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 The Powder Tower or Powder Gate ( cs, Prašná brána) is a Gothic tower in Prague, Czech Republic. It is one of the original city gates. It separates the Old Town from the New Town. History The Powder Tower is one of the original 13 city ga ...

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 phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian 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 keyboardist Andrew Farriss ...

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 Pru ...

groups representing ''The Degradation of the People'' and ''The Resurrection of the People'' by Ladislav Šaloun. 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 ma ...

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 ...

. 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 decorat ...

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 painter, draughtsman, graphic artist, and professor in Academy of Graphic Arts in Prague. Švabinský is considered one of the more notable artists in the history of Czech p ...

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