House No. 389 in Husova Street

This Art Nouveau style building from the beginning of the last century is interesting not only because of its construction but also for its fine-art quality. The former orphanage was built between 1911 and 1913, just before the start of World War I, and together with the neighbouring hospital it was the town's dominant and provided for its social needs. The house served as an orphanage until World War II when the occupation forces established a German school here. After the end of the war it was renamed as the District Children's Home. The building was later used as office space by the District National Committee (1948) and then served the purposes of the Higher Technical School (1949) and state regional hospital (1951). An ENT department of the hospital used the building until the 1990's. In 2002 the property was transferred to the Strakonice municipality. Today the seats of several organisations can be found here, including a branch of the Šmidinger Library and its environmental consultancy department, and the district branch of the Czech Sports Association (ČSTV); a depository of the Central Otava Basin Museum can also be found on the second floor.
The neo-Renaissance stucco decorations on the street facade and an illustration of Christ with children on the arched gable still remind us of the original purpose of the house (the neighbouring building was later reconstructed as flats and lost its original design).
At the end of 2002 the building was declared a cultural monument by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.