Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
doesthecluster ofhotels attheendofthestreet andaroundthecornerin Těšnov .Thereason
behind this is the now defunct Těšnov train station, which was demolished in the 1960s to
make way for the monstrous Wilsonova flyover.
Kafka spent most of his working life as a frustrated and unhappy clerk for the Arbeiter-
Unfall-Versicherungs-Anstalt (Workers' Accident Insurance Company), in the grand
nineteenth-century building at no. 7. Further along at no. 15, there's more faded fin de siècle
architecture at the Café Imperial , which has miraculously retained its elaborate ceramic
tiling from 1914.
Banka legií
Na poříčí 24 • Mon-Fri 9am-5pm • Metro Náměstí Republiky
An unusual piece of corporate architecture, the Banka legií , now a branch of the ČSOB, is
oneofPavelJanák'srareRondo-Cubisteffortsfromtheearly1920s.Setintotheboldsmoky-
red moulding is a striking white marble frieze by Otto Gutfreund, depicting the epic march
across Siberia undertaken by the Czechoslovak Legion and their embroilment in the Russi-
an Revolution . You're free to wander into the main banking hall on the ground floor, which,
though marred by the current bank fittings, retains its curved glass roof and distinctive red-
and-white marble patterning. The glass curtain-walled Bílá labuť (White Swan) department
store, opposite, is a good example of the functionalist style that Janák and others went on to
embrace in the late 1920s and 1930s.
Muzeum Prahy (City of Prague Museum)
Na Poříčí 52 • Tues-Sun 9am-6pm • 120Kč • 224 816 772, muzeumprahy.cz • Metro Florenc
Antonín Balšánek's purpose-built neo-Renaissance mansion, housing the Muzeum hlavního
města Prahy, better known simply as the Muzeum Prahy , somehow managed to survive
1960s redevelopment and now stands stranded next to the Wilsonova flyover near Florenc
bus station. Inside, there's an ad hoc collection of the city's art, a number of antique bicycles
and usually an intriguing temporary exhibition on some aspect of the city. The museum's
prize possession is the Langweilův model , a 3D paper representation of Prague's old centre
completed by university librarian Antonín Langweil in the 1830s. The model offers a fascin-
ating insight intoearly nineteenth-century Prague-predominantly Baroque, withthecathed-
ral incomplete and the Jewish quarter “unsanitized” - and, consequently, has served as one
of the most useful records for the city's restorers. The most surprising thing is that so little
has changed. Langweil spent all his time and money on the model, but could find neither a
sponsor nor a buyer. He died in poverty, leaving his family with considerable debts.
< Back to Nové Město
Search WWH ::




Custom Search