In the lower part of Wenceslas Square, two houses built three years apart — one Art Deco, one late Secession — have long operated as a single hotel, on ground where a golden goose and a golden lamb once hung as house signs.
At a glance
The hotel occupies two adjoining buildings in the lower part of Wenceslas Square. The Zlatá Husa (“Golden Goose”), at no. 839/7, was built in 1909–1910 to a design by the architect Emil Králíček, who worked for the building contractor Matěj Blecha; it is an Art Deco house of five storeys, its facade and cornices decorated with Art Deco mascarons. The neighbouring Ambassador began as a department store built in 1912–1913 and was converted into a hotel in 1922, in a style between late Secession and Art Deco. The Ambassador building has been a listed cultural monument of the Czech Republic since 1958.
Key facts
- Zlatá Husa: built 1909–1910, architect Emil Králíček for the Blecha firm; five storeys, Art Deco, central portal with balconies and mascarons; fully reconstructed in 2004
- Ambassador: built 1912–1913 as a department store; converted to a hotel in 1922; late Secession to Art Deco
- Before it: the Baroque house U zlatého beránka (“At the Golden Lamb”) of 1780, demolished in 1911
- Protection: cultural monument of the Czech Republic since 1958 (Ambassador)
- Together: the two houses have long been connected and run as one hotel, with 162 rooms in the Zlatá Husa building
History
The parcel names tell the older story: the plot of the Zlatá Husa carried the historic house name “At the Golden Goose”, and the Ambassador rose where the Baroque house “At the Golden Lamb” of 1780 stood until 1911. What replaced them belongs to the moment Wenceslas Square became Prague’s commercial spine — a purpose-built Art Deco house by Králíček, one of the circle around the builder Matěj Blecha, and a department store that found its lasting use as a hotel within a decade. The Czech sources differ on when the two houses were formally joined — one gives 1924, the other 1964 — but they have operated as one hotel for generations, and the ensemble remains one of the square’s fixed points.
Sources
- Hotel Zlatá Husa — Wikipedie (CS), read 26 August 2026
- Hotel Ambassador (Praha) — Wikipedie (CS), read 26 August 2026
- Hotel Ambassador Zlatá Husa — official site
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