Monument to St John of Nepomuk [ Statue, sculptural group or sculpture ]
Monument to St John of Nepomuk Since time immemorial, the Kelč "burghers" have had the privilege to draw the beer made by the Kelč brewery in their "taproom" houses. In the early 18th century, a Jew from a distillery under the chateu asked them to sell his spirits as well. First, all of them refused. Then, a burgher named Jan Masařík or Provazník agreed. When he had to stop taking spirits from the Jew, after being forced by the town councillors to do that, the Jew was allowed, after obtaining the approval of the chateau keeper Mr Andreas Popp, to build a gin shop just in front of the chateau. When the gin shop foundation ditch was dug out and construction material was ready, "three men ? Senior Burgomaster Augustin Kratochvíl, Junior Burgomaster Václav Peroutka and town scribe Václav Loučel went to Olomouc to ask authorities to forbid the Jew to build the gin shop in the middle of the market place. The men gained that forbiddance due to the merit of St John of Nepomuk." His Grace Regent Šerc come in Kelč and, after an official procedure, "ordered to stop the construction." To thank for that, the burghers first decided to display at their expense a picture of St John of Nepomuk in the market square; later they decided to build at their expense a monument to St John of Nepomuk in the market square. It was built in 1709.
