The Evangelical Church in Přelouč in the context of contemporary architecture of the Czech ensembles of the Helvetic Confession
Abstract
The Evangelical Church in Přelouč, built in 1905 by architect Jan Mareš based on the plans of the Prague professor of Czech Technical University Rudolf Kříženecký, is a unique site. In this structure, the architect joined the fashionable style of the Czech Neo-Renaissance and inspiration from American "auditorium plan churches".
If the Neo-Renaissance style (in its international variant) enjoyed great popularity among Czech evangelical churches since the 1880's, mainly because it was considered to be less costly than the Gothic style, then the application of American designs was an innovation. The incidence of English and American art in the environment of Czech Protestant churches can already be recorded in the 1880's and 1890's.
The church in Přelouč church, however, is the only building where the American influence is directly provable. Even though the American schema was imported, it corresponds exactly to the requirements of the former Czech Protestants of the time in shaping the interior of the church.