HISTORY

History of the Alchymist Prague Castle Suites

During your stay in one of the attic deluxe rooms or the suite of the Alchymist Prague Castle Suites you might feel that, by just stretching out your arm as far as it will go, you could actually touch the castle itself. You have chosen to stay in a truly exceptional place, one that has witnessed much of Czech history right outside its door, or even on these very premises.

The first written mention of the mansion dates back to 1415 when the house was owned by an important representative of the Czech Catholic nobility, Mikuláš Zajíc z Hazmburka, who was a strong opponent of the Hussites and a great supporter of the King. During the Hussite uprising in 1420, the Lesser Quarter was largely devastated and set on fire; nor did the house of Mikuláš Zajíc escape this fate. The house was sold as ´wasteland´ for a very low price in the 1460s. However, it was rebuilt and it must have been towards the end of the 15th century or the beginning of the 16th that two adjacent houses were joined together to form the layout of the present mansion. At the beginning of the 16th century, the house was inhabited by Albrecht Rendl of Ušany, the Vice Chamberlain of the Kingdom of Bohemia, and in 1518 the house was sold to squire Wolf Ždárský. A further, totally devastating, fire came in 1541 when most of the Lesser Quarter was burnt down, along with the house and its surrounding quarters. Renovation work was slow until 1583 when the imperial court of Rudolf II moved to Prague and this imperial move resulted in a significant regeneration and transformation of the Lesser Quarter as everyone wanted to be as close to the Emperor as possible.

It was at this time that the mansion was rebuilt in Renaissance style and bought by the court ribbon weaver, Michael Langrand of Burgundy. The price he paid for the house was not particularly high compared with the price of neighbouring houses, however in the ten years that Langrand owned the house, the value of the house tripled, a sign of the major construction activities and improvements that he undertook. The fire of 1541 must have caused a lot of rubble and landslides as a careful observer will notice, when looking at the facade, that there is a 30 cm difference in height between the left and right corners of the mansion. This has been carefully camouflaged by the builders and architects over the centuries using various building and painting techniques. One can also see how straight the line of the facade is, compared to other medieval and Renaissance houses in the neighbourhood. It looks as if the builder of that time took a ruler and drew a line. The Renaissance reconstruction of the house resulted in a two-storey building with Renaissance gables and the house looked like this until the end of the 17th century.

Historical sources show that the famous late Baroque painter Petr Brandl (1668 - 1739) spent six years of his life in this mansion and there is a further record showing that in 1687 the widow of Michal Brandl, the father of Petr Brandl, sold the house for 1500 gold pieces to Tomáš Ignác Pretschner and his wife. An entire hall in the National Gallery in Prague is devoted to the work of this great artist, who is known for his technique known as impasto, when paint is laid on a canvas very thickly, usually to such a depth that the brush or painting knife strokes are visible. Paint can also be mixed directly on the canvas. When dry, impasto provides texture, the paint coming out of the canvas. The National Gallery features Brandl´s superb work "Bust of an Apostle" dating from some time before 1725.

The new owner of the mansion, Tomáš Ignác Pretschner, invested heavily in a Baroque reconstruction of the house. The house was enlarged by one more floor and the facade acquired a uniform, early Baroque look. To achieve a clean style and a symmetrical frontage, the position of windows was altered and the facade was optically divided between the first and second floors by tall pilasters.

From 1796 to 1804 the house changed owners at frequent intervals; the value of the house went up steeply to four times its original value. It became an object of speculation caused by the fast political and social changes that the Empire was going through at that time, resulting in the influx of country folk into towns and an increased demand for living quarters. As time passed the house was altered many times, and in numerous ways, in order to achieve the most effective use of space and the greatest number of rooms.

We do not have much information on the detailed history of the house in the 19th century nor its owners and value. Nevertheless, we have an unique source of information on the architecture of Prague at the beginning of the 19th century. It is the Langweil model of Prague made in 1826 - 1837, depicting the Prague of that time. The model is extremely detailed; however those details are not always completely correct, in particular in the proportions, and for example with this house there are also missing pilasters between the 1st and 2nd floors and the connection with neighbouring houses is somewhat misleading.

In 1903 Vojtěch Hrstka, a book printer and binder, sold the house to Josef Fanta and his wife. Josef Fanta (1856–1954) was a Czech architect, furniture designer, sculptor and painter. He was one of the most prominent representatives of Czech Art Nouveau architecture and created many notable public architectural works including Prague Railway Station. He was also friends with another major representative of the Art Nouveau movement, the famous painter and decorative artist Alfons Mucha. Mucha´s style is very distinctive and easily recognisable. He produced many paintings, illustrations, advertisements, postcards, and designs. His touch can be seen throughout the mansion. When you arrive at the Alchymist Prague Castle Suites, you are bound to notice the beautiful balcony railings featuring Mucha´s design and also the railings at the main entrance to the residence.

Permission was granted to Fanta to renovate the house on 14.5.1903 and it is astonishing to reflect that his builder, Frantisek Schlaffer, had completed the renovation work by November of the same year. In stark contrast to this speed has been the care and attention to detail involved in this current restoration. Not only have the owner and his team painstakingly researched and restored all the Renaissance, Baroque and Art Nouveau features of the house but they also had to contend with the almost fifty years of complete neglect suffered by the property during its period of confiscation by the Communists.

The House “At the Turk’s Head”

If you, like us, wonder why this private historical mansion is known as the house “At the Turk´s Head”, we will have to disappoint you as we have not been able to uncover any legend, scandalous or otherwise, to justify its name. However, we can reasonably presume that the name has some connection with the House of Thun, an ancient aristocratic family that was heavily involved in the wars with the Turks. The Thun Palace, which today houses the British Embassy, is only a stone’s throw away from the house “At the Turk’s Head”