Original intent and purpose
The factory building was built to increase the production capacity of the bottling plant in 1898. New capacities for washing mugs and bottles and two new workplaces for the production of Bílín digestive lozenges were needed. Prince Mořic Lobkovic, together with the court builder architect Sáblík, designed the factory building in the form of a castle, which with its showiness justifies the fact that the building covers the view of the front of the spa area. An interesting fact is that the very first sketch has been preserved, on which Mořic Lobkovic and Sáblík agreed on the concept of the building.
A corner of the inner courtyard of the factory building with the Reuss monument.
Architectural solution of the building
The factory building adheres to the symmetry of the construction of the spa park and is connected to the much older railway loading building of the Prague-Duchcovská railway by a "connecting node". The ingenious solution makes it possible to maintain an almost parallel front side of both the factory and the bottling plant with a difference of less than three angular degrees.
The factory was designed to be inaccessible to the public, only the middle passage part was internally separated from the rest of the building, and its hall with a staircase and a glass ceiling serves as a new entrance to the spa environment.
The factory building creates a romantic corner of the inner courtyard in front of the original facade of the Bílina spa with the Reuss monument. At the same time, it effectively separates the spa environment from the railway.
Sample from the construction documentation of the leveling solution for the Bílinská kyselka factory building
Usage over time
The building was used for production purposes until the beginning of World War II, when it was seized by the Wehrmacht as property of the Czech Lobkowicz nobility. After the war, the building was partially rebuilt into an administrative center. For the newly formed socialist Czechoslovakia, the building became the headquarters of the Northwestern Springs, including the healing springs of Bílinská kyselka , Zaječická hořké vody, the Poděbrady spa, the Praga spring in Břvany, the springs of Vratislavice and Běloveská Ida.
Current status and destination
Currently, the building has been renovated into a castle-like appearance by installing new wooden windows instead of the original factory windows. The original windows are also on display at the Museum of Mineralogy and Geology of Bílinská Kyselka . Currently, the building has been renovated into a castle-like appearance by installing new wooden windows instead of the original factory windows. The original windows are also on display at the Museum of Mineralogy and Geology of Bílinská Kyselka . The building now serves social purposes and its interiors include a museum exhibition, a company shop, conference halls and a modern classroom.
