Kocelovice, Czech Republic

Submitted by Jason Cadek

Kocelovice is a municipality and village in Strakonice District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It lies approximately 15 miles north of Strakonice, 45 miles north-west of České Budějovice, and 50 miles south-west of Prague.

History: First mention in written sources was in 1352. The village was the seat of lords from Kocelovice, the last of whom were the brothers Beneš and Zdeněk, who in 1372, together with other zemans, appointed a new parish priest to the local church. In 1419, the Kocelovice fortress was held by Jan Mládenec from Újezd, who in 1433 sold it for 1,300 groschen to Petar Zmrzlík from Svojšin to the Lnáře manorial estate. The local fortress disappeared after the annexation of the manor to the Lnáře estate in the second half of the 15th century. According to some reports, the whole village burned down in 1625, but already by1654 there were many farms and cottages.
Parish Church: Kostel Sv. Bartoloměje (Saint Bartholomew) was first mentioned in 1360 and represents an interesting example of rural church architecture from the end of the early Gothic period with preserved remains of the fortifications in the massive cemetery wall. Parish priests lived near the church until 1425, after which the parish was not occupied during the Hussite Wars. Adjacent to the southern part of the building is a belfry with an approximately square plan. In 1678, a new bell tower was built on the site of the old one, which had already been repaired several times. 1786 A rectory was established at the Lnáře monastery, and the Kocelovice church was attached to this rectory. The monastery spiritual administration took care of the entrusted church carefully. Extensive repairs were made in 1989-1990. In 2001, it was possible to restore regular services in the church of St. Bartholomew every Wednesday and the first Friday of the month.

Population:

1654 (Municipal Chronicle) – 16 dvůry (farms) and 12 chalup (cottages):

• Jakub Vantura, # 22 & 28, “Vanturovna” built in 1628
• Jakub Stanek, #38, built in 1644 by Jiri Stanek
• Vaclav Cadek, #43 – “u Cadku” built in 1628
• Jan Spalek #2 – “u Spalku”, built in 1622 by Stanek Hlavac
• Pavel Jansky, # 10 – “u Hlinu”, built in 1628 by Jan Jansky
• Duchoslav Machovec, #41 built in 1622 by Jakub Machovec
• Jan Mlynarik, #37 – “u Jandu” built in 1622 by Pavel Kacicka
• Tomas Drnek, #39 built in 1651 by Jan Drnek
• Jiri Chvatal, #27, built in 1630
• Vaclav Fismistr, #18 & 19, “u Kousela” and “u Polaku” built in 1654
• Vaclav Svatek, #5 & 6, built in 1628 by Jan Svatek
• Marek Radil, #7&8, built in 1628 by Vaclav Radil
• o Jan Balik, #11 – “u Baliku”, built in 1622 by Buryan Balik
• o Jan Baloun, #20 & 21 – “u Balounu” built in 1628
• Vorsila Krejcova, #29, built in 1654
• Jakub Koza, #44 – “u Kozu” built in 1622 by Kaspar Hlavac
• Jan Letosinka, #23 – “u Balikovska” built in 1654
• Vondra Kolar, #30 – “u Levych” built in 1630
• Franek Fryzek, #4 “u Slanku” built in 1654
• Jakub Mann, #13 built in 1622 by Klement Ledabyl
• Jiri Pobruda, #33 “u becvaru” built in 1654
• Martin Necuda, #34 “u Kovariku” built in 1622
• Ondrej Kolar, #35 bult in 1654
• Jakub Topinka, #45 “u Topinku” built in 1654
• Ondrej Kulhavy, #17, “u Hanicku”, built in 1654
• Matej Jansky,
• Barta Fort, formerly between #29 and 30, built in 1644 by Adma Chvojky
• Jan Krystof, #14 “u Pallejchu”, built in 1654

1787 (Chronicle) – 287 inhabitants – 47 houses

1857 (Chronicle) – 516 Catholics and 2 Jewish families – 58 houses

1900 (Chronicle/Census) – 574 inhabitants – 78 houses

1921 (Census) – 472 inhabitants – 82 houses

2023 (Czech Statistical Office) – 162 inhabitants – 94 houses

Digitized Vital Records:
State Regional Archive in Plzeň under the village of Kasejovice

• Births: 1646 – 1786
• Marriages: 1656 – 1786
• Deaths: 1667 – 1786

State Regional Archive in Třeboň

• Births: 1787 – 1911
• Marriages: 1787 – 1895
• Deaths: 1787 – 1884, indexed thru 1895

Censuses: 1880, 1890, 1910 and 1921.
Seignorial Register: 1845 – Lňare estate
Municipal Chronicle: 1924-1939 provides a chronology of the village’s history, ownership and dates of original for each of the houses, as well as several historic maps and diagrams.

Personal history: My Cadek family traces back to Kocelovice as early as 1692, when my 7th great grandfather, Bartoloměj Čadek was born there. His mother, Anna Spalek was native to Kocelovice, born there in 1667. Bartoloměj’s father Vavřinec Čadek born in 1665 was from the village of Říšte. The original family home was #43 built in 1628. However, my immigrant 2x great grandfather, Vaclav Čadek was born in house #53. It was built around 1827 by his father. Vaclav’s mother was from Kocelovice also, she was Anna Češka, the daughter of František who served as the rychtář for domain. František Češky was from Uzenice, but married Veronika Drnek and moved to Kocelovice in 1807. Their grandson, Vaclav Cadek, my 2x great grandfather left Kocelovice in 1882 coming to Chicago via Hamburg ultimately landing in Valley County, Nerbaska. While his descendants still live in the county 140 years later, the Čadek ancestral village can be traced back more than 330 years earlier and Čadeks still live in Kocelovice today.