In the footsteps of Josef Hrabák
As director of the Báň Academy in Příbram he defended its independence and position in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, and as a representative of public patriotic life he participated in the development of organized tourism. One of the most prominent personalities of Czech science and technology in the 19th and early 20th century was Josef Hrabák.
1. BIRCH MOUNTAINS
In 1864, Josef Hrabák was called to Příbram for his knowledge to the main plant of the state mines. At that time, the local mining industry was undergoing a rapid development.
On the other side of Brda, near Zbiroh, lies the small village of Sirá. Josef Hrabák was born into an already large family on 13 April 1833. He graduated from the grammar school in Plzeň and graduated from the Mining Academy in Banská Štiavnica, where he also later worked at the directorate of the state mines. He spent a year in Croatia as operations director of a Hungarian mining and metallurgical company, which he saved from bankruptcy. In Leoben, Austria, he worked as an assistant at the department of mathematics and mechanics, from where he was called to Pribram in 1864.
He was not long in leaving it again - he was looking for better paid positions in Prague, Brno or Vienna - when a position became available at the local Mining Academy in 1867. Here he was later appointed professor of mining and metallurgical engineering and continued his scientific and publishing activities.
2. SEAL
Josef Hrabák was appointed full professor of the Pribram Academy in 1871. In 1879-1880 and 1885-1888 he served as its director.
As a teacher, he preferred practical teaching and took his students on trips to mines and metallurgical plants. Later he became rector and had to constantly defend the position of his school, as the academy in Leoben was preferred in the then Austro-Hungarian Empire. This is one of the reasons why Josef Hrabák did not leave the town. "He felt he had a destined place in Pribram, where the academy required a vigorous defence against attacks on its independence," explains historian Václav Trantina.
As a person who was part of public social life, Josef Hrabák knew Vojtěch Náprstek, co-founder of the Czech Tourist Club. Hrabák was probably present when the association was founded in Prague's Měšt'anská beseda in 1888.
3RD PART OF THE HOTEL BUCHAR
The Příbram Club of Czech Tourists met once a month in the meeting room of the Hotel Buchar. Not by chance - Max Buchar was also a member of the club.
A few months later, he himself initiated the establishment of the Příbram branch of the KČT, whose members included, for example, the director of the grammar school, Čeněk Vyhnis, and the hotelier Max Buchar. They set themselves the goal of creating a network of marked trails around Příbram and publishing a tourist guide.
Hrabák retired in 1899 to finish some of his works in progress - he wrote more than 50 books and magazine articles during his lifetime. He was a member of the Pribram city council and was the first in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy to receive an honorary doctorate in Montana sciences.
He died on 15 July 1921 in Příbram.
4. PILSKÁ NÁDRŽ
The first trails were marked by Pribram tourists in the spring of 1890 and led to the Pilská and Lázská reservoirs. Soon, a marked route to Třemošná followed.
