- 1/4 Staroměstské Square
Old Town Hall
Without exaggeration, the Old Town Hall can be described as the primary symbol of the Prague Uprising. As early as 5 May, it was seized by the insurgents, along with other city authority buildings, becoming one of the centres of anti-Nazi resistance.
Thanks to its location and tower, the insurgents could control all the movement in Old Town Square and access roads. Moreover, it stood in a strategic position due to the location of the seats of the occupation administration. The NSDAP secretariat resided in the corner house in front of Tyn Church. Hence, any routes to the Prague SS Headquarters in the Faculty of Law (proklik na Právnickou fakultu) necessarily led through Old Town Square. Not far from the town hall, in the House of the Stone Table, Alex Command resided, one of the military resistance centres (proklik na dům U Kamenného stolu). However, the town hall was an easy target for shelling from the houses in front of Tyn Church, Pařížská Street, Malé (Little) Square, and Letná Hill, where a heavy field howitzer was located.
The Nazis launched their first large-scale attack on the Old Town Hall on the afternoon of 6 May. A German tank positioned in Pařížská Street damaged the town hall gate, but a Panzerfaust fired by the insurgents promptly destroyed it. The following day, the Germans, reinforced by five armoured vehicles and infantry, carried out another attack along with an air raid in the evening that destroyed the façade of Kinsky Palace. In addition, the Nazis transferred the armoured vehicles and infantry to involve them in a major attack on Old Town Square on the morning of 8 May.
The Old Town Hall became the primary target. The intense fighting destroyed the entire northern side, along with the eastern wing and Gothic oriel. The severely damaged astronomical clock collapsed and remained hanging from a distorted structure. That same afternoon, the fire caused the collapse of the tower’s roof and the town hall’s bell (proklik na zvon – upoutávka). The fire left irreversible traces in the Mayor’s Hall and the municipal archives registry. Meanwhile, a message arrived at Old Town Square about a protocol signed at 4 o’clock regarding the surrender of German troops from Prague and its surroundings, the halting of the fights, and the retreat of the majority of German soldiers from Prague to the west.
The reconstruction of the Old Town Hall, including the chapel and the astronomical clock, was carried out from 1945 to 1947.
The Old Town Hall, set ablaze, after being struck by German guns, 8 May 1945. View of the town hall tower on fire. Museum of Prague, photo by Blesk Praha I.
Old Town Square and the town hall damaged by fire, with the destroyed German tank hunter known as the Hetzer, after 9 May 1945. Museum of Prague, photo by Václav Klíma.
The damaged Old Town Hall as seen from Celetná Street, May 1945. Museum of Prague, unknown