Brief summary of the City Hall’s history
The development of the Old Town of Prague in its present terrain level and layout began in the middle of the 13th century, when city wall were being built, within an area of approx. 140 ha. At that time, an older Romanic settlement with stone houses was there. The area had been connected with the opposite river bank, the Lesser Town, by the stone Judita’s Bridge since 1172, named after the King Vladislav I’s wife. The old local names such as “Na Příkopě” or “Na Můstku” are used even today. The elevation of the Old Town’s terrain level by two or three meters to the present level was not only part of the building of city walls but also served as floodprotection. The Romanic architecture is thus preserved in the basements of later Gothic houses.
The Old Town citizens had already been pursuing the establishment of a city hall as an administrative center and a symbol of the town since the end of the 13th century, during the rule of King Václav II. It was, however, not until 1338 that King Jan of Bohemia issued the permission to establish it. At that time, they bought a corner Gothic house at the Great Square (today the Old Town Square). The house was built in the end of the 13th century. It has an amply decorated Gothic portal and a window with the sign of the Old Town and the Kingdom of Bohemia. A square tower, 69.5 m high, was built up next to the house. It was finished in 1364. On the tower, a mechanical clock was installed shortly after 1400, which formed a basis for establishing a mechanical astronomical clock, the ultimate work of crafts and horological art of that time. Purchase of such a demanding mechanical and astronomical work was also a sign of power and wealth both for the Church and the town. The endeavour for good representation was the leading motivation; the aim was to have something that other towns do not have. Here, maybe, originates the legend of the clockmaker who built the clock and was blinded by the aldermen so that he could not build a similar one elsewhere. Such a legend is handed down about most astronomical clocks.
In 1381, Petr Parléř inbuilt a Gothic bay chapel to the tower’s body on the first floor. At the corner of the bay window, there is a sculpture of socalled Old Town Madonna. The bay window belongs to the most beautiful monuments of Czech Gothic style of that time. It is covered with plastic decorations with motives of human faces and animals. The sculptures of Czech patrons are from the 18th century. At present, the block of houses around the City Hall consists of several western houses that were built up in successive steps. The first house has a Renaissance threepiece window with an inscription “Praga caput regni” (Prague, Head of the Kingdom), which was built after 1526. Behind the window, there is a wedding hall; weddings have been held in the City Hall since 1871. Above the window is inscribed a large sign of the Old Town of Prague. The next house has a Neo-Renaissance facade and two high windows leading to the great assembly hall. In the groundfloor, a cloister has been preserved that serves as a renowned exhibition hall today. In the adjacent house, the corner house called “U Kohouta”, a Romanic groundfloor has been preserved from around 1200. The internal layout of these initially merchants’ houses with vaults and passages from the 13th and 14th centuries have been preserved in the basements. The tower obtained its present appearance in 1807, when a gallery with a sight of the Old Town was built up. The eastern wing of the City Hall has been rebuilt several times during the time. The historicist rebuilding from the 19th century in the style of Viennese architecture was generally not very well received and that is why the first architectural competition for another solution was announced in 1899. The legendary architect of Czech modernism, Josef Gočár, participated in one of the competitions in 1910 with his provocative design, which faced up to the Romanic, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and historicist style in an original manner: he designed a monumental pyramid that was to override everything ... Nothing changed and the wing burned down in 1945. Over last 110 years, there were nine competitions with six hundred designs but the site remains empty.
In the traditional interiors that serve mainly for representative purposes and that are partially accessible for the public, there are two largeformat paintings (8 x 5 m) by Václav Brožík (1851–1901) with historical themes of Jan Hus at the Council of Konstanz and the election of George of Poděbrady as the King of Bohemia. Brožík was a representative of academic historical painting. He was appreciated all over Europe and become a member of the French Institute in Paris; he was also ennobled in France. In Bohemia, he is usually considered a member of socalled Generation of the National Theatre, as is also Mikoláš Aleš, according to whose cartons was the Gothic vault of the entrance hall decorated.
The Old Town City Hall is not only one of the most significant Prague monuments but also a historical centre and a symbol of Prague city administration. It was the first city administrative body within the Czech lands.
Text, photo & repro: Stan. Marušák
