The most fashionable address on Wenceslas Square — a gilded Secession front that has barely changed in a century.
At a glance
The Grand Hotel Evropa stands on Wenceslas Square in central Prague, a well-preserved Art Nouveau building in the city. An older hotel of 1872 on the site was largely rebuilt between 1903 and 1905, when its main front to the square was demolished and replaced with a Secession-style facade by the architects Bedřich Bendelmayer and Alois Dryák. In its day it was a prestigious, luxurious and modern hotel, and its gilded front, with the neighbouring former Hotel Meran, remains one of the landmarks of the square. The building is a protected cultural monument of the Czech Republic.
Key facts
- Secession rebuilding: Bedřich Bendelmayer & Alois Dryák, 1903–1905
- Original building: 1872, by Josef Schulz (neo-Renaissance)
- Collaborators: Bohumil Hypšman and Jan Letzel
- Location: Wenceslas Square, Prague
- Neighbour: the former Hotel Meran
- Status: protected cultural monument
History
A hotel was first built on the site in 1872, in a neo-Renaissance design by Josef Schulz, and went through several names and owners. In the years 1903–1905 the main wing facing Wenceslas Square was rebuilt in the geometric Secession style by Bedřich Bendelmayer and Alois Dryák, with the collaboration of Bohumil Hypšman and Jan Letzel.
The result was, in its time, one of the most fashionable hotels on the square. It kept its early-twentieth-century interiors through the decades, becoming one of the most complete Art Nouveau ensembles in Prague.
After a long modern reconstruction it has reopened as a luxury hotel under new management, with its historic facade preserved.
What you see
The facade to Wenceslas Square is a tall, symmetrical Secession composition, richly gilded, with sculptural detail, decorative metalwork and a crowning ornament that catches the eye along the whole square. The geometric clarity of the design marks the later, more disciplined phase of Czech Art Nouveau.
Together with the adjoining former Hotel Meran, the building forms a continuous decorated front, one of the most photographed stretches of Wenceslas Square.
Practical information
- The building operates as a hotel; the facade is admired from the square at any time.
- It sits in the middle stretch of Wenceslas Square.
- Time needed: a short stop on a walk through the New Town.
Getting there
Wenceslas Square is in the centre of Prague’s New Town, served by the Muzeum and Můstek metro stations at either end.
Nearby
- The National Museum at the head of Wenceslas Square.
- The Art Nouveau Municipal House and the Old Town.
- The Hlahol building on the riverfront.
Sources
- Wikipedia (CS), “Hotel Evropa”.
- Czech cultural-monument register (památkový katalog).
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