History

Following the end of the Second World War in 1945, the subsequent expulsion of the Germans and the confiscation of their property led to the closure of the local brewery. Some of the equipment ended up at the brewery in Dobruška, whilst the rest was sold off. The brewery buildings were handed over to local farms and gradually fell into disrepair until they were demolished in 2001. All that remains on the site today are the original cellars and a single abandoned farm building.

In 2019, we revived the brewing tradition in Olešnice in the Orlické Mountains, but we chose a different premises, situated just outside the village, in a secluded spot, yet right on the main road leading into the village. The site is situated in a valley called Zelené, and the spot is known as ‘U svatých’ (At the Saints’). This is because there are two Baroque statues of saints here, dating from 1722 and 1726 respectively. Their origin is not entirely clear. We consider the most likely explanation to be that the owners of the original property were unable to have children for a long time, and when they finally succeeded after many years, the owner had the first statue – of Saint Joseph – erected as a token of gratitude. Following the birth of their second child, the second statue – a Pietà – was commissioned.

The original building was probably constructed in the sixteenth century and served as a coaching inn for much of its history. It was always situated right on the tripoint. As a result, fights often broke out among the men in the pub. After one particularly bloody brawl, the authorities even banned the serving of alcohol in the local pub for a time. In the second half of the eighteenth century, the building burnt down and the site lay derelict for several decades. The ruins were purchased by Oskar Migula, the owner of the Olešnice brewery, and in 1902 he rebuilt it as a coaching inn, which he did not run himself but let out.

In the post-war period, the building was confiscated and underwent several alterations and reconstructions. It served primarily as a company holiday cottage known as ‘Pionýr’. For a long time, it was mainly visited by employees and their families from the Pardubice milling machinery factory. In the 1980s, the state took over the building and established a customs office there. The Ministry of the Interior renovated the building but abandoned it after a few years. From 2004 to 2014, the building stood abandoned and dilapidated, and it seemed it would not escape further decay. But then I came along and saved the building from demolition, renovated it, and turned it into a brewery, guesthouse and restaurant. In the autumn of 2019, the first batch of our new beer, Agent, was brewed.