The British Embassy in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

is the chief

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. It is located in the Thun Palace, a historic building in the heart of the

Malá Strana Malá Strana (Czech for "Little Side (of the River)", ) or more formally Menší Město pražské () is a district of the city of Prague, Czech Republic, and one of its most historic neighbourhoods. In the Middle Ages, it was a dominant center o ...

("Lesser Town"). The incumbent ambassador is Matt Field.

History

The long history of the Thun Palace, which is named after the Thun family, goes back to medieval times and there are Gothic traces in the cellars and foundations of the building. The first written record of a building at this place is from the middle of the 14th century. Since then, the location has marked some of the great events in Czech history. There are records that a house here was burnt during the

Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the Cat ...

, along with much of

. Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II bequeathed a rebuilt house to one of his faithful servants, and the house was subsequently traded by winners and losers during the catastrophic upheavals of the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

. In 1919, when Britain established relations with the new Republic of Czechoslovakia, the British leased the Thun Palace as a Residence for the Minister and the Legation offices. It has been the Legation, and then the Embassy, ever since and in 1925 the British Government bought it. The first Czechoslovak President,

Tomáš Masaryk Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (7 March 185014 September 1937) was a Czechoslovak politician, statesman, sociologist, and philosopher. Until 1914, he advocated restructuring the Austro-Hungarian Empire into a federal state. With the help of t ...

, was a frequent visitor and according to some sources, Masaryk used to come from the

Prague Castle Prague Castle ( cs, Pražský hrad; ) is a castle complex in Prague 1 Municipality within Prague, Czech Republic, built in the 9th century. It is the official office of the President of the Czech Republic. The castle was a seat of power for kin ...

through the Embassy garden. Over the years, many internal changes to the building have been made to provide more working office space. But the main architectural features, artwork and great treasures of history remain, and the building and garden continue to be amongst the most beautiful locations in the city. The American musicologist Daniel E. Freeman has recently established that

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

did not stay in this palace during his first visit in Prague in January and February 1787, contrary to persistent claims found in guidebooks to the city of Prague.See Daniel E. Freeman, ''Mozart in Prague'' (Minneapolis, 2021), 108-09. The true Thun palace in which he stayed burned down in the late 1790s. It was replaced by a new palace that was built in the early 19th century and now stands at Sněmovní 4 in Malá Strana.

References

External links

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British Embassy Prague
{{Authority control Czech Republic–United Kingdom relations

Malá Strana Czechoslovakia–United Kingdom relations Palaces in Prague

History

See also

References

External links