PORTALS OF CHEB
OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF CITY CHEB
TOURIST INFOCENTRE
HISTORICAL CHEB FOUNDATION
CULTURAL CENTER SVOBODA
WEST CZECH THEATER CHEB
CITY LIBRARY IN CHEB
SIGHTS
HOUSES ON THE SQUARE AND THE PEDESTRIAN ZONE
HEINRICH WELZEL’S HOUSE / GLORIA PALAST CINEMA
BACK TO LIST
Heinrich Welzel’s House / Gloria Palast Cinema
Accessible to the public only during operating hours of the businesses residing here.
A small industrial building was located on the plot of Michael Fischer in the 1870s. The Fischer’s plot was purchased by wine merchant Heinrich Welzel in 1887. Two years later builder Carl Haberzettl developed a plan of a two floor block of flats and department store presenting a solution which was used many times before with accentuated side avant-corps. It is of interest that Haberzettl designed an extensive cellar stretching under the whole site all the way to today’s Dukelská Street for Welzel. The underground spaces were used for storing barrels with wine. There were shops on the ground floor, with a wine shop among others. Hildegarda Heinz purchased the ownership shares from Welzel’s heirs in 1936, becoming an owner of the building and a spacious plot as well. In the same year, Rudolf Seidl started carrying out his plan to build the Gloria Palast cinema. He situated the building into the yard space. Even though the Land Office in Prague prohibited the cinema’s operation, the local administration allowed its building and approved its operation. Along with its construction a significant rebuilding of the block of flats took place; the house had another floor added to it, besides other things. The building used as the cinema entrance received a facade drawing inspiration from the Purist-Functionalist architecture from the inter-war era. The cinema construction and house renovation project was developed by the building company “Ing. Franz J. Prosch und Karl L. Prosch” from Františkovy Lázně. The buildings were transferred into national administration in 1947. The cellars, which used to serve as war shelters, were gradually filled in and the building of the cinema itself was blasted down. In 1964 there were some plans to have the main building rebuilt into a house of culture but the Clothing House Ohře (later Tón) was given preference. It was opened in 1967. Modifications of the ground floor and facade where new windows were inserted took place on this occasion.
Authors of the text:
Zbyněk Černý – Karel Halla – Hana Knetlová
Literature:
Zbyněk Černý – Karel Halla – Hana Knetlová, Que procedit. Historie pěší zóny v Chebu / Geschichte der Fussgängerzone in Eger/ History of the Pedestrian Zone in Cheb, Town of Cheb 2010, p. 109-113.
Owners:
1887 - Heinrich Welzel
1932 - Heinrich Welzel’s heirs
1936 - Hildegard Heinz
1947 - National administration
1949 - Town of Cheb
Design:
Carl Haberzettl / Franz J. Prosch and Karl L. Prosch
Reconstructions:
1936
Show more
Share
ADDRESS
