Prague New City Hall (

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

: ''Nová radnice''), the central administrative building of

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 ...

(not to be confused with the New Town Hall/''Novoměstská radnice'', once the town hall of Prague's New Town and now the building of the city district

Prague 2 Prague 2, formally the Prague 2 Municipal District (''Městská čast Praha 2''), is a second-tier municipality in Prague. It is co-extensive with the national administrative district (''správní obvod'') of the same name. As of the end of 2004 ...

), is located on the east side of '' Mariánské náměstí'' (Virgin Mary Square) in the centre of the

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

, Prague 1, across from the

Clementinum The Clementinum (''Klementinum'' in Czech) is a historic complex of buildings in Prague. Until recently the complex hosted the National, University and Technical libraries; the City Library was also nearby on Mariánské Náměstí. In 2009, the ...

building complex. Since 1945 it has been the seat of

Prague City Hall Prague City Hall (Czech Republic, Czech: ''Magistrát hlavního města Prahy'') is the Municipality, municipal and Regional municipality, regional office of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. It is formed by the Chief Executive of Prague C ...

, Prague City Council,

Prague City Assembly The Prague City Assembly ( cs, Zastupitelstvo hlavního města Prahy (ZHMP)) is the elected legislative body of Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic. The capital city of Prague is a separate type of territorial self-governing entity a ...

and the

Mayor of Prague The office of Mayor of Prague was established in 1784. In that year, under Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roma ...

. The building contains offices, meeting halls and formal residences for the mayor and other city officials.

History

The hall stands on Virgin Mary Square. This was the site of a Romanesque church until 1798. In 1904 the city council announced a competition to design a new ''Radnice'' (

city hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

). The architect

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 ...

was announced as the winner in 1906. The new ''Radnice'' was constructed from 1908 - 1911 based on Polívka's Art Nouveau plans.New City Hall
Prague.eu, Retrieved 20 October 2015 There were a few changes during the construction when it was realised that the floor area needed to be increased and the Emperor-King also had a view on the design.

Description

The building is decorated by sculptures and reliefs by

Stanislav Sucharda

Stanislav Sucharda (12 November 1866 in Nová Pa ...

, Josef Mařatka and

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.< ...

. Šaloun's sculptures are on the corners of the building. He is the same local sculptor who created the city's iconic

Jan Hus Memorial The Jan Hus Memorial stands at one end of Old Town Square, Prague in the Czech Republic. The huge monument depicts victorious Hussite warriors and Protestants who were forced into exile 200 years after Hus in the wake of the lost Battle of the ...

. The building, which was intended as a tax and financial office, was equipped with paternoster lifts, which were very modern at the time. There were two lifts designed by John Prokopec which included safety features that allowed the lifts to operate at higher speeds with each of the twelve carriages having room for two people. The core of the building was a hall on the first floor with chandeliers and a transparent roof by Franta Anýž. Since the 1970s there has been only one paternoster lift, which dates from that decade. This lift still covers the four floors but it now has thirteen carriages.New Town Hall – the main building of City Hall. m. Prague
paternoster.archii.cz (in Czech), Retrieved 20 October 2015 On the wall of the main staircase leading to the assembly hall, there is a memorial plaque for

Milada Horáková Milada Horáková (née Králová, 25 December 1901 – 27 June 1950) was a Czech politician and a member of underground resistance movement during World War II. She was a victim of judicial murder, convicted and executed by the nation's Commu ...

by sculptor Jaroslava Lukešová. Horáková was a politician in the city. She had opposed both the Nazis and the communists. The latter executed her after a show trial in 1952.Honoring Czech Heroine Milada Horakova
, Natalile Pokorna, NTD.tv, 3 November 2003, Retrieved 20 October 2015 The New City Hall is a residency for the local government. Apart from the mayor of the City of Prague, the members of Prague City Council and some of the departments also have their meetings there.

Images

036 Nová radnice 06.JPG, Threshold with flanking sculptural groups by

Stanislav Sucharda

Stanislav Sucharda (12 November 1866 in Nová Pa ...

Radnice nová (Staré Město) Mariánské nám. (6).jpg, The Iron Knight, by sculptor

246 Estàtua del rabí Löw, a l'Ajuntament nou.jpg, Rabbi Lowe, also by sculptor

Praha - zamek Nova radnice.jpg

References

Literature

*Umělecké památky Prahy (Nové Město), Růžena Baťková, Academia 1998, Architektonický obzor (roč. 11, rok 1912) *Jaroslava Staňková, Jiří Štursa, Svatopluk Voděra: ''Pražská architektura : významné stavby jedenácti století'', Praha, 1991,

External links