Antonín Beba

Paradoxically, the life and work of one of Litomyšl's most active building constructors of the late 19th century to the mid 1920s, Antonín Beba, remains relatively unknown to the present day. He was a member of a local family of builders – the Bebas, which had a long tradition in the business. Antonín's great-grandfather Jan Jiří was especially famous as a bricklayer's foreman in the services of the Valdstein-Vartembergs during the Bartoque period. Modification work to house No 61, the so-called Panský dům in today's Smetana Square, is just one of his many achievements.

Antonín Beba's buildings and numerous sketches or designs for architecture competitions are proof of his endeavours to react to almost all architecture styles of the time – from Neo-Romantic through Neo-Renaissance to Neo-Baroque – the latter being especially close to his heart, possibly a consequence of his great-grandfather's work. Beba's designs for the architecture competition for Smetana House (in cooperation with the Viennese architect Richard Esriel) between 1900 and 1901 could be considered his most significant design. The magnificent Neo-Baroque building with its mansard roof has a hint of Viennese-palace architecture about it. However, it would have hardly fitted well into the small-town architecture of Litomyšl.

Beba's remarkable 1920 sketch of the town cinema, which portrays the building as a “picturesque” timber-framed building with a pronounced mansard roof, proves that he had an affinity towards folk architecture and “distinctive” architecture. In fact, he could quite easily have been influenced by the English Art and Crafts movement. The villa “Týnča”, built opposite Litomyšl railway station in 1906, is a fitting example of this tendency.

Antonín Beba, from mid 1924 a senior partner in the construction company Maizl and Beba Junior, had his office in house No 42 in the town square. In 1924, the ownership of his own Neo-Baroque villa at Bernardka, built 1895-1896, was transferred to the Agriculture Health Insurance Agency and, subsequently, to the District Health Insurance Agency; later, during the 1960s, it was completely rebuilt (02-404).
 

Before 1891
Roller mill on the Tiché Orlici River, Dolní Libchavy

Around 1887
St. Peter and Paul Church, Voděrady

1891
Re-Gothicized spire of the Church of the Raising of the Holy Cross, according to a design by Otta Maletz, Litomyšl

1892
Pilňáček house, Smetana Square 66, Litomyšl

1893
Workers' houses, Lidická Street 100–103, Litomyšl

1899
Town abattoir, Družstevní Street 68, Litomyšl

1900–1901
Design competition for Smetana House in Litomyšl (in cooperation with Richard Esriel)

1905
Villa Hess, Radim 63, Radim near Chrudim

1906
Villa „Týnča“, built for Otakar Karlík, Nádražní Street 518, Litomyšl

1906–1907
Workers' houses, V. K. Jeřábka Street 105–108, Litomyšl

1909–1910
Implemented construction of synagogue, according to plans by Čeněk O. Staněk, Litomyšl (later demolished)