In the early 20th century, the part of Hlinky Street adjoining Mendlovo náměstí was still home to small single-storey Late Baroque houses, with here and there a newly constructed villa or apartment building. A tram line ran down the street along the foot of Žlutý kopec (Yellow Hill) and past the area of today’s exhibition grounds, which were popular destinations for day trips and sites for the construction of luxury villas. The case of Hlinky 21 is quite typical for the street. The property was originally home to a single-storey house belonging to the Hetsch family of gardeners and greengrocers, who, as members of the middle class, could afford to employ a servant. In 1908, the house was owned by the widow Johanna Hetsch. Although the new two-storey house was already drawn on a 1906 map, a historical photograph of the street from 1907 still shows the single-storey building. The picture must have been taken shortly before it was demolished and construction of the new house was begun.
The apartment building at Hlinky 21 is a typical example of Brno’s late historicist architecture, which was significantly influenced by the Vienna Secession and many examples of which were realized in Brno by Franz Pawlu. The strictly symmetrical facade is decorated with two-dimensional ornamentation combining geometric Art Nouveau on the lower floors with more decorative elements further up: floral festoons, vases with fruit and a cornice held up by corbels and topped with low, rounded gables. The four largest apartments have street-facing balconies fitted with Art Nouveau railings.
The common areas have decorative terrazzo floors, and the entrance hall is adorned with Art Nouveau décor in the form of a cove-shaped cornice on top of pilasters. The building was home to several types of apartments, divided according to size. Some of the units may have included winter gardens attached to the courtyard-facing elevation (the facades were apparently simplified in the 1920s or 1930s). Central heating did not exist at the time of construction, and in some of the units glazed tiled fireplaces have survived in the main parlours. The units probably did not have bathrooms, which were added later in the original servants’ quarters next to the kitchen. Residents could easily take care of their personal hygiene needs at the nearby municipal baths on Mendlovo náměstí, renovated in the 1920s according to plans by Bohuslav Fuchs. In the 1960s, the baths had to make way for a new avenue built according to plans by František Kočí.
Matěj Kruntorád