History

The history of the hotel began in 1910, when Ostrava restauranteur Karel Schindler asked Moravian Ostrava’s City Hall to issue a concession to operate the hotel. This was, after short delays and objections, finally promised. In 1911, the construction of a building began on Stodolní street, which was completed in 1912. After examination by the commission, a building “fair and shapely, which goes to the city as would be an adornment”, Karl Schindler was awarded the concession. That same year, Brioni opened to the sound of the most famous brass band, led by the Ostrava Mining band leader, Mazák. Stodolní street did not have a good reputation at that time, because prostitutes amassed here and harassed passers-by. Therefore, the decision by Schindler was considered very daring. Brioni was, in its time, the most modern hotel in Ostrava. It had sixty elegantly furnished rooms, and one night there cost two to three crowns, depending on how luxuriously the room was furnished. The building already had electricity, a lift, telephone, and central heating. One novelty was the electrical wake up alarm, at the guest’s request. In the courtyard, Schindler had a summer garden built, which Ostrava notables sought, especially on Sunday afternoons. It was ideal for sitting and listening to music, which the hotelier loved. The hotel also held the famous miners’ brass band competitions.

In the late 19th century, the former co-owner of the Vítkovice ironworks, Baron Rothschild, dismissed its director, P. Kupelwiesera, who then bought from the Italian government the island of Brijuni (Brioni) (www.brijuni.hr), which lies at the tip of the Istria peninsula (now Croatia). Subsequently, he built a port and several smaller guest houses on the island, where the elite of the Austro-Hungarian Empire went for recreation. Kupelwieser was known for his activities in the Ostrava region with a local entrepreneur and hotelier, Karel Schindler. And so one word led to another, and Karel Schindler built a hotel on Stodolní street, called BRIONI, with a ship in the logo of the hotel. The ship that transported tourists from the mainland to the island of Brijuni, and from the island and its surroundings to the hotel BRIONI imported fine Italian wines. The hotel Brioni, besides Czechs and other nationalities, was frequented by Italians in great numbers, and therefore the Hotel Brioni was nicknamed and known as the “Italian House”.

This idyll was interrupted by World War II, and after its end, which is reflected in the post-war order in Europe and the Balkans, and in 1948 new conditions were also raised in Czechoslovakia. Italy, as a defeated state, among other reparations lost Istria and the surrounding islands, including the island of Brijuni. This territory went to Yugoslavia. The island of Brijuni was immediately “appropriated” by J.B. Tito, the former Yugoslav president. He had the island declared a nature reserve, closed it off from the public, and the entire island was used only for his personal use. The island was not opened to the public until about 10 years ago, and currently serves again as a holiday destination. J.B. Tito was a great “collector” of African animals, and always brought live animals (zebras, antelopes, wildebeest ...) from his business trips. Dictator Tito has been dead for more than three decades, but the descendants of animals that he took to the island of Brijuni live to this day. The animals that are now housed in the reception of Hotel Brioni symbolise just these animals from the island of Brijuni (Brioni).