As early as the 14th century, there were water mills on the site of today’s Nové mlýny (New Mills) Street where a road leading from the Gothic Church of St Clement turns towards the Vltava River. The mills were called New, as recorded in 1484. In addition to the New Mills, there were Lodní (Ship), Helmovské, and Lodecké Mills nearby. Most of them were razed in the early 20th century, depriving Prague of outstanding Renaissance architecture of a technical nature.
Franz Joseph Bridge was a suspension bridge over the Vltava in Prague, opened in 1868.
The bridge was designed by the English engineer Rowland Mason Ordish. The design, which used the Ordish–Lefeuvre system, was originally created for the Albert Bridge over the River Thames in London. However, after construction of the Albert Bridge was delayed, Ordish decided to build a bridge in Prague first. The foundation stone was laid on 19 October 1865, and engineer František Schön was charged with supervising the construction work. Emperor Franz Joseph, after whom the bridge was named, attended the ceremonies for its opening on 13 May 1868.
In 1919, following the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and its monarchy, the Franz Joseph Bridge was renamed in honour of the Slovak politician and astronomer Milan Rastislav Štefánik. In the 1930s, the bridge could no longer bear the increasing traffic in Czechoslovakia's capital, and the authorities began considering its replacement. It was named after the Czech composer Leoš Janácek for a short period in the 1940s. The bridge was demolished in 1941 and replaced with a modern one named after the communist activist Jan Šverma in 1951.
The author of this painting is Jan Minarík. You can find this painting in book 'Starou Prahou Jana Minaríka' (
visit link) .
Jan Bedrich Minarík (December 15, 1862, Prague-Vyšehad - May 26, 1937) (
visit link) , was a Czech painter and graphic artist, pupil J. Marák at the Prague Academy. He became famous as a painter of motifs disappearing part of Prague. His work falls within the years 1907-1911. His paintings captured Josefov district and some parts of the Old Town and New Town. Also captured a number of motifs vanishing areas or individual houses. He also painted on Vysehrad, Mala Strana and Prague Castle.
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Pohled na novomlýnskou cást novomestského vltavského pobreží Petrské ctvrti. Zcela vpravo retezový most Františka I Josefa l. postavený 1868 a snesený 1947. U jeho konce se tycí vysoká budova Elišciných, jinak též Kandertovych lázní c.p. 1248/11 „U Jelena” z roku 1869 od Josefa Kanderta. postavená ve stylu anglické gotiky na míste, kde bývaly lázne snad již ve stredoveku. Vedle dominantní Novomlýnské vodárenské veže. odkud bylo zásobováno vodou Dolní Nové Mesto, vidíme Vávruv mlýn c.p. 1239/11 (srv. str. 142). Vycnívající vež náleží kostelu sv. Klimenta. pred ní vybíhá do reky neorenesancní budova mestské I vodárny c.p. 1240/11. Dále zadní trakty domu Novomlýnské ulice.
Nábreží Petrské ctvrti, od stredoveku tradicní oblasti mlýnu a dalších zarízení využívajících ke svému pohonu vodu z Vltavy, doznalo v prubehu naplnování asanacního zákona velkých zmen. Most Františka Josefa I. byl v letech 1948-1951 nahrazen Štefánikovým mostem podle návrhu Oldricha Širce a Vlastislava Hofmana z roku 1941. Vlevo na fotografii se nachází neoklasicistní budova Sociálního ústavu pro okresní nemocenskou pokladnu c.p. 1235/11, od Bohumila Hypšmana a Františka Roitha z let 1924-1926.