The Cottage of Max Švabinský

The Cottage of Max Švabinský (No. 50) in Kozlov near Česká Třebová is situated at the outskirts of the village of Kozlov below the top of the Kozlov hill.

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Its first recorded inhabitant was a national revivalist, philosopher and a revolutionist František Emanuel Welz (1816-1890). This remarkable thinker was born in the nearby town of Litomyšl, where he completed the secondary school and later he studied here philosophy too. He continued studying philosophy and later on law in Vienna, where he earned some extra money as an educator in noble families.

In 1848 he took part at revolutionary events in Prague. When the revolution was suppressed, he went away for seclusion to Česká Třebová, where he was living at the Rybičkas´ family. In 1883 he left for Kozlov to find his final retreat at the so called Pecháček´s farmhouse. Welz spent the final years of his life by writing his memoirs and especially by reading of literature which was being sent to him as the only luxury of his modest life. When he died in 1890, he left quite an extensive library in the cottage. The library was partially bequeathed to the village of Kozlov, partially to the town of Litomyšl. The Kozlov cottage became lonesome, but not for a long time.

The Vejrychs, Mr. Švabinský and Kozlov

In spring 1891 the Prague railwayman Rudolf Vejrych Sr.´s family was looking for a suitable summer residence. As the wagon master Vejrych knew well natural beauties of the region of Česká Třebová, they were searching therefore just here. The mother Josefa and her son Karel were to ask about some suitable building at the railway station of Česká Třebová and right here they were told about just now emptied cottage in the village of Kozlov. The Vejrychs were fond of that place and decided to rent this building. So since the year 1891 the Kozlov cottage had its regular visitors: Mr. Rudolf and Mrs. Josefa Vejrychs with their children Karel, Rudolf and Ela together with their grandmother Josefa. In 1895 they were joined by one more person. He was an Ela´s boyfriend, a young ambitious student of Prague Painting Academy Maxmilián Švabinský (1873-1962). The young couple met in the same year in Prague at the Czecho-Slavic Ethnographic Exhibition and already after Christmas 1895 Max accepted the Vejrychs´ invitation to spend several free days with them in Kozlov. The Kozlov countryside, distinctive inhabitants as well as the cottage itself enchanted the young artist and inspired him artistically so much that up till now we referred to that time as the Švabinský´s "Kozlov Period".

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A list of pieces of art belonging to this painter's life period would be quite extensive as well as a variety of used techniques. Both individual and group portraits and especially landscape scenes that originated right at Kozlov or drew their inspiration thematically were carried out by Max Švabinský in oil painting, drawing, combined techniques or in graphics.

The most beautiful and famous pieces of art include: The Rounded Portrait (Kulatý portrét) (1897); The Rose Portrait (Růžový portrét) (1898); The Poor Countryside (Chudý kraj) (1900), At the Loom (U stavu) (1901), Two Mothers (Dvě matky) (1903); Granny in a Shawl (Babička v šálu) (1903); The Great Family Portrait (Velký rodinný portrét) (1905), The Small Family Portrait (Malá rodinná podobizna ) (1912), The Summer Day (Letní den) (1906), The White Camellia (Bílá kamélie) (1911), The Summer Night (Letní noc) (1911). In 1910 here, on the new frontage of the former Pecháček´s farmhouse to be precise, he created a sgraffiti called The Mowing Woman (Žnečka).

Close relation of Max Švabinský with Kozlov became even stronger in 1900 when he married Ela Vejrych. The ceremony itself took place in the decanal "Church of the Raising of the Holy Cross" ("Povýšení svatého Kříže") in Litomyšl, wedding reception was held in the Hurt´s pub in the neighbourhood of the Pecháček´s farmhouse in Kozlov. In the same year the Kozlov cottage, now too tight for a growing family, was radically changed. Karel Vejrych attached to the original old part of the house a new, more spacious part with a large kitchen and a spacious light room, equipped with the furniture designed by Rudolf Vejrych. In the attic a small room appeared, due to its shape nicknamed "Suitcase" serving as a Švabinský´s artist workroom. The gable of the new part of cottage was decorated by Mr. Švabinský together with Rudolf Vejrych and Otakar Vaňáč with the scene "Saint Wenceslas Receives the Gifts".

