Jan Josef hrabe z Vrtby - Nejvyšší purkrabství / Jan Joseph Count of Vrtba - Supreme Burgrave's House (Prague Castle)
N 50° 05.509 E 014° 24.276
33U E 457410 N 5549009
Stone coat of arms of Jan Joseph Count of Vrtba (Jaroslav Jan Josef hrabe z Vrtby) is decorating the entrance gate of the Supreme Burgrave's House (Nejvyšší purkrabství) in Jirská Street (Jirská ulice) in Prague Castle.
Waymark Code: WM8H37
Location: Hlavní město Praha, Czechia
Date Posted: 04/02/2010
Views: 173
A part of the front of Jirská street in Prague Castle is formed by a fence wall of the courtyard of the Supreme Burgrave's House. Above the entrance gate there are four coat of arms of the supreme burgraves of the 17th and 18th centuries - one of the is the depicted CoA of Jan Joseph Count of Vrtba. The burgraves, whose office developed from the function of the castle castellan, deputized for the sovereign in the times of his absence. The office was held by members of the most important noble families. The second Vrtba's CoA is located on the stone wall near the Burgrave's House (N50° 5.527' E14° 24.290).
Jan Joseph Count of Vrtba was a member of Czech noble house "of Vrtba", descendants of the family which originated from Hroznata - the founder of the Teplá Monastery (12-13th century, also so-called "Hroznatovci").
The seat of the castellans and later the burgraves was evidently situated on its present site already in the Romanesque period. In the 14th century the Burgrave's House served as the temporary residence of the later king and emperor Charles IV. After the fire of 1541 the palace was rebuilt in Renaissance style. In the course of another reconstruction carried out in the 60's of the 20th century some of the original buildings were demolished and replaced with new ones (currently removed - 2014).