The pavilion over the Gallaš Spring represents the symbolic culmination of Karel Kotasʼ continuous architectural and urban planning activities for the Teplice nad Bečvou spa in the 1930s. The author transformed the traditional motif of a park gloriette into a modern form with a functionalist signature, thus building smoothly on his previous works here.
The last part to be added to the spa centre in the years between the wars was a shelter over the new spring. It is the deepest borehole in the spa (143 m), and is named after Dr. Josef Heřman Agapit Gallaš (1756-1840), a doctor, writer, painter, and ʻawakenerʼ (an active propounder of the Czech National Revival). Gallaš established a hospital in his house, taught children, collected books and materials for his literary activities, and wrote an extensive history of the town of Hranice. He belonged among the enlightened scholars of Moravia. The location of the pavilion itself also contributed to the importance of the spring, as according to Kotasʼ design it is located on a busy path between the restaurant, connected to the main Bečva sanatorium, and the Slovenka (today Mariupol) spa building. It was built during the spring of 1939 by Vladimír Hudec, a builder from Hranice. The form of the Gallaš Spring Pavilion follows that of the traditional gloriettes that are typical of castle parks. It is a circular building, with a fountain in the middle with a mineral water spring; eight columns rise from the base and support the roof. However, Kotas significantly reduced the common architectural language of buildings of this type to basic geometric shapes. He used a flat roof, a smooth, unadorned surface and modern reinforced concrete construction. In this case, the characteristic structure of the gloriette was transformed into a structurally clean, expressively contemporary form so that it was stylistically consistent with the concept of the new construction of the spa in the 1930s. The pavilion, which has been a protected monument since 1990, has been a distinctive landmark in terms of its form, location, and the characteristics of the spring itself from the time of its creation to the present day and is also one of the most visited places in the spa. LJ (translation by SG)
Selected literature
Ivan Wahla (ed.), Karel Kotas: 1894–1973, Brno 2021. Tomáš Pospěch, Hranice, Teplice nad Bečvou a okolí. Architektura 1815–2018, Hranice 2018. Lubomír Zeman – Pavel Zatloukal, Slavné lázně Čech, Moravy a Slezska, Praha 2014.
Pavel Zatloukal – Vítězslav Kollmann, Moravské lázně v proměnách dvou staletí (exhibition catalogue), Oblastní galerie výtvarných umění v Olomouci 1987, p. 129.
Sources
Josef Heřman Agapit Gallaš, Muzeum a galerie Hranice, https://muzeum-hranice.cz/osobnost/gallas-josef-herman-agapit/, accessed 25.8.2024.
Pavilón Gallašova pramene, Památkový katalog, https://www.pamatkovykatalog.cz/pavilon-gallasova-pramene-19048092, accessed 25.8.2024.
