A roofed municipal bread oven

In the community garden in Májová street there is a new object situated – a roofed municipal bread oven. The construction, started by the Historic Cheb Endowment Fund in October 2019, is almost ready.

This object‘s history is interesting. At the beginning there was the project focused on celebration of the 700th anniversary of the oldest historical roof’s construction in the Czech Republic, which was organized by the  Historic Cheb Endowment Fund and the town of Cheb. It is possible to found the oldest roof structure above the choir of the Franciscan Monastery in Cheb. A replica of this roof structure was constructed during the carpenter's workshop on King George of Podĕbrady Square in Cheb in September 2019. After the end of the carpenter's workshop, we didn’t want to put this constructed replica anywhere, we were looking for another use. It became a component of the oven shelter this way. Initially, it should be situated in Chebské šance, afterwards on the grounds of Cheb castle. However, when the opportunity to get a bread oven presented itself, the whole object was moved into the community garden in order to operate the bread oven in the future.

The oven shelter is composed from several unique things – as mentioned above, its roof is a replica of the oldest roof in the Czech Republic situated above the choir of the Franciscan Monastery in Cheb.

The bread oven made by the traditional way of burnt bricks doesn’t have a chimney, so heating, sweeping out and placing bread in the oven are possible only through front door. This type of oven dates back to Renaissance, the way of baking is changeless since then. The bricks used for a construction of the oven are associated with a fact, which is important for the Historic Cheb Endowment Fund, in particular. The bricks originate from Starý Hrozňatov from the former Anton Hart’s brickworks. Anton Hart, a savior of the place of pilgrimage Maria Loreto and a honorary citizen of Cheb, gave money to the town as a present in 2005, which became the basic assets of the Historic Cheb Endowment Fund, founded newly. Therefore, in this object there meet history and present in good.

Whether the bread oven is an added value of the shelter with a replica of the oldest roof structure in the Czech Republic or not, that is a matter of opinion. Nevertheless, together they create a place, that will become a center of meetings and not only for bakers from Cheb. They joined a new Cheb Bakers Association called CH(L)EBÁCI, the leader of which is Libor Matoušek.

The oven shelter will be improved by means of a plaster in spring, it will be burnt and the association CH(l)ebáci will start baking.

We look forward to the Historic Cheb Endowment Fund becoming an initiator of a new tradition in our town thanks to this action and meeting you in the community garden with a good bread.