Home Page Village Kaliště  - Official website

Kaliště was the property of the Chapter of Vyšehrad in 1318. During the Hussite war the settlement became property of King Zikmund of Luxembourg. In 1436 Zikmund pledged Kaliště to Mikuláš Trčka of Lípa, who joined it to his Lipnice demesne. After the sale of Lipnice castle in 1561 Kaliště went under the administration of Světlá demesne. The owner of the domain Jan Bartoloměj of Vernier sold the village in 1698 to Count Jan Jáchym of Harrach. He turned the village into an independent estate and built a chateau there. In 1707 Kaliště was purchased by Count Jan Leopold Donát of Trautson and Falkenštejn. In the purchase contract the chateau is referred to as a nice building with decorated walls suitable for living in. It used to stand in the southern part of the estate. A bookkeeper lived in it. The chateau was ruined in 1801. Near the chateau stood a small Baroque chapel. The chapel was demolished by the cooperative farm together with old farm buildings. At the west end of the village there used to be a large estate.
After the sale of the estate in 1850 there were a few new owners and in 1937 it became property of Kristýna Filípková who remained the owner until after 1948 when it was nationalized. The estate was then alloted to farmers and the rest of the property was handed over to the local national committee in 1950 to be distributed among the people.

When the district of Humpolec was set up in 1850, Kaliště went under its administration. In the same year municipal authority was established here. The seclusions of U Málků, Německo and Staré Hutě have always belonged to the cadastral area.

After the foundation of the presbytery in 1787, a school was built next to the church. Teaching only took place in one classroom. Children from surrounding villages went to Kaliště, too. In 1825 a new school building was built with two classrooms on the upper floor, as there was a great number of children . The flats for the caretaker and the teachers were on the ground floor. The school was converted into public general compulsory school after 1869. Almost every year there were over 300 children enrolled for school, whereas in 1893- 1894 there were even 464. In 1893 an addition was built and the school got two more classes. The appearance of the building has been preserved until present days. On 4 July, 1908 there was a reduction to four classes, later to an independent single class school. The school covers Kaliště, Stará Huť, Lohenice, Holušice, Horní Rápotice, seclusions of Německo, u Málků, Kalasova pazderna and Kumbál. In 1968- 1969 a reconstruction of the school building was carried out (new windows, doors, PVC floors, flush toilets, water conduit introduced, gym, teacher´s flat and pupils´ cloakrooms made). In 1973 a kindergarten was set up in the original teacher´s flat; lunch was brought here from Humpolec. School kitchen and canteen have been in use since January 1976. In autumn 1976 the construction of a boiler house for central heating of the school commenced and it was launched on 1 October, 1978. The school was closed down after 199 years of operation on 30 June, 1986 for the lack of children. Only the kindergarten remained in the building and it still works. In 2000 the first floor was converted and there are three flats now. Along with the kindergarten, there is a gym and a library on the ground floor.

In 1880 the former wine distillery was closed down and a distillery was opened which belonged to the estate. Potatoes and green barley malt were used in the production. The distillery does not exist any more and the building has been demolished.

A loan office was established in 1900. It was an institution providing loans to farmers, a minor savings bank with little capital and limited liability of its members. After 1953 it merged with the Czech Savings Bank.

The post office was founded in 1909. Mail was transported here from Humpolec. Mail was delivered daily to the nearby villages and settlements of Bělice, Hladov, Holušice, Houští, Horky, Honka, Lísky, Lhotka, Lohenice, Nabudy, Na Horách, Německo (Háj today), Podivice, Staré Hutě, Bučí, Podolí, Proseč, Speřice and Svéborka.

In 1919 the amateur theatre association TYL was founded. The actors built their own stage. In winter 4 theatre performances were played in the local inn. The actors also played in the nearby villages. They participated in planting trees in 1919 to commemorate the foundation of the republic. Two lime trees of Liberty were planted by the schoolchildren in front of the school.

The local library was established in 1920. At first it only had a few books, but later more books were bought and some were donations.