Municipal Library by Karel Stolar - Prague, Czech Republic
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ToRo61
N 50° 05.232 E 014° 25.033
33U E 458308 N 5548488
Municipal Library by Karel Stolar
Waymark Code: WMTQZG
Location: Hlavní město Praha, Czechia
Date Posted: 01/01/2017
Views: 32
The library building on Mariánské Square was built between 1925 and 1928. It was the first purpose-built library in the then Czechoslovakia as well as one of the most modern in Europe at the time.
The oldest public library in Prague continued in the activity of the society libraries, and also some marginal villages had their own libraries. The first public library in Prague was opened on the 1st July 1891, being established by a decree of the municipal council as the Public Municipal Library of the Royal City of Prague. In the beginning, it had over 3000 books; its first address was in the building of the former St. Václav jail in the Na Zderaze Street. The library changed its address several times, until it finally settled at the corner of Platnérská Street and the square Mariánské námestí, where there used to be an Empire burgess house. The base of the modern-time library was set by its director back then, poet Antonín Sova, who also established the first six branches of the library. When 37 surrounding villages were included in Prague in 1922, which also gave rise to the so called Great Prague, also the libraries in these villages were united into one and a centralized Central Library of the Capital City of Prague was created with a network of 40 branches and this number kept growing. The library fund with approximately 260 thousand volumes was also increasing rapidly. The existing house was not suitable for the greater amounts of books. This problem was resolved by the Prague Municipal Insurance Company, which as early as in 1923 decided in a meeting of its board of directors to build a new separate building for the library needs and to donate it to the city of Prague on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Czechoslovak State. Out of five renowned architects, František Roith was the one to win the competition opened for the new library project. Work on the extensive building site, which was over 60 m long into the Mariánské námestí and nearly 70 m in the vertical direction, began in 1925. This was the first purpose-built library construction in Czechoslovakia and one of the most modern in Europe. The author not only designed the new building as a magnificent library with all the respective services, but also as a cultural institution with premises for lectures, concerts and exhibitions. The library was officially opened for public on the 28th October 1928.
The author of this painting is Karel Stolar. Karel Stolar is the book illustrator who is dedicated to creating drawings sights. You can find this painting in book 'Pražské domy vyprávejí I.'
This book is one of a twelve-part series of books describing structural changes and the development of cultural-historical monuments of Prague (houses, villas and palaces, library, banks, school, museum, hospital, farm, etc.).
Website of painting. Exact URL of painting is required: [Web Link]
Artist: Karel Stolař
Date of Your Photograph: 12/30/2016
Medium of Painting: pen and ink
Date of Painting: Not listed
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