PORTALS OF CHEB
OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF CITY CHEB
TOURIST INFOCENTRE
HISTORICAL CHEB FOUNDATION
CULTURAL CENTER SVOBODA
WEST CZECH THEATER CHEB
CITY LIBRARY IN CHEB
PERSONALITIES
ING. DOMINIK KREUNZINGER
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Ing. Dominik Kreunzinger
Birthdate: March 21, 1856
Date of death: April 21, 1903
Dominik Kreunzinger was born on 21st March 1856 in Cheb, as the eldest child of the Cheb butcher and owner of real estate Adam Kreunzinger and Marie Theresie. Dominic studied at the Technical University in Vienna, and after returning to Cheb, he worked as the chief engineer in the oldest Cheb engineering works of Mathias Fischer. In 1891, he became the shareholder and in 1899, he became the owner of the company, which he led to great prosperity. This very talented and scientifically educated man belonged to modern entrepreneurs of his time. With gradual accumulation of capital and social prestige, he managed to ascend among the business and social elite of the city, from a simple handicraft environment. After the war and the collapse of the monarchy, the original machine shop and foundry was forced to leave lucrative Balkan market, but it remained practically in its pre-war size until the forties of the 20th century.
Dominik Kreunzinger, who also worked in the City Council since 1892, worked for the common good as well, and established a foundation to build a public library in Cheb in his will. Dominik Kreunzinger died on 21st April 1903 in the north Italian Arc. After his death, the company was led by his younger brother Karl and sister Barbara. In compliance with his legacy, the Teplice architect Max Loos von Lisimfeldt designed the building, which was built by the Cheb architect F. Kraus in the years 1909 – 1910. It became the most significant Art Nouveau building in the city. The Public Library of Dominik Kreunzinger was ceremonially opened on 12th February 1911. The library, combined with lecture hall for 300 people, then truly became one of the new cultural centres of the city. Its premises hosted a number of regular lectures about science, art, or local research. It also held recitation, music and singing performances. Book collection grew nicely and in 1931, it already numbered 15,380 volumes. In the same year, the library recorded a total of 2,500 readers. Thus the legacy of Dominik Kreunzinger was fulfilled.
The building was opened as the Czech Public City Library only on 28th October 1946. At that time, there were about 75,000 German books from various collections and confiscated property, and only 341 Czech books.
Compiled by: Eva Bastlová
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