Kaunic‘s Hall of Residence of the University of Veterinary Sciences Brno (45 Králova St., Brno – Žabovřesky)
It is the shady history of the Kaunic‘s Hall of Residence, that does not only concern matters of the accommodation and social life of students, but also its terrible use during the Second World War.
The building was built between 1922 and 1923 according to the project of the professor of the Czech Technical University in Brno, Karel H. Kepka, from the financial resources provided as a gift by the earl Václav Robert from Kaunic, J.D. In his honour, the building was named Kaunic's Hall of Residence. The Academic painter Mr. Ladislav Novák is the author of the sgraffits at the top of the Kaunic’s Hall of Residence’ building (there are 78 paintings). He has spent 33 working days creating them. After completing sgraffit fields, he was asked by Prof. Kepka to add St. Václav painting to the outer wall of the hall. The opening ceremony of the Kaunic’s Hall of Residence took place on May 24th 1925, as part of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Czech Technical University in Brno. However, the earl Václav Kounic himself has not begun the construction of these dormitories. He died in Uherský Brod in 1913 for pneumonia. The palace at Žerotínovo Square in Brno, where the Masaryk University Rector's Office and the busy street in the city centre are currently located, was named after this prominent man and patriot.
Prof. Karel Hugo KEPKA, M.Sc.
*26.7.1869 †30.6.1924
Earl Václav Robert KOUNIC, J.D.
*26.9.1848 †14.10.1913
Acad. painter Ladislav NOVÁK
*7.10.1865 †16.1.1944
Kaunic‘s Hall of Residence during its construction in 1922
… and when the building operations were finished in 1923
The Kaunic’s Hall of Residence served as home for approximately 500 university students with an active social, sports and cultural life until November 17th, 1939, when it was converted into police prison of Brno’s Gestapo governing office. Members of Nazi’s troops SS and Gestapo surrounded the Kaunic’s Hall of Residence on November 17th, 1939, at 6 a.m. and their patrols did not let anyone in or out. Detained college students were transported to Sachsenhausen concentration camp in the evening on the same day. Subsequently, the Reich Protector issued a regulation on the closure of Czech universities for three years, nine university students were shot and more students were sent to the concentration camp. At the time of the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia between 1939 and 1945, the Kaunic’s Hall of Residence’ courtyard has served as an execution point, where more than 1,350 fighters, men and women were killed by being hanged or shot to the rear of the head.
The gallows at the Kaunic’s courtyard
Barbed wire fence in front of the execution site
One of the five houses built by Gestapo at the Kaunic’s Hall of Residence area due to lack of capacity of Kaunic’s dormitory, which has served as prison during the World War II.
After World War II, the change of the Kaunic’s Hall of Residence to the Resistance Memorial was considered, but later the idea of returning the building to its original purpose and mission to accommodate university students prevailed. In 1968, a Memorial Hall was built on Kaunic's Hall of Residence’ premises, due to its turbulent history during the Second World War – thanks to the long-term friends and former prisoners of Kaunic's Hall of Residence, František Vašek, J.D. (* 10.2.1924 † 25.12.2008) and Josef Styx (* 23.10.1919 † 10.3.2015). At present, the Memorial Hall is in the care of the Czech Union of Freedom Fighters. Due to its war history, Kaunic's Hall of Residence was declared a National Cultural Monument in 1987.
Mr. Josef Styx (left) and Mr. Fr. Vašek, J.D.
The Memorial Hall – one of its room
The Memorial Hall at the Kaunic’s Hall of Residence
The Memorial Hall at the Kaunic’s Hall of Residence
Monument of Victims of the World War II. The memorial desk at the former execution site
Monument of Victims under the sgraffit picture of St. Václav Victory Monument at Kaunic’s site
In the period after the World War II, students from almost all Brno universities were accommodated at Kaunic's Hall of Residence, and the lack of bed capacity was solved by building loft rooms at both blocks of the dormitory. Since the 1970s, the building was managed by the Brno University of Technology (hereafter VUT Brno) and, due to the lack of accommodation capacity of the VUT Brno, the redevelopment of the dormitory was completed, when four-bed rooms were built from triple rooms. This situation lasted until 1989, when the building of Kaunic's Hall of Residence had to be partially vacated in order to repair the bathroom floors. The VUT Brno has started these repairs at block A, which was open for rent again in 1990. Subsequently, it started with the repairs at block B. Unfortunately, due to the lack of funds these were not completed, for these reasons, there was no longer available accommodation for students at block B. In 1990 - 2000, the capacity of the dormitory was only one block, where there were 296 beds. Due to the fact, that the Brno University of Technology had additional beds for the accommodation of the students and that it did not have enough funds to finish the repairs, the Kaunic's Hall of Residence was trying to transfer them to the university that did not have its own dormitory at that time.
The University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno (UVPS Brno) as the owner of Kaunic’s Hall of Residence
On January 1st 1999, the University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno was acquired by the then owner of the Brno University of Technology. However, the dormitory was in a poor condition and it was necessary to complete its reconstruction and modernization in June 2000. This was realized according to the project by architect Mr. Stojan. During the reconstruction, block B was completely rebuilt, when two double-bed rooms with its own kitchenette and bathrooms were built from the original triple rooms with common bathrooms. In each of these rooms, students have access to internet and a telephone that can be connected to all buildings of the University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno and other rooms of Block B. Reconstruction was completed in July 2001 and its opening ceremony was held on September 13th 2001. In its new form, the Kaunic's Hall of Residence became one of the dominant facilities in the city of Brno. It serves both Czech and foreign students. Kaunic's dormitories remain the property of the UVPS Brno even after FaF's transfer to Masaryk University Brno (from July 1st, 2020). As of April 1st, 2021 the name of the Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno (UVPS Brno) is changing to the University of Veterinary Sciences Brno (UVS Brno or VETUNI).
Main entrance to the Kaunic’s Hall of Residence
The entrance hall of the Kaunic’s hall of Residence
The student’s accommodations in one, two or three-bed rooms; the suites for dormitory guests
For the extracurricular activities, the students can take advantage of a playground for ball games at the campus. In the building there are table tennis and billiard rooms, sauna, solarium, and a common social room. Since September 2007, the Topas restaurant has been reopened in the dormitory building. It is open even in the evening hours. There are 8 double-bedded apartments located on the top floor of block B, which serve university guests or students' visits. The total capacity of the dormitory is 449 beds. During the holiday period, the dormitory also provides hotel services to the general public. WIFI connection is available throughout all buildings of Kaunic's Hall of Residence.
The multifunctional playground at the area of Kaunic’s Hall of Residence
