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Old Town Hall Prague - History
Old Town Hall is a medieval Prague city hall mainly famous because ofits Astronomical Clock. The Old Town Hall Tower is part of the Old Town Hall complex.
Old Town Hall Prague was established in 1338 during the reign of King John of Luxemburg, who took the Bohemian throne after marrying Elizabeth of the Premyslid dynasty. The first house of the Prague City Hall is located directly next to the Old Town Hall Tower. It is called Volfin's House, after its owner, and its original building barely reached the nowadays ground level. It was a stone house with one set of stairs and the arcade of stalls on its western side, which is now part of the house with a speaking name "Western" from the second half of the 14th century. The 70m tall Old Town Hall Tower was built in 1364 for public announcements. It is famous for the Astronomical Clock and a great view over the UNESCO historical center and the Old Town Square.
Prague's Old Town Hall expanded to the mid19th century, gaining three more houses on the south, and a large northern wing, which was torn down in 1838 and replaced with a neo-Gothic one ten years later. The architect of this ambitious project was a Viennese citizen, Pietro di Nobile, whose work, rumor has it, was greatly criticized by Praguers. However, the neo-Gothic Town Hall did not survive for long, as it was destroyed during the Czech National uprising against Nazi Germany in May 1945 and never rebuilt.
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Author: Valeriia Zahradnikova and Vaclav Zahradnik, Prague guides certified by Prague City Tourism agency. Valeriia and Vaclav have worked in tourism for over 6 years and have guided thousands of Prague visitors.