Vesna Údolní

The Neo-Renaissance building, constructed in 1889 by Brno-based builder Julius Zedník for the Women's Educational Union "Vesna," was home to the first Czech girls' school of its kind in Moravia.

This building is the oldest school property owned by the Women's Educational (and Production) Union "Vesna," which was founded in 1872. The organization's manager was the prominent pioneer of women's education in Moravia, teacher Eliška Machová. In 1895, a large boarding house, known as the "Velký penzionát," was built behind the school building on an elongated garden plot within the expansive courtyard formed by Údolní, Marešova, and Jaselská streets. This building, designed by Brno builder Antonín Tebich, was an L-shaped structure that today adjoins the clinic at Údolní 8a. Shortly afterward, the complex expanded with the addition of the third and fourth school buildings on Jaselská Street. Over time, the original school on Údolní 10 was transformed into the so-called "Malý penzionát." After the Velvet Revolution, in 1991, the Women's Educational Union "Vesna" was re-established in Brno, continuing its tradition.

The two-story brick building, which has a rectangular floor plan and a two-winged layout, features a Neo-Renaissance façade typical of Brno historicalism. The entire façade is adorned with fine strip rustication, divided by profiled string courses, with the rustication emphasized only in the ground floor and at the corners of the risalit. The main feature is the row of seven triangular pedimented windows on the first floor, three parapets with a balustrade in the risalit, and three window lintels on the second floor.

Today, the building is used by the same-named Women's Educational Union, which started its activities in 2021 on a voluntary basis. The union provides material and other assistance to Czech and Ukrainian families, runs a children's group, a children's center, and a textile workshop, and organizes extracurricular educational programs. As part of the festival, a workshop titled "Whose City Is This?" was held, organized by the Faculty of Architecture at Brno University of Technology in collaboration with the Women's Educational Union VESNA.