Historic Villa Marta, built a century ago, on fire in Písek

A fire broke out on Wednesday evening at Villa Marta in Písek, an architectural landmark dating back to the early 20th century. The blaze has engulfed the entire building, and firefighters have declared a second-degree fire alert.

According to Monika Kocinová, spokesperson for the South Bohemian fire brigade, professional firefighters from Písek are on the scene alongside volunteer units from Písek, Kestřany, Protivín and several other nearby towns. “As far as we know, there is no one inside the building. However, the site is difficult to access, and bringing the fire under control will likely take considerable time,” the spokesperson said shortly after 10 p.m.

News of the fire first spread through social media, where residents began sharing photos and videos of the flames.

According to the catalogue of the National Heritage Institute, the villa was built by banker Jaroslav Šimek, who named it after his wife, Marta. The couple had two daughters: the elder, also named Marta, emigrated to Australia in 1950, while the younger, Dagmar, was arrested in 1952 and held by the communist regime for 14 long years.

After her release in 1966, Dagmar found the villa in a state of severe neglect — by then, the family’s property had already been confiscated by the authorities. In 1968, she and her mother Marta left for Australia to join her sister, where both women spent the rest of their lives.

Dagmar Šimková later wrote a book titled “We Were There Too”, recounting her suffering in communist prisons. It was first published in 1980 by the émigré publishing house run by the Škvorecký couple.

In recent years, the historic building — perched on a steep slope on the edge of town near the Písek waterworks above the Otava River — had stood abandoned.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz