Kinský Palace ( cs, Palác Kinských, german: Palais Goltz-Kinsky) is a former palace, now an

art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. Although primarily con ...

, located on Old Town Square in the Old Town area of

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

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 ...

. The palace's name refers to its former ownership by the Kinský noble family.

Early history

The palace was originally built for the Golz family between 1755 and 1765. As a result, the palace is also known as Golz-Kinský Palace (''Palác Golz-Kinských''). The building was designed by

Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer ( cs, Kilián Ignác Dientzenhofer) (1 September 1689, Prague – 18 December 1751) was a Bohemian architect of the Baroque era. He was the fifth son of the German architect Christoph Dientzenhofer and the Bohemian-Ge ...

and is

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

in style. The exterior is stucco and is painted in pink and white. There are statues by Ignaz Franz Platzer on the exterior, which are of the classical elements. In 1768, the Kinský family purchased the home from the Golz family.

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ...

's father, Hermann Kafka, was a haberdasher. He had his store at the palace, which was located on the ground floor. Franz Kafka attended secondary school at the palace, from 1893 until 1901. In the interwar period, the palace housed the legation of the Republic of Poland (1922-1934).

Later history

The palace was used by

Klement Gottwald Klement Gottwald (; 23 November 1896 – 14 March 1953) was a Czech communist politician, who was the leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1929 until his death in 1953–titled as general secretary until 1945 and as chairman fro ...

in 1948 to address an audience from the palace's balcony. This took place in the final episode of the 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état. Since 1949, the palace has been under the administration of the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...

, and the building is currently used as an art museum.

References

External links

*
Official website
(archived 22 April 2017) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kinsky Palace (Prague) Former palaces Art museums and galleries in the Czech Republic Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer buildings Palaces in Prague Museums in Prague Rococo architecture in the Czech Republic Franz Kafka Former school buildings in the Czech Republic 1948 in Czechoslovakia Buildings and structures completed in the 18th century Old Town (Prague)

Early history

Later history

See also

References

External links