Chapel of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary

A rare example of the Neo-Romanesque style in the Hradec Králové context is the chapel in Silesian Suburbs. The lapidary sacral building stands on the site of the former Rožberk Hill, excavated in the 18th century in connection with the construction of the fortress. The foundation stone of the chapel was laid in 1908 on the initiative of the Marian Ladies’ Club of Hradec Králové and the Surroundings. It was a lay community belonging to the Society of Jesus, whose main purpose was to ‘cultivate devotion to the Virgin Mary.’ In this sense, the support of the Marian cult also included an effort to build more statues and chapels. The idea for the new project was born on the occasion of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the declaration of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, which fell in 1904. In April of the following year, the idea was approved by the bishop of Hradec Králové, Josef Doubrava. A place already associated with this tradition was chosen for the project – the vicinity of the well stood a stone Baroque chapel of the Virgin Mary the Helper, to which pilgrimages were organized. 

 

The design was entrusted to architect Rudolf Němec, a student of Friedrich Ohmann and one of the last supporters of the Neo-Baroque style. He worked in Hradec Králové from 1903, when he designed the original building of the Credit Union in Tomkova Street. He also worked as a teacher and later as the director of a vocational school for art locksmiths. He had previously designed the four-storey house U Beránka in Velké náměstí Square (1906–1908), richly decorated with Neo-Baroque means of expression and somewhat oversized in volume. Němec also approached this new commission generously, sketching a 36-meter-high Neo-Baroque headquarters for 300 people. However, the total cost of the implementation, calculated by Contractor Robert Schmidt, was so enormous that the Jesuits withdrew from the project. In 1909, it was taken over directly by the Marian Congregation of Ladies, which raised funds in the form of public collections, charity fairs and theater performances, some donors promised building materials directly. In 1910, Rudolf Němec drew up new plans that reflected the real possibilities of the Owner. For a much more modest chapel, he chose a sober Neo-Romanesque style. Thanks to his erudition and experience in historicizing styles, he proved once again that he is always able to choose a suitable form for different types of assignments. 

 

The building is a single-nave building on a rectangular ground plan, which is finished with side bays and a three-part semicircular apse, elevated in the middle part. The main façade is dominated by a protruding entrance with a decorated arched portal and terrace, a triangular gable, and a circular tower in the left corner, which slightly exceeds the ridge of the roof. Light is brought into the chapel by simple and associated Romanesque windows, circular in the gables. The external decorative elements include the pilasters in the front wing, the richly profiled crowning cornice and the arched frieze that encircles the entire building. By the southern wall there is a statue of the evangelist St. Mark from 1860, which used to stand by the road to the city. In the otherwise restrained interiors, the coffered ceiling made of concrete lintels and the majestic choir on classic columns stand out. 

 

The construction itself was eventually undertaken by František Plesnivý, who managed to complete the chapel in 1910. A number of activities were carried out by local volunteers and assigned to local artists. For example, sculptor Václav Škoda was in charge of the Art Nouveau decoration of the lower argillite part of the altar designed by Josef Fanta; the wooden elements were created by woodcarver Václav Hofman; the sacrificial table and the cross with a sculpture of Christ were created by sculptor František Bartoš, and the locksmith work at the cost of material and direction was supplied by the locksmith school. However, more than ten years of repayment of the construction and various finishing touches followed; the very last to be painted at the beginning of the 1920s were the bronzed statuettes by Čeněk Vosmík on the upper part of the altar. It was not until August 26, 1923 that Bishop Karel Kašpar was able to consecrate the chapel.

 

MP