Česky
The Road to Our Own Hospital: Four Decades of Waiting
Healthcare is one of the greatest benefits a local authority can offer its residents. During the 19th century, the Beroun region experienced a rapid boom in industry and trade, which, however, went hand in hand with a growing and urgent need for a high-quality healthcare facility. Although a modern hospital had been operating in Králův Dvůr since 1897, it served mainly the workers at the local Karlo-Emil steelworks.
The first concrete ideas for building a healthcare facility in Beroun emerged as early as the 1880s. An architectural competition was even organised, and a plot of land between Městská hora and what is now the Velké sídliště housing estate was selected for the construction. Although the plans and necessary permits were in place, and the region had sufficient funds thanks to its economic boom, there was a lack of political will. Years of endless debate followed, centring on whether to divide healthcare into smaller districts or to establish a branch in Litni. As a result, the original plan had to wait a full four decades to be realised .
A bold decision and an architectural gem
It was not until the establishment of an independent Czechoslovakia that the crucial impetus was provided. In 1921, the newly established District Administrative Commission asked the ministry to build a county hospital. When the state rejected the request for obvious financial reasons, the commission decided to take matters into its own hands and finance the construction using local resources and loans.
A quiet site in the Závodí district was chosen for the building , whose great advantage was its proximity to a source of high-quality drinking water. The land was purchased from Mr and Mrs Brotánek, and the design by the renowned Prague architect, Ing. Karel Roštík, won the competition. A total of 153 companies entered the extensive tender process, 60 of which were awarded contracts – almost half of them were based in Beroun itself.
Work began in August 1927. Within a single year, the shell of the building, the access road and all the utility networks were in place. When the hospital was completed in 1929, its state-of-the-art equipment made it one of the most modern healthcare facilities in the country. The total cost amounted to a considerable sum for the time : over 20.5 million crowns.
For the welfare of the suffering
The official opening took place on 1 December 1929 in front of a granite monolith situated in front of the surgical wing, on which was carved the apt inscription: “Built for the welfare of the suffering by the district council between 1927 and 1929.”
It is interesting to note that the historical fates of both hospitals were intertwined from the very beginning. At the time of its opening, the Beroun hospital was known as the General Public District Hospital, and its legal owner was the Hořovice District Office, under whose jurisdiction Beroun fell at the time. It was only following the reorganisation of the administrative divisions in 1936 that the District Office in Beroun took over full administration. In the meantime, in 1935, the hospital was given the honorary name ‘Masaryk Hospital’.
Whilst the inhabitants of the Hořovice area travelled to Beroun for medical care in those years and had to wait until the 1950s and 1960s for their own hospital, Beroun was already fully serving all those in need.
The present day: Two hospitals, one shared goal
Today, the Rehabilitation Hospital Beroun and Hospital Hořoviceare closepartners and sister institutions, which together provide care for the wider region. They complement one another and build on a long tradition whose roots stretch deep into the last century.
On the occasion of the 70th anniversary celebrations of Hospital Hořovice, we therefore also pay tribute to those who, almost a century ago in Beroun, championed and built a facility that still serves its original purpose today – for the benefit of those in need.
In the gallery below the article, you will find photographs depicting the history of the Beroun Hospital and an invitation to the Hospital Hořovice celebrations.
This text was produced in collaboration with Jiří Topinka, MA, from the Beroun State District Archives.
