Municipal House ( cs, Obecní dům) is a
civic
Civic is something related to a city or municipality. It also can refer to multiple other things:
General
*Civics, the science of comparative government
*Civic engagement, the connection one feels with their larger community
*Civic center, a comm ...
building that houses Smetana Hall, a celebrated concert venue, 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 ...
. It is located on
Náměstí Republiky next to the
Powder Gate in the centre of the city.
History
The Royal Court
palace
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...
used to be located on the site of the Municipal House. From 1383 until 1485 the
King of Bohemia
The Duchy of Bohemia was established in 870 and raised to the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198. Several Bohemian monarchs ruled as non-hereditary kings beforehand, first gaining the title in 1085. From 1004 to 1806, Bohemia was part of the Holy Roman ...
lived in the property. After 1485, it was abandoned.
It was demolished in the early 20th century. Construction of the current building started in 1905.
[ It opened in 1912. The building was designed by ]Osvald Polívka
Osvald Polívka (24 May 1859 in Enns – 30 April 1931 in Prague) was an Austrian-born Czech architect associated with the Art Nouveau period in Prague. Polívka designed many of Prague's significant landmarks of the era, plus other work in Brno ...
and Antonín Balšánek.[
The Municipal House was the location of the ]Czechoslovak declaration of independence
The Czechoslovak Declaration of Independence or the Washington Declaration ( cs, Washingtonská deklarace; sk, Washingtonská deklarácia) was drafted in Washington, D.C. and published by Czechoslovakia's Paris-based Provisional Government on 18 ...
.[
The roof of the building was the location for the ]INXS
INXS (a word play, phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian Rock music, rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band's founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboar ...
music video for their huge hit New Sensation
"New Sensation" is a song by Australian rock group INXS. It was the third single released from their 1987 album, ''Kick''. The music was composed by Andrew Farriss and the lyrics were written by Michael Hutchence. The song reached 3 on the US ...
.
Architecture and art
The building is of the Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
architecture style. The building exterior has allegorical art and stucco
Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...
. There is a mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
called ''Homage to Prague'' by Karel Špillar over the entrance.[ On either side are ]allegorical sculpture
Allegorical sculpture are sculptures of personifications of abstract ideas as in allegory. Common in the western world, for example, are statues of Lady Justice representing justice, traditionally holding scales and a sword, and the statues of ...
groups representing ''The Degradation of the People'' and ''The Resurrection of the People'' by Ladislav Šaloun
Ladislav Jan Šaloun (1 August 1870, Prague – 18 October 1946, Prague) was a prominent Czech sculptor of the Art Nouveau period.
Life
Šaloun was born in 1870 in Prague and he studied in the studios of Tomáš Seidan and Bohuslav Schnirch.< ...
. Smetana Hall serves as a concert hall
A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats.
This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention centres that may ...
and ballroom
A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially historic man ...
. It has a glass dome
A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
.[ It houses artwork by ]Alfons Mucha
Alfons Maria Mucha (; 24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939), known internationally as Alphonse Mucha, was a Czech painter, illustrator and graphic artist, living in Paris during the Art Nouveau period, best known for his distinctly stylized and decora ...
,[ ]Jan Preisler
Jan Preisler (17 February 1872, in Králův Dvůr – 27 April 1918, in Prague) was a Czech painter and art professor.
Life
Jan Preisler’s family worked in the local iron foundry and he attended the nearby primary schools. From an early age ...
and Max Švabinský
Max Švabinský (17 September 1873 – 10 February 1962) was a Czech people, Czech painter, draughtsman, graphic artist, and professor in Academy of Graphic Arts in Prague. Švabinský is considered one of the more notable artists in the histo ...
.
Today
Today, the building is used as concert hall, ballroom, civic building, and includes a café to the left of the lobby and a French restaurant on the right side. Beneath the ground there is also a wine bar and an American bar.[ Many of the rooms in the building are closed to the public and open only for guided tours.][
]
Gallery
File:The Municipal House (Obecni Dum), Prague - 8856.jpg, Main entry
File:Jugendstil Prag Gemeindehaus 4.jpg, The Foyer
File:Obecni_Dum_Restaurant,_Prague_-_8377.jpg, French restaurant
File:Jugendstil_Prag_Gemeindehaus_3.jpg, The café
File:Jugendstil Prag Gemeindehaus 9.JPG, Hall in the basement
File:Smetana Hall at the Municipal House (Obecni Dum), Prague - 8943.jpg, The Smetana Hall
File:120913 Obecní dům Vystava DIVERSE - PAVEL BRUNCLÍK 08 b.jpg, Exhibition hall
File:The Municipal House (Obecni Dum) ceiling, Prague - 8906.jpg, Fresko in the Primator-hall
Footnotes
Sources
* Peter Cannon-Brookes ''Czech Sculpture, 1800–1938''
External links
Official website
{{Coord, 50.087, N, 14.428, E, display=title, source:cswiki
Osvald Polívka buildings
Music venues in Prague
Concert halls in the Czech Republic
Czech nationalism
Music venues completed in 1912
Event venues established in 1912
National Cultural Monuments of the Czech Republic
Domes
Art Nouveau architecture in Prague
Art Nouveau theatres
1912 establishments in Austria-Hungary