War time

The World War one affected Kostelec severely as well. The production decline, hunger-supplying and meaningless sacrifice of 113 dead – that was the result of the wartime fury. In 1921, the number of citizens dropped to 3777. Yet, out of the wartime suffering our nation acquired its independence and a new, important period of the town has begun. First, the entrepreneurial activity has regenerated –a new generation of entrepreneurs came to the textile production. The town got rid of the limitations of the Austrian bureaucracy and dared to realize the venturous projects of the construction of the public buildings as well as the communal construction. In 1925, a new theatre, built out of a public gathering and gains from amateur actor’s plays, was opened. Two years later, a new boy elementary school was opened and in the next years, the appearance of the square was modernized too. A savings bank building has been built on the north side; on the south side, there were the mutual savings bank and the Šrejber hotel building. In 1932 a construction of the Sokol house and the Tyrš`s stadium was completed. In the area in front of the theatre there was a nice Smetana`s park originated. The whole culture site dominated the monument to the people, who died in the World war one, dedicated in 22nd September 1929. All these achievements could the town show proudly to its most precious visitor – the president of the republic T. G. Masaryk, who visited our town on 12th July 1926.

The town expanded quickly and by 1940, it reached 5365 citizens. A building activity was also remarkable. A quarter of family houses arose at the place of former pond Rybčina.
Almost 450 houses were built in 20 years! New streets arose, all the main streets, together with the pavements, were paved, the town built a water supply and the modern water reservoir was built on Chrby. The purity of the town was renowned. In the summer, there functioned a perfectly maintained swimming pool on the Brodský pond and the tourists were taking care of tens of kilometers of tourist paths. All these made of Červený Kostelec a sought-after resort in a centrer of Jirásek`s region. Than came the “Munich” after which the town found itself close to the border with Germany. Citizens showed solidarity with the people, who escaped from the occupied borderland and did not even reconcile with the Nazi occupation. In an illegal fight, in which fought people of various social origin and politics died 24 people from the town and its vicinity. The most heroic chapter in a history of this struggle wrote the members of the Sokol`s rebellious group S 21 B, who were hiding the last member of the London parachute unit – Jiří Potůček-Tolar in Bohdašín and Končiny and most of whom paid for it with their lives. On 10th May 1945, citizens of our town waited to see their liberation as well. The war interrupted the town’s development for five years. Still in 1939 the big investment wave, which led to building another seven textile factories, culminated. Nevertheless, during the war, these factories decreased their output and some of them were forced to change to an arms production.