Vinohrady Theatre - Prague, Czech Republic - Picture Perfect Postcards on Waymarking.com

Together with the St. Ludmila’s Temple and the National House (Národní dum), the Na Vinohradech Theatre is the third dominant of Prague’s district Vinohrady.

The programme of the construction was elaborated by a town’s architect Antonín Turek, and an architectural competition was opened in 1902. The first prize, out of 12 received projects, was awarded to ing. arch. Alois Censký. His original project is still in new-Renaissance style, yet in the end he built a Secession theatre. In 1905 - 07 it was built by Vinohrady builders Jan Majer and Josef Veselý. There were several competitions opened for both exterior and interior decorations of the building. The sculptural competition was won by Milan Havlícek, who created the monumental allegories of Bravery with an erected sword in her right hand, and of Truth with a mirror in her left hand. These were installed on the pylons above the main front. They were probably the greatest sculptures in the country to be placed on a house, they were 7 m high and altogether they weighed 36 tons.

The theatre was modernized in 1922 and two years later it got a circular horizon for the stage, new lighting fixtures and a moving portal. In 1927, also the stage was restored with the space for the orchestra and an iron curtain. Back then, there were 1060 sitting places in the theatre, 12 four-seat boxes, and 180 standing places. Great personalities of Czech theatre were employed in the theatre, such as Anna Sedlácková, Jaroslav Vojta, Zdenek Štepánek, František Smolík, František Kovárík, to name just a few people from the older generation and many others. There are busts of some artists closely connected with the history of this theatre in the large parlour on the first floor. Above all, there is the bust of Karel Capek, who was very close to the theatre. It was made by sculptor Karel Dvorák and donated to the theatre by Olga Scheinpflugová. Busts of František Langer and Jirí Frejka were made by Jan Kodet. There is also a bust of actress Anna Letenská, who was executed in the Mauthausen concentration camp during the Heydrich affair, as she and her husband provided shelter to the doctor who treated the wounded brave paratroopers. During occupation, in the years 1941 - 42, the theatre was closed. The building was hit and damaged during the ally air-raid on the 14th February 1945.

The theatre often changed its name: in the years 1929 - 44 it was one of the Prague Municipal Theatres, in 1944 - 45 it was Theatre of J. K. Tyl, in 1945 - 50 it was the Municipal Theatre at Vinohrady, in 1950 - 66 it was the Theatre of the Czechoslovak Army, and since 1966 the name has settled on the Na Vinohradech Theatre.

Physical Address: The Peace Square Prague, Czech Republic Description of Postcard Location: Vinohrady Theatre Related Web Site: Not listed Parking Coordinates: Not Listed

Visit Instructions:
To log a Visit, please make every effort to supply an image of yourself at the site. The standard GPS photo may be used as well, or even just an image that you took when you visited the location. If you do not have the option to provide an image, please provide a detailed description of your visit so we can form a 'mental image'

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   10/09/2019 jokry visited it 11/14/2017 *Team Krombaer* visited it 04/25/2017 jezevecjezevec visited it 02/25/2017 Blogi visited it

View all visits/logs