The thematic web portal Bat'a Zruč is a platform for professional processing and popularization of the recent industrial, architectural and cultural past of Zruč nad Sázavou, which was connected with the activities of the Bat'a Concern, a. s., Zlín, and its successor companies. The authors do not only focus their attention on the personalities, objects and themes of the Bata era (1938-1945/1948), but also trace its traces in the second half of the 20th century and in the present.
The factory town Zruč nad Sázavou - Bat'ov owes its origins to the Zlín shoe and engineering concern Bat'a, a. s., Zlín, and the strategic decision of its management headed by Jan Antonín Bat'a on the eve of the Second World War to deconcentrate Zlín production in terms of space and capital within the Czech lands. Thus, in Zruč nad Sázavou in Central Bohemia, in the heart of the Czech lands, in the first half of the 1940s, a modern industrial town with a factory complex, adequate infrastructure and a specific Bata subculture grew up on green turf, traces of which are still present in the town today.
The web portal Bata Zruč maps and presents personalities, objects, themes and documents on the history of the Bata and subsequent shoemaking era in Zruč nad Sázavou. It pays attention to the specific living conditions and culture of the Bata employees and workers of the successor shoe companies (the national enterprise Sázavan). The centre of the web portal is an interactive map of production, residential and other buildings, accompanied by medallions of important personalities connected with the history of Bata and industrial Zruč nad Sázavou. The individual personalities, objects and other topics are presented in Zruč's geographical, spatial, urban, architectural, social and cultural coordinates, which corresponds to the structure of the specific place headings. An integral part of the web portal is period and contemporary pictorial and building documentation, which captures the historical and current appearance of the described sites. Particularly valuable is the period image documentation from the photo archive of the Zruč nad Sázavou Photo Club.
The authors of the entries are researchers with knowledge of regional history, industrial history, social history, urban history and the history of the Bata concern. The web portal is intended for all those interested in industrial tourism and the history of the 20th century, especially the history of industrial cities, industrial workers, everyday life and the culture of workers in (post)industrial society. Therefore, authors of entries from the informed and interested public are welcome.
The first version of the web portal Bat'a Zruč was launched in December 2022 according to the conceptual design by Martin Jemelka. The web portal is implemented by the funds of the City of Zruč nad Sázavou and the research programme of the CAS Strategy AV21 - City as a laboratory of change (buildings, cultural heritage and environment for a safe and valuable life), on the premises of the Masaryk Institute and Archives of the CAS, v. v. i.