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History of Golden Lane
The basis is an irregular strip of
land varying in width from four to 8 metres between the older, Romanesque walls
from the 12th century, and the later walls that form the north fortification of
Prague Castle on the edge of natural ravine known as the Stag Moat. Work there was begun by the
architect Benedikt Ried shortly after 1484, when King Vladislav Jagiellon decided to
leave the Old Town and settle at the Castle.
Attached to the Castle wall (up to 320cm
thick) were 3: The Powder Tower (or Mihulka) on the west side, the Dalibor Tower (Daliborka) on the east, and between them the White Tower. Between Daliborka and the
White Tower, the castle wall on the moat side was buttressed by an arcade with 12
identical vaults each of which was about 120cm deep and 600 to 660cm wide.
These half-build spaces were used as simple makeshift dwelling. The oldest
written reports about them are from the 1560s, when the lane was called Goldsmith's Lane. Its residents were probably lesser goldsmiths who had fled the guild
laws which were being strictly enforced in all 3 towns of Prague at the time (Old Town, New Town and Lesser Town).
No substantial repairs were carried
out on the northern castle wall until 1591-94, during the reign of Rudolf II.
At that time, the upper arcade structure rose to the level of today's Golden
Lane. There were now 21 arches between the White Tower and Daliborka, each
400cm wide and 220cm deep on average. They were separated by pillars about a
metre wide. Above them, a walled passage with a raftered ceiling was built. The
earlier houses were undoubtedly torn down at that time, and their remnants
vanished into the raised rampart of the moat.
In 1597 the "artillerymen at
the gates of Prague Castle" asked Emperor Rudolf II for
permission to build little rooms within the newly repaired walls. In a decree,
dated 16th September 1597, Rudolf allowed them to be built. The "Red
Artillerymen", as they were nicknamed because of the colour of their
uniform, did not, however, receive the dwellings as gifts. They had them build
at their own expense and also bought and sold them, first amongst themselves,
and then with others who were not members of their corps. At first, these
included various employees of the Castle (such as gatekeepers, guards, and
bell-ringers) and later, people who did not live in Golden Lane but rented the little houses
to others.
It was not long before the little
houses began to expand into the lane with their additions and fireplaces. New
additions were made also in the adjacent Romanesque wall and the wall of the Lord High Burgrave's residence. The street ultimately became so cramped that in some places
it was less than a metre wide. Soon afterwards, in the slum clearance of 1864,
all those extensions, stalls, and wooden sheds that had stood on the opposite
side of the lane were demolished, and only the little houses along the north
wall were left standing.
In 1953 the
Office of the President of the Czechoslovak Republic bought all the houses from
their owners. The overall arrangement of Golden Lane was completed in 1955 under the
direction of the archited Pavel Janák. The last general reconstruction of Golden Lane was carried out
in 2010-2011 when a new drainage system was build and the paving was renewed.
The tiny houses were underpined and repaired. Many valuable elements were also
restored. All of the colour facades designed by painted animator Jiøí Trnka were renewed.
Residents
Right up to
the departure of the last tenant in 1952, the community in Golden Lane
was very colourful. At first, it included various employees of the Castle (such
as gatekeepers, guards, and bellringers) and, later, people who did not live in
Golden
Lane but let the little houses to others.
The
conditions for basic hygiene remained very backward. In the 18th century there
was only one privy for all the houses and only in the 19th century was a second
installed. Water pipes were laid here eventually in 1877, and the house at Number 24
Golden Lane had none until 1942. The names in the land records that have
been preserved are for the most part those of people about whom we know
nothing. And yet some of the houses did in fact have famous owners or tenants
over the years.
House Number 6 used to stand near the Office of the Lord High
Burgrave, and its roof was as high as the pavement in Golden Lane.
In the 1960s it was demolished during alterations to this part of the Prague Castle.
Shortly before World War II it was the home of the poet Jaroslav Seifert, and was
where he wrote his collections of verse "Eight days" and "Clad
in light".
House Number 12 was, in the late 1930s, the temporary home of
dramatist and writer of prose fiction Jiøí Maøánek. In the romantic atmosphere
of the lane and in everyday contact with the past, he found inspiration for his
writing, particularly for his historical novels and short stories. Now in this
house is Comedia
Film.
House Number 14 Little house of the psychic Matylda Prùšová
(1º half of the 20th century). In this house, before the Second
World War lived the proclaimed Prague card
reader and fortune teller “Madame de Thebes”. This widow of a pharmacist whose real name was Matylda Prùšová, was
drawing attention from afar with her black clothing and old fashioned hat
adorned with ostrich feathers. Since 1914, she has waited in vain for the
return of her son from the First World War. Daily she laid a table and prepared
a bed for him. Into her cozy room, stuffed with bizarre objects (an owl, a
crystal ball, etc) customers arrived daily, desirous to look into their
future. Matylda´s clientele
reached beyond the seas-letters for her, came for example, all the way from
Cape Town. Because of her frequent predictions about an early end to the war
and the fall of the Third Reich, she was arrested by the Gestapo and eventually
tortured to death.
House Number 22 was the home of Franz Kafka in 1916 and 1917, who rented it
from his sister. Far from the bustling centre of Prague, in Golden Lane, he
could devote himself to his writing and it is here that he wrote “The country
doctor”. Another tenant of the house, this time from the beginning of World War
Second, was the owner of the superb Aventinum
publishing house, Otakar Štorch - Marien. He was often visited in his
cramped quarters by his close friends, including the renowned illustrator Jiøí Trnka,
the great poet Vítìzslav Nezval, and the avant-garde photographer Jaromír Funke.
House Nº 24 Mrs. Magdalena (1º Republic). At the beginning of the 20th
century, residents of G. Lane were already well aware that their little
houses had a unique charm. As admiration by society for monuments and Old Prague
grew, G. Lane became famous. To increase the attractiveness of their homes for an
ever-growing number of tourists and history lovers, the owners began to
spontaneously reconstruct their houses. Cozy rooms began to change into rooms
with wooden floors and tiled stoves to appear nobility-like. Furniture in various
styles was added, and the windows were dressed with net curtains. The walls
were painted with bright, beguiling colours and the owners used stencils, hung
patriotic colour prints, family photos and home embroidery. They began to vie with each other in their over-decorated rooms, which in many cases were not
occupied by them any longer. From their more comfortable apartments in Prague,
they came daily to the lane, opened the houses up to the visitors who, as with Mrs.
Magdalena
´s House, paid a few coins for the chance to look around them. The most
enterprising owners even rented their houses to artists or writers who were
looking for inspiration for their work.
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