A history of the town
1. The beginnings of the town, the Middle Ages
The first traces of human settlement in the region come from the Neolithic Age (ca 5000 BC.). The early medieval settlement of Prostějov arose probably in the area of the present Petrské Sq. and Újezd Street. The market village in the area of the present Main Sq. developed from the mid-13th century.
1141 the named of the village of Prostějovice appears for the first time in the historical records
1213 the King of Bohemia Přemysl I. and the Margrave of Moravia Vladislav Jindřich stayed in Prostějov
the 13th century Prostějov is mentioned as a market village with a toll-gate
1359 the owners of Prostějov are Čeněk and Ondřej of Šelemberk (from this time until 1848, Prostějov has the status of subject to feudal lords)
1365 Prostějov is mentioned as a small town
before 1390 Prostějov was acquired by the Lords of Kravaře, and attached to the Plumlov Domain
1390 Margrave Jošt awards Prostějov the privilege of holding annual fairs (tantamount to its promotion to town)
1391 Petr of Kravaře founded the monastery of the Canonical Order of the Augustinian Friars
1406 the privilege awarded by Petr of Kravaře extends the municipal rights by introducing the Olomouc (Magdeburg) Right, replacing the former Brno Right
before 1430 the incursion of the Hussites and destruction of the Augustinian Monastery
1431 the town is ransacked by the troops of Albrecht of Austria
1454 the beginnings of the Jewish community
1466 the succession of the House of the Lords of Kravaře on the spear side becomes extinct, until 1495 it belonged to Johanka of Kravaře and to her husband Jan Heralt of Kunštát
1486 Prostějov is awarded the privilege of a second annual fair by King Matthias Corvinus.
2. The Early Modern Age
The Plumlov Domain and the town of Prostějov successively belonged to two important noble families: from 1495 - 1599 to the Lords of Perštejn, and from 1599 - 1848 to the Dukes of Liechtenstein. Whilst in the 16th century (in the "golden age" of the towns) Prostějov was bustling with life and the town was rapidly developing, its renewal following the Thirty Years' War was very slow. A revival started in the 18th century (Jewish trade, foundation of masteries, development of the arts, etc.).
1495 Vratislav I. of Pernštejn started erection of town stone walls
1499 the first mention of the Bohemian (Moravian) Brethren; the community was strengthened after the ban on the Unity of Brethren in Bohemia (1547)
1522 abolition of the monastery of the order of Augustinians, the parsonage is held by the Utraquists (Calixtines)
1521 – 1540 the activities of the sculptors and builders workshop founded by Jan of Pernštejn (the Old Town Hall, the Stately home, the portal of the Black Yard)
1527 Epistles to the Brethren in Boleslav, the first book printed in Czech on Moravian territory by Jan Dubčanský, was published by the printing office of Kašpar Aorg
1578 – 1582 reconstruction of the Stately Home by Vratislav II. of Pernštejn
1583 the town-clerk Jan Bělkovsky of Rousov started ”The Memorial Books of the Town of Prostějov”
1599 the municipality provided finances for Karel of Liechtenstein, enabling him to purchase the Plumlov Domain
1622 – 1628 the start of re-Catholization, expulsion of people of different faiths (dissenters)
1643 the destructive Swedish foray
1697 the great fire
1727 – 1730 foundation of the Monastery of Monks Hospitallers
1728 construction of the Imperial Road (Vienna -) Brno - Prostějov - Olomouc (- Silesia, Poland)
1754/1755 the famous painter F. A. Sebastini settles and works in Prostějov (died in 1789)
1756 (1764) foundation of the hospice (monastery) of the Order of Capuchins)
3. From the Enlightenment to 19th century industrialisation
The reforms of the Enlightenment (Age of Reason) had a considerable impact in the spheres of medicine, health, education, religion, and municipal administration. The foundations of modern life in Prostejov, however, were during the period of industrialisation in the 19th century (Gründerzeit). Thanks namely to the strong Jewish community Prostějov became an important industrial centre. The beginnings of the mass clothing production reach peak to the eighteen-forties, and by the end of the 19th century Prostějov held a leading position in the field in the Austro-Hungarian Empire (manufacturing one-third of all clothing manufactured in the country). According to 1872 and 1890 census Prostějov was the third most populous town in Moravia, after Brno and Jihlava. In the l860 and 70s various cultural and civic associations and athletic clubs arose, such as: Měšt'anská beseda Sokol, Orlice, Vlastimila and the Association of Amateur Actors.
1784 abolition of the monastery of the Capuchin Order by Emperor Joseph II.
1886 introduction of regulated "Josephinian" municipal administration (strengthening the influence the state executive to the detriment of the municipal self-government)
1801 foundation of the cloth mill of Veith Ehrenstamm
1823 the esplanade (the first promenade in Prostějov) replacing the town walls in the north
1849 foundation of the Book-club
1850 administrative reforms: the municipal administration replaced by an office reporting to a Board Representatives
1855 Prostejov becomes the seat of an administrative district
1869 the beginning of the demolition of the town fortifications
1870 opening of the railway line Nezamyslice - Prostějov - Olomouc; gasworks (public lighting)
1871 foundation of a Czech "real-school" (non-classical secondary school) by the "Civic Credit-bank”
1873 foundation of the Záložna Credit Association (and Pawn-office)
1878 foundation of the František Wichterle Engineering Works, which merged (1919) with the engineering works of František and Josef Kovařík (founded in 1894)
1882 foundation of the Manufacturers' Union, which, in 1884, initiated the foundation of the Museum
1885 foundation of the Municipal Hospital; foundation of the Konečný & Nedělník Co. (who realized most architectural projects of importance in the town up to 1930)
4. The Turn of the Century
A period of all-round development, which was especially intense in the sphere of culture.
1892 Czech majority in the Town Hall, the Mayor elect is Karel Vojáček (died in 1898), Prostějov becomes largest town in Moravia with Czech administration
1893 The Ethnographic Exhibition; a provisional town planning regulation
1898 the electrification of Prostějov
1899 foundation of a (Czech) classical college (secondary school)
1900 foundation of the new Municipal Cemetary
1906 – 1907 erection of the National House
1907 foundation of the firm of Theodor Dostal, since 1909 Vulkania Co-operative, for the manufactured works of art made from metal
1908 opening of the Municipal Museum in the adapted building of the Old Town Hall
1911 – 1914 erection of the New Town Hall
1917 bloody repression of the demonstration of the hungry workers
5. From the foundation of the Czechoslovak Republic up to the present day
The economic and cultural development of Prostějov continued after 1918. Later it was paralysed by the Nazi occupation and by the totalitarian Communist government. Among the "socialist construction works" let us mention the circle of prefabricated blocks of flats around Prostějov (built in 1963 - 1990), the extensive demolition in historical centre, and the department store at the T. G. Masaryk Square.
1922 contract for the building of a military airfield
1923 approval of the town planning by J. Kumpošt and J. Peňáz (an important architectural complet of náměstí Spojenců, Square of the Allies, with its surrounding streets).
1933 – 1936 activities of the Reysek Centre of Creative Artists of the Haná Region
1933 – 1945 the outcome of WW II.: ca 1430 dead (1300 of them Jews), the beginning of the liquidation of Jewish community
1947 – 1951 construction of the new railway station
1953 a daring popular protest against the removal of them statue of T. G. Masaryk from the square
1968 three citizens shot dead by the Soviet occupation troops
1990 after 44 years the first free elections; the historical centre of Prostějov declared an urban conservation zone.