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Around the year 1915 the relationship between Ela and Max got complicated. The married couple became estranged from one another, so Mr. Švabinský stopped visiting Kozlov. He came for the last time in 1919 to attend a funeral of Ela's father Rudolf Vejrych. The "Kozlov Period" came to its end after twenty-four years. In 1930 they got divorced and one year later Mr. Švabinský married his former sister-in-law Anna, the first wife of Mr. Rudolf Vejrych Jr. Anna was another great inspiration for Max. In 1945 he adopted her daughter from her first marriage, Zuzana.

Beside such a distinct painter personality, as Max Švabinský was, there was another personality growing up at the Vejrychs' family, the Ela's brother Rudolf (1882-1939). This art-industrial school and Prague Academy graduate was an art editor of the magazine „The Topič's Anthology" (Topičův sborník), later he established a private painting school at Vinohrady. He dedicated a series of his works to Kozlov, such as "A Field Path above the Valley" (Polní cesta nad Dolíkem) (1924); "The Valley in Kozlov" (Dolík v Kozlově) (approx. 1924); "The Kozlov Road" (Kozlovská silnice ) (approx. 1928), "Loundrywomen" (Pradleny) (approx. 1926).

Another one from the Vejrychs´ brothers Karel (1873-1930) had a great musical talent since his childhood. He graduated at conservatory, studied in Výmar, in Frankfurt above Mohan, in Paris. Later on he accepted the post of a piano-play professor in Kišiněv. Meanwhile his family lived in Kozlov at the so called Pecháček´s farmhouse. In 1911 Karel Vejrych left his professor post, settled in Kozlov and made a living at farming. His activities meant a good benefit for the village, because this travelled man initiated construction of a road connecting Kozlov with Česká Třebová, i.e. of the road, which carries the name of Max Švabinský till now. Later on Karel with his wife moved to Prague, he is buried in v Kozlov.

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After the death of Rudolf Vejrych Sr. and leaving of Max Švabinský the old part of Kozlov cottage was inhabited by Josefa Vejrych and its new part by Ela. At the end of her life Josefa Vejrych summed up her memories from her life into the books "How Kozlov Used to Be Like" (Jak bývalo v Kozlově) (1924) and "At the Old Times" (Ze starých časů) (1931). Both the works were accompanied by Švabinský´s illustrations.

From then on, Ela Švabinská lived in Kozlov by a lively social life and kept an open house. Her visitors included the composer Bohuslav Martinů, a primarius of the Czech Philharmonics Stanislav Novák, the French piano player Blanche Selva, the Ela´s friend Marie Majerová. Also the professor Zdeněk Nejedlý and his student Mirko Novák and many others used to come here.

During the Second World War Ela co-operated with the communists and consequently she was taken into custody by Gestapo and imprisoned in the concentration camp in Ravensbrück till the end of the war. After war she dedicated her time to writing of her memoirs that were issued in 1960, titled as "The Memoirs from Young Life Years" (Vzpomínky z mládí). She died in 1967 and she was buried at the small Kozlov cemetery together with other members of her family.

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After the death of Ela Švabinská the Kozlov cottage became the property of Rudolf and Anna Vejrychs´daughter Zuzana Švabinský - Vejrych (1912-2004), an adopted daughter of Max Švabinský, who was taking care of the cottage for many years and visited it nearly till her death. She had also written her memoirs about the Vejrychs´ family, Max Švabinský and Kozlov on pages of the book "The Lights of memory" (Světla paměti) (2002). Shortly before the death of Mrs. Zuzana the cottage with preserved furnishing was sold to the town of Česká Třebová. Soon after an extensive reconstruction of the whole building began with an intention to create here an exposition reminding of life stories of the Vejrychs´ family and Max Švabinský. A festive opening of the reconstructed Max Švabinský´s Cottage including a new exposition was held in June 2007.