Dum U Trí pštrosu - Praha, CZ
Posted by: 
Noe1
N 50° 05.238 E 014° 24.430
33U E 457590 N 5548505
The building from the 16th century. It features a stylish restaurant; nine rooms have original Renaissance wooden ceilings and some rooms offer a beautiful view of Charles bridge.
Waymark Code: WMX3DV
Location: Hlavní město Praha, Czechia
Date Posted: 11/21/2017
Views: 25
"There is a beautiful Renaissance house under the bridge tower on the Malá Strana side of Charles Bridge, named At the Three Ostriches (U trí pštrosu) according to the house emblem at the front where there are three large painted ostriches. The house was built in 1597, although perhaps as early as in the medieval times there used to be a pub here, supposedly visited by Charles IV himself several times, when he came to observe the construction of the stone bridge. The house was built by Jan Fux, who had the entire front of the house painted with a bombastic advertisement of his business with symbols of the services offered in 1606 by a painter Daniel Alexius of Kvetná. Jan Fux was a “feather designer” or also “fedršmukr”, as he decorated ladies’ hats or horse‘ harness with unique birds’ feathers, and he used them to make fans and other decorations, which he also designed himself, being a fashion designer. In 1648, the house was damaged during the Swedish siege on Prague, and during the subsequent repair, Prague builder Cyril Geer added the Baroque top floor. The painted beam ceiling also dates back to this period. In 1714, an Armenian businessman Deodatus Damajan established a coffeehouse here, perhaps the first one at Malá Strana.
The last private owner before nationalization was Josef Dundr, who bought the house in 1922, cultivated the established restaurant and repaired the house duly. The state ownership, however, did not do much good to the object, as it reached a state in which it was threatened by demolition. Overall repair in the 1970s came literally at the eleventh hour, and it was interconnected with two smaller neighbouring objects, the storage premises in the cellars were extended, and it was turned into a luxury hotel and restaurant. The original beam ceilings from the 17th century with Renaissance ornaments in some rooms were hung on steel constructions, and the interior was furnished with pseudo-Renaissance furniture.
There is a legend concerning the local house emblem, which says that a profligate wife of the house’s first owner, Jan Fux, kept demanding gifts of any sort, and she also wished for a live ostrich. Her husband complied and he also complied when she asked for the second ostrich. however, when she wanted yet another one, he was angry and said he would rather make an ostrich out of her. The next day, the lady of the house was nowhere to be found, and another ostrich appeared on the house emblem - a female ostrich."
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