976 and Jurák Ladislav 1911–1977) come from the Jurák family.
Similarly to people the cottages also meet a sometimes happy sometimes more serious fate, sometimes a sad or even tragic one. Sometimes the cottage is a real home to the people who live inside, sometimes a true native nest that continues to draw back even the young ones who left it a long time ago but cannot be happy anywhere else. At other times the cottage remains a memory of a certain part of life spent there …What fate is awaiting the” redeveloped “U Písařů” house? (Drafted by Josef Adamec)
The “U Písařů” House as it is Today
On Friday, April 25, 2008 the redeveloped interior of the U Písařů House in Štramberk was ceremoniously opened in the presence of dozens of important guests. The performers who wished the U Písařů House and its future guests good luck and a wonderful time included a virtuoso guitarist Štěpán Rak, a composer Boris Urbánek, and the “author of the ancient Greek comedy, Aristophanes”, rendered by the local native and amateur actor Mořic Jurečka.
