The study focuses on the history of the regional, royal and dowry town of Hradec Králové in the latter years of the Enlightenment, at the end of the first stage of the formation of the modern Czech nation. Within the small territory of this fortress town, the seat of both regional authorities and a bishopric, there was a tertiary, secondary and primary school, a printing house and a theatre. At the episcopal seminary, grammar school (Gymnasium) and main school (Hauptschule), the teaching staff were connected with a petite bourgeoisie that had potential to participate in the future national movement. Graduates of the episcopal seminary and the Hradec Králové grammar school became an educated social elite who later used their cultural and social capital in various areas of religious and cultural life, in state or ecclesiastical administration. Although taught in Latin and German, and despite the growing importance of the German language as a means of communication among state and private employees, these men went on to play an active part in the formation of the modern Czech nation. At the same time, the Hauptschule provided essential skills in literacy and numeracy for multitudes of young people, teaching them the fundamentals of Czech and biblical history, natural science, and even the basics of Latin. The development of amateur theatre (the first documented amateur theatre performance in Hradec Králové, in which townspeople and officers participated, dates back to 1790; the theatre company acquired its own building six years later), and the establishment of a publishing house (formerly a printers), as well as the creation of a readers’ community, were important for the acceleration of social communication – a prerequisite for the formation of a civic society.