History


1897 Thanks to the diligent efforts of the Economic Society for the District of Vysoké Mýto, the Provincial Committee of the Kingdom of Bohemia established, based on the Regional Assembly Resolution of the 24th May 1897, a specialised two-year school of farming and pasture and grazing management providing year-round education. Teaching began in the same year, on the 1st October.
1906 The Provincial Committee decided about dividing the original school into two schools; a two-year farming school (today’s descendant of which is the Integrated Technical and Economic High School) and a two-year school of pasture and grazing management.
1930 The name of the school was changed to the Land Reclamation School. It remained as a two-year school.
1946 The school was converted into a four-year high school providing a GCE and its name was changed to the Water Management College.
1948 What had been an agricultural school was transferred into the category of industrial schools under the title the Technical Institute of Water Management.
1953 The school’s name was altered to the Technical Institute of Civil Engineering, specialising in water management structures.
1964 The school’s name was changed to the High Technical School of Civil Engineering.
1994 The school’s name was changed again to the Technical Institute of Civil Engineering and Integrated High School of Civil Engineering.
2005 The school’s name was changed once again to the Technical Institute of Civil Engineering and the High School of Civil Engineering in Vysoké Mýto.

 

The development of land reclamation in the Czech Lands in the late 19th Century necessitated the education of land reclamation professionals who would be able to carry out this reclamation competently. Pasture and grazing management, i.e. the establishment and the maintenance of meadows and of land-drainage, was considered at that time as the prerogative of the agricultural profession and therefore, thanks to the diligent efforts of the Economic Society for the District of Vysoké Mýto, the Provincial Committee of the Kingdom of Bohemia established, based on the Regional Assembly Resolution of the 24th May 1897, a specialised two-year school of farming and pasture and grazing management with year-round education... Teaching commenced in the same year, on the 1st October.

 

Already during the early years of the school’s existence, the combined education concerning agricultural and land reclamation topics proved unsatisfactory, and therefore the Provincial Committee decided to divide the original school into two individual schools, i.e. a two-year farming school and a two-year school of pasture and grazing management. That was in 1906 and it then developed its own separate life until it reached the form that it has today. It should be borne in mind that during the same year another, sequentially the second, school of pasture and grazing management was initiated in Cheb, with German as the teaching language and that a separate branch of cultural engineering was developed at the Prague Technical University from this common agricultural base. All these changes, of course, reflected the development of land reclamation techniques and their response to social needs.

 

The content of study together with its increased extent soon ceased to correspond with the original definition of the field and also the period of education, i.e. two years, seemed totally inadequate. Trainees were in fact being prepared for the practical work of professional technicians - land improvers, assistants of land surveyors and road engineers - often at the cost of a much greater number of teaching hours (up to 48) than the official curricula permitted. The original name of the school of Pasture and Grazing Management” was no longer apposite in this sense; rather it was misleading and, to a certain extent, also discriminatory for its graduates. The further development of the school was therefore indicated by the sustained efforts of its leaders and its graduates to promote formal and qualitative change. This goal, however, encountered the fierce resistance of what was then the Engineering Chamber, since the authorised civil engineers feared competition.

 

Only in 1930, when, in addition to the one in Vysoké Mýto, three other schools with a similar focus were operating in the territory of Czechoslovakia - in Cheb, in Košice and in Brno – were decisions concerning the changes made including the unification of their names and their curricula. The Land Reclamation School – as it was then renamed – remained a two-year school, however. The post-war year of 1946 became an important historical milestone for the school. The school in Vysoké Mýto, again as the first and the only one, was converted into a four-year high school providing a GCE and identified as the Water Management College. Further changes then followed in relatively rapid succession.

 

On the 1st September 1948 the school, till then agricultural, was transferred into the category of industrial schools and given the name Technical Institute of Water Management, while in 1953 it was renamed as the Technical Institute of Civil Engineering specialising in water management structures and finally, in 1964, as the High Technical School of Civil Engineering. It then operated until 1994 under this name. Although other fields of study were introduced there in the late 1950’s (first civil engineering and later road engineering), it was still known as “The Water Management School”, not only in Vysoké Mýto and its surroundings, but virtually throughout the whole country. This also   confirms its great popularity. In addition to thousands of graduates, past and more recent, who, in fact, are not only “spread” throughout our country, but also in the Slovak Republic and other European countries and even “across the great water” in the USA, in Canada and in Australia. Graduating from the water management school in Vysoké Mýto confirmed quality, expertise and reliability. Therefore the school’s graduates were always sought after by experts and many of them were operating - and continue to operate - in significant and senior positions in the construction industry, in the Departments of Universities or for Central Authorities. A permanent sense of belonging to the school, to their former teachers, to the town where they studied, a feeling of professional pride - these are the characteristics specific to our graduates, especially those from previous years. Therefore our mutual meetings together, whether accidental or planned, are always cordial, friendly and helpful. Today and tomorrow, we will always continue to enjoy these meetings.

 

A whole generation of students and of graduates gratefully remember their teachers, who equipped them not only with reliable professional knowledge for their practical life, but also with a close relationship to the course chosen and with sound human qualities. The school in Vysoké Mýto had always been extremely fortunate to have outstanding teachers, for both general and professional disciplines. Strong personalities involved with Czech water management and other disciplines worked there, to whom today we, their successors, are grateful for their tremendous efforts, their selflessness, their dedication and the foresight by means of which they established a school that has frequently been a model for others. A modern school, based on the solid foundation on which we can build today. There would be a long sequence of names of outstanding personalities that I should refer to at this point. Therefore I will indicate only one name, certainly the most famous one. Ing. Bohuslav Váňa was a prominent Czech hydro engineer; he worked at the school from 1931 to 1966, a full 27 years of which as a director who, even in the most difficult times, during the years of war and of the Nazi occupation and during the totalitarian regime of the 1950’s and the 1960’s, managed to establish a school that has earned an excellent reputation. To him especially, but also to others unnamed, our grateful remembrance, respect and admiration are dedicated.

 

The year 1990 can be considered as being the onset of the modern history of the school (and probably also of education as such).  After the major political, social and economic changes of November 1989, we initially had to deal with situations that were unusual and often also difficult for us: the disintegration of the structure of the water management system and of most of the building companies, which meant the loss of many years of professional contacts. The huge influx of new technical features and of unfamiliar technologies from abroad, with which it was difficult to get oriented. Changes to the legal system that provided schools with, till now, unprecedented powers, etc. Obviously today there are worries and problems of a completely different nature, stemming from “objective reasons” and their removal is largely not within our power. Aside from that, there is still a grim financial situation; there are a large number of high schools and an even greater number of different fields of study; a still lower population of fifteen year olds and a lack of interest in technical fields of study in general. The quality of the applicants is also much lower than it used to be. And it would be possible to continue… That’s just reality and we are trying to cope with it to the best of our ability. In fact this is where we also see parallels with the periods of 50, 70 or 100 years ago. On closer inspection, the history of this school is - in fact - a continuous sequence of overcoming the problems and struggles for such an educational institution as is required in terms of its societal perspective - up-to-date, cutting edge and of a high quality.