The New Town Hall is a Gothic building on Charles Square in Prague, built in the 14th and 15th centuries as the administrative centre of the New Town of Prague and now a national cultural monument serving as a cultural venue of the Prague 2 district.
The New Town Hall stands on Charles Square in Prague, on the site of the former Cattle Market. It is a national cultural monument [1][2] and today serves as a cultural venue run by a contributory organisation established by the Prague 2 district [2].
History
In the founding charter of the New Town of Prague of 1 April 1347, Charles IV granted the town the right of court, with appeals going to the Old Town [1]. The new town hall at the Cattle Market was opened in 1377, and a prison was added to it in 1394 [1]. Construction in 1377–1398 and 1411–1418 was led by Martin Fryček and the stonemason Kříž [1]. In the Gothic two-nave hall of the wing facing the square, the First Defenestration of Prague took place in 1419, when a crowd led by Jan Želivský and Jan Žižka threw the mayor, two councillors and several burghers out of the windows, thereby starting the Hussite revolution [1][2]. The Second Defenestration of Prague at the town hall occurred in 1483, in connection with religious and political unrest in the Prague towns [2].
A tower almost 70 metres high with a chapel was built in 1452–1456 [1]. In 1518 the town hall became the seat of the office of the six lords and underwent a major architectural alteration [2]. Under Louis Jagiellon, an early Renaissance reconstruction led by Benedikt Ried was carried out in 1520–1525 [1]. In July 1559 the town hall burned down after a lightning strike; the rebuilding lasted until 1561, and the court builder Bonifác Wolmut rebuilt the tower in the Renaissance style [1][2]. In 1609 the Protestant estates met at the town hall to press Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, to issue the Letter of Majesty guaranteeing religious freedom [2].
Further repairs and alterations took place in 1613, 1721–1725 and 1772, when they were carried out by Jan Josef Wirch [1]. A Neoclassical reconstruction followed in 1806–1811 [1]. After the four Prague towns were united in 1784, administration was concentrated in the Old Town Hall, and the criminal court moved to the New Town Hall [1][2]. After 1859 the building was bought by the Presidium of the Provincial Court [1][2].
The town hall served as a prison, where Jan Sladký Kozina, the leader of the Chod peasant rebellion, awaited his sentence in 1694–1695 [1][2]. In 1839 the trial of the robber Václav Babinský was held here [1][2]. The press trials of the 1850s brought to prison, for example, Josef R. Vilímek, Vincenc Vávra and František Bozděch [1][2]. In 1894 the political trial of the Omladina took place here, in which more than 70 people were convicted, among them Alois Rašín and Stanislav Kostka Neumann [1][2]. Executions were also held in the courtyard, the last of them still during the Nazi occupation [2]. Among the last people held here in the 20th century was Milada Horáková [1][2].
After 1900 a reconstruction to the original Renaissance appearance was carried out under Antonín Wiehl and Kamil Hilbert, completed in 1903–1905 [1][2]. During repairs in 1905, surviving remains of the original architecture were discovered, and the reconstruction followed them [2]. In 1922 the Czech double-tailed lion was placed on top of the tower in place of the Austrian eagle [1]. The town hall was declared a national cultural monument in 1913 and 1962 [1].
In the 20th century, before the overall reconstruction, the devastated building housed the traffic inspectorate, and the courtyard was used by the City Administration of the Public Security as a car park and a repair shop for service vehicles [1][2]. The general reconstruction according to Josef Hyzler and Václav Girsa took place in 1975–1994, or according to the second source in 1975–1995 [1][2]. In 2007 the facade of the south wing facing Charles Square was reconstructed and the facade facing the courtyard was repaired [2].
Appearance
The town hall is described as a dominant feature of Charles Square, formerly the Cattle Market [1]. Its tower reaches a height of almost 70 metres and contains a chapel [1]. The building includes a Gothic two-nave hall and, over the centuries, underwent Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical alterations before it was returned after 1900 to a form close to the Renaissance one [1].
Status and present use
The New Town Hall is one of the national cultural monuments in Prague [1][2]. Since 1 January 2007 it has been a contributory organisation of the Prague 2 district [2], established with the aim of enlivening activity in the building and expanding its cultural programme [2]. At present the premises host exhibitions, concerts, festivals, wedding ceremonies and other cultural and social events [2].
Practical information
According to the operator, ramps for wheelchair access to the ground-floor Gallery and the historic ground-floor Mázhaus can be borrowed at the porter's lodge, as the entrance involves two steps [2]. The contact given by the operator is telephone 224 947 190 and e-mail [2].