In the 1870s, a railway was constructed as part of the Austrian Northwest Railway, running from Chlumec nad Cidlinou through Slezské Předměstí to Lichkov. Even at that time, the representatives of Hradec Králové sought to establish a station in was then the still-independent village of Slezské Předměstí. However, it was not until 1886 that the station was officially established.
By a decree of the Imperial and Royal Ministry of Railways date April 12, 1910, plans were approved for a new ‘local railway line’ within the Austrian Northwestern Railway. This line was intended to run from Hradec Králové through the villages of Slezské Předměstí, Černilov, Libřice, Králova Lhota, and České Meziříčí to the town of Opočno. However, these plans were never realized. Over the years, only modifications to the existing railway station were carried out. One of the most significant changes was the replacement of the original half-timbered waiting room in 1916 with a new passenger building, which still stands today. This was accompanied by the construction of additional operational buildings.
The layout of the new station, built between 1915 and 1916, was based on the standardized railway project No. 252/H. It included a passenger building consisting of two perpendicular tracts, each serving different functions (one for public use and the other housing the stationmaster’s apartment). Additionally, the project included a warehouse with a loading ramp. Transport services were to be managed via two railway tracks. The construction was carried out by architect Václav Rejchl in collaboration with his son, Václav Rejchl Jr. The authorship of the modified project is attributed to them.
The single-story station building, featuring a visible stone foundation wall and a distinctive half-hipped roof adorned with oval dormers, naturally blended into the character of the village, which at the time was still predominantly rural. Its picturesque design contributed to this harmony. The façade was modestly decorated with cornices beneath the windows and chambranles framing the three-part windows. A wooden decorative porch with a platform extended toward the tracks.
The stations building’s floor plan was divided into two sections, each with a separate entrance. The eastern wing was designed for public use and housed the vestibule, waiting room, and offices. The perpendicular western wing housed the stationmaster’s private quarters, which included two rooms, a kitchen, and sanitary and operational facilities on the ground floor, with an additional room and attic spaces in the upper level. The living area also had a basement.
East of the station building, there was the warehouse, a single-story brick structure with a rectangular floor plan, covered with a saddle roof and lined with brick ramps. Its façade, featuring a stone foundation wall, was accentuated by pilaster strips and cornices made of exposed, unplastered masonry.
In the following years, particularly with the increase in freight transport in Slezské Předměstí, the Directorate of State Railways in Hradec Králové repeatedly petitioned for the station to be expanded. These requests, citing the “unsustainable situation at the local train station” due to a “a lack of suitable tracks for unloading and loading full-area shipments” and “the accumulation of wagons at the station”, were strongly supported not only by the local government but also by the region’s most prominent company—Pilnáček’s soap factory. As a result, the number of tracks was gradually increased, and the station underwent partial modifications. In February 1941, a plan was drawn up to expand the loading yard and the station building. This proposal included demolishing the existing station structure to make way for a new reception building and extending the warehouse both westward and eastward. However, these ambitious plans were not realized.
In August 1942, a pair of signal boxes was completed by Václav Hnilička’s construction company from Třebechovice pod Orebem. Positioned at the western and eastern edges of the station, these late modernist single-story brick buildings featured shed roofs and ribbon windows. Their façades combined exposed, unplastered masonry with plastered surfaces. That same year, a new loading ramp was constructed at the station, intended for use by the Wehrmacht. Prison labor was employed in its construction.
Minor construction work continued at the station in the following decades. The passenger building, though preserved in its original form, has been insulated in recent years. Unfortunately, its once-decorated façade was inappropriately unified, and its original windows were replaced with lower-quality substitutes, significantly altering the building’s overall appearance. The warehouse building, which remains in a more authentic state, is now occupied by a sports shop. However, several smaller operational buildings have disappeared over the years. Within the train station complex, the western signal box has been the most faithfully preserved structure.
KK
Monument Preservation
No protection has been registered.
Sources
- Státní oblastní archiv v Praze, fond Ředitelství státních drah Hradec Králové, inv. č. 594, kt. 92 (nezpracováno)
- Státní oblastní archiv v Praze, fond Ředitelství státních drah Hradec Králové, inv. č. 1769, kt. 649 (nezpracováno)
- Státní oblastní archiv v Praze, fond Ředitelství státních drah Hradec Králové, inv. č. 1775, kt. 692 (nezpracováno)
- Státní oblastní archiv v Praze, fond Ředitelství státních drah Hradec Králové, inv. č. 1793, kt. 782 (nezpracováno)
- Státní oblastní archiv v Praze, fond Ředitelství státních drah Hradec Králové, inv. č. 1800, kt. 817 (nezpracováno)
- Státní okresní archiv Hradec Králové, fond archiv obce Slezské Předměstí, inv. č. 81, kt. 7
Literature
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KREJČÍK, Mojmír. Česká nádraží. Architektura a stavební vývoj / Tschechische Bahnhöfe. Architektur und Baugeschichte / Czech railway stations. Architecture and development. Litoměřice: Vydavatelství dopravní literatury, 2013. s. 219.
