Old Prague postcards The Opening at the House The Keys
93 - The house U Divého muže (The Wild Man) or U Goliáše (The Goliath), No. 298, at the end of Karmelitská Street
It was an extensive, massive Renaissance house with five gables which closed the street across. Through the house, its long courtyard, and through the larger of the U Klíčů (The Keys) houses, No. 270, which stood in the square, there was a passage to Malostranské Square. Another route to the square passed through the smaller narrow house The Keys, No. 270, which one can see on the left, behind the Goliath. Behind this house, in the curve of Karmelitská, the house Bílý most (The White Bridge), No. 299, is situated. On the right, behind a corner house with a gas-lamp (Hotel Garni), under which a cabman is nodding, is the entrance to Prokopská Street. The house the Goliath and the smaller house The Keys were pulled down in the first stage of demolition in 1896. PHOTOGRAPHIC POSTCARD. PICTURE 1895, PHOTOGRAPHER J. ECKERT. Z. REACH, 1920s |
94 - The opening U Klíčů (The Keys) after demolition of houses in the first stage
Already with rails for trams. Approximately from the beginning of 1901 until June 17th of that year, a horse tram ran here on the route from Újezd to Malostranské Square. As of the above-mentioned date, it was replaced by the electric tram, and the line became a part of the new route Smíchov - Malostranské Square - exhibition area. The house Bílý most (The White Bridge), No. 299, occupies the corner opposite to Karmelitská Street (where the photographer stood). Behind stands a former brewery, No. 300, and the Hrachovský House (from about 1600). On the left side of the White Bridge, at the junction of Karmelitská and Tržiště, the Ořechový dům (The Walnut-Tree House) with J. Žák’s pressing shop is located (see picture 61). The Garni Hotel is on the furthest left. The exposed wall of the White Bridge house was then used as a poster area, already rented by the enterprising A. Titz. (For the final stage, following the demolition of the three houses and the relocation of the existing tram lines to their definitive place, see picture 99.) PHOTOTYPE. AROUND 1902 |
95 - A view of the east line of houses in the opening and in the continuation of Karmelitská Street
Situation after the third stage of demolition, i.e. after the removal of all seven houses. From the left, one can see a part of Malostranské Square with the Marshal Radecký equestrian statue; next is the extensive Štydlovský House, formerly U Bílého vola (The White Ox), No. 271, with its rear side and former courtyard wings, including various additions and annexes. These bizarre innner labyrinths are typical of old Prague housing. The house arose by uniting two original houses in 1746. In the low house on the right, there were the shops of V. Mařík (gas, water supply, acetylene, and pump house), A. Sadílková and J. Živný (room for shaving and hair-cutting), and others. It can be assumed that the building with small shops already stood and operated in the much frequented transit courtyard of the house U Klíčů (The Keys). Thus it could have been a predecessor of later Prague passages. PHOTOGRAPHIC POSTCARD. PICTURE AROUND 1910. PHOTOGRAPHER T. VOJTA. 1913 |
96 - A view from Malostranské Square
Of the east line of houses in the opening and of the old part of Karmelitská Street - the situation after the third stage, after the removal of all seven houses. From the left stands a long uneven side of the Štydlovský House, No. 271, part of which is also a former tower of the Lesser Town mediaeval fortification adapted into flats (in the centre of the picture). Below is the low house, already mentioned several times, with shops, originally perhaps an outbuilding in the courtyard of the house U Klíčů (The Keys). On the right, one can see a side wall of the house U Černého koníčka (The Little Black Horse), No. 297, exposed in 1896 after demolition of the house U Goliáše (The Goliath). Behind it there is the Garni Hotel and the Gendarme Barracks at Újezd. It is apparent from this picture that the trams were running close to the pavement of these houses. On the right, however, new rails are being laid on the newly-demarcated route, on which trams have been running ever since. PHOTOGRAPHIC POSTCARD. PICTURE AROUND 1910.
PHOTOGRAPHER PROBABLY T. VOJTA.
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97 - A vista through the narrow Karmelitská Lane towards Malostranské Square
On the right, the house Bílý most (The White Bridge), No. 299, built perhaps in the late 15th century, next to the former little bridge over a moat at the oldest Újezd Gate - a part of the Přemyslid fortification of the New Town under the Castle. This building was demolished in 1904 or maybe after 1907, but not in 1896, as is sometimes stated in literature. From the left, the still-extant Ořechový dům (The Walnut-Tree House), No. 301, followed by house No. 516 with a residue of the Újezd Gate (built in the 13th century, demolished in 1727) and the house Zlatý hrozen (The Golden Grape), No. 267, the front of which faces Malostranské Square. The lane was much frequented, and was dark for most of the day. However, the oil painting records it in midday light. Only women are in the picture, whom the painter saw most frequently as they used to pass here on their way to Tržiště (Market Place). (A woman on the left with a shopping bag is just leaving it.) On February 15, 1611, in this street, a bloody massacre occurred involving soldiers of the Czech Estate troops and mercenaries from Passau, who afterwards plundered the entire Lesser Town. ČFOUR-COLOUR AUTOTYPE. AFTER AN OIL PAINTING OF A. WIERER, AROUND 1900.
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98 - The decoration of the U Klíčů (The Keys) opening during the visit of Emperor Franz Josef I in 1901
The main reason for his trip to Prague was attendance at the consecration and festive opening ceremony of the Emperor Franz Bridge, by the National Theatre. In the centre of the photograph, a triumphal arch with the Czech lion emblem (on the opposite side were emblems bearing the initials and device of the Emperor); the red and white flags of the Czech Kingdom fly around. The arch and flags in this thoroughfare were only part of the decoration of the whole of Prague, which concentrated mainly on the routes where the Emperor was to pass. The triumphal arch stood in Malostranské Square, on the site of the fronts of the demolished Baroque houses U Anděla strážce (The Guardian Angel), No. 269, and The Keys, i.e. of the larger building on plot No. 270. On the right there is the extended house No. 271. For the long ground floor house with little shops, see pictures 95 and 96. On the left, apparently a temporary wall close to the as yet undemolished house, which could have had a supporting or closing function. COLOURED PHOTOTYPE. K. BELLMAN, 1901 |
99 - The situation after building up the opening
The fourth and final stage, consisting in demarcating the new route, and the new width of Karmelitská Street, laying down new rails, and building in the remaining space. Between 1912-1913, several new houses of various styles arose here, one of them being finished as late as after 1918. On the left side of the picture, one can well see the whole western part of the former Karmelitská Lane, formed by a block of three houses, two of them being on corner plots. The length of the first house (under the church towers) indicates approximately the depth of the original plots, reaching as far as the former town walls. The second house, with an unusual jagged front, hides part of the masonry of the oldest Újezd Gate. The third house reaches out to Tržiště Street. This block of three buildings clearly shows the depth of the whole housing between Malostranské Square and Tržiště Street, and how far the plots extended from Malostranské Square to Tržiště Street after pulling down the town walls and filling up the moats (see the text of picture 61). PHOTOGRAVURE. AROUND 1925
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