The District Credit Union

In 1932, shortly after the completion of the neighbouring building of the Národní banka československá (The National Bank of Czechoslovakia), Jan Rejchl won the project of the headquarters of the District Credit Union. Thus, he was able to complete the eastern part of what is now náměstí Osvoboditelů Square, later adapted to create a lawn parterre. The credit union building is connected to the neighbouring bank and it has three floors and a flat roof as well; Rejchl, however, used a much more modern architectural morphology. The façade is not divided by lesenes and it is not lined with traditional stone blocks, except for the parterre. The dominant feature of the façade is unplastered vertical and horizontal brickwork. Between the windows, the bricks are stacked horizontally to create strips, clearly inspired by avant-garde architecture. On the northern façade, there is a side entrance and staircase avant-corps extending along the building. The object included a hall with counters, offices, and housing units for the credit union employees on the upper floors. The project can be compared to Rejchl’s design of the insurance company in Slaný (1928–1931), where he also combined granite cladding and natural masonry and used horizontal and vertical brickwork.

In the interiors, there is a number of remarkable modernist details. The credit union hall has a double door with marble jambs and circular panes with sandblasted letters OZH (Okresní záložna hospodářská / The District Credit Union). The hall interior is lit by remarkable lighting fixtures – light bulbs embedded in a metal rim around column heads. These components were supplied by Jílek company.

After 1948, the hall and offices were converted into dentists’ offices; the parterre serves medical purposes even today. 

LZL