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Fryšava pod Žákovou horou, Czech Republic

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Submitted by Marianne Meese

My paternal grandfather was born in č. 70 Fryšava pod Žákovou horou, Moravia in 1900 and I can trace his family in Fryšava back to 1798. My great grandfather chose to leave Fryšava and bring his mother, his wife, my grandfather and my grandfather’s three siblings to the United States in 1906. They began life in the U.S. in Lamona, Washington and moved to Malin, Oregon in 1910- one year after the Czech Colonization Club chose the area to establish a Czech farming community in the American West.

Fryšava pod Žákovou horou is a municipality and village in Žďár nad Sázavou District in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 326 inhabitants. Fryšava was founded at an unspecified time before 1560 on the territory of the Pernštejn estate, between the two previously abandoned settlements of Vlčkovice and Medlov. Its founding is closely linked to the local glassworks, which was first mentioned in a written record from 1560. According to an entry in the Nové Město register of marriage contracts, the glassmaker Mates of Fryšava married off his daughter Apolena at that time.Local history literature has also suggested that the village may have existed earlier under the name Medlánky, mentioned in 1500 in connection with the Pernštejn estate.

In the second half of the 16th century, Fryšava became part of the Nové Město estate and shared its fate. The village’s name is likely of German origin. In 1749, the village received a seal; its coat of arms features a rake with a star above it.

The village of Fryšava stretches for about 2 km on both sides of the Fryšávka Stream, which rises 2 km west of the village and was originally called Vříšť (Bříšť). The Fryšávka flows into the Svratka River in Jimramov. Due to its scenic value, the Fryšávka watershed was listed in the so-called Green Book of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

In 1651, two iron furnaces were established on the Nové Město estate, specifically in Kadov. The furnaces were built before the village of Kadov was founded on land that at that time apparently still belonged to Fryšava, since in 1587, six settlers from Fryšava owned meadows in an area called “na Kadowech.” Concurrently with the establishment of the Kadov iron furnaces, iron ore mining also began near Fryšava in the second half of the 17th century. According to records from 1741, the deposit was located on the southern edge of the village’s cadastral area and was a substantial deposit. The Martin Mine is mentioned in 1802, and the Matěj Mine in 1839. Until the 1850s, fine-grained magnetite with a high iron content was mined here.

The Fryšava glassworks, along with the glassworks in Vříšť, were among the oldest in the Nové Město estate. Fryšava and Vříšť apparently each had two glassworks. In the mid-17th century, the production of Venetian glass was introduced in Fryšava. In 1711, the glassworks was severely damaged by a lightning strike, and in 1718 it burned down completely. Operations were resumed, but records of its activity cease as early as 1729. Products from the final phase of the Fryšava glassworks—particularly souvenir jugs with enameled scenes—are housed at the Horácké Museum in Nové Město na Moravě. The glassworks was located on the site of the former Šínov Inn (No. 42).

Many notable figures lived in Fryšava. Rudolf Gabessam (1852–1912), a forester from Fryšava, acquired skis from Norway in 1891 and was one of the first people in the Nové Město area to use them. In 1922, Jiří Židlický-Harusák (1895–1950) moved into the Fryšava forest ranger’s lodge; he was not only a forester but also a painter and writer. The painter Václav Jícha (1874–1950) lived in Fryšava from 1929 until his death. In 1903, he also brought the poet Otokar Březina to Fryšava. Jícha’s brother-in-law, music teacher and composer Otakar Šín (1881–1943), was born in Rokytná but grew up in Fryšava. He was J. Ježek’s teacher. Woodcarver František Košík was born in Fryšava in 1913; through the Art-centrum, he exhibited his work abroad as well. In 1922, composer Pavel Čotek, an associate professor of music theory at Palacký University in Olomouc, was also born in Fryšava.

From 1944 to 1945, the village served as a stronghold for resistance groups. Their headquarters were located on Fryšavský Hill, northwest of the village, where a memorial now stands. On May 9, 1945, a battle took place in Fryšava between the “Záře” partisan group and the retreating German army. Twelve partisans and five local residents were killed in the battle. All are buried in the local cemetery. A memorial designed by sculptor V. Makovský stands at their grave. Václav Jícha and Otakar Šín are also buried in the Fryšava cemetery.

Václav Jícha’s house is decorated with sgraffito by Karel Němec, a native of Nové Město, dating from 1927 and 1932. In 1931, this painter also decorated the Catholic church—dedicated to St. Matthew and built along with the rectory in 1788—with sgraffito. However, Karel Němec’s sgraffito was whitewashed during later repairs to the church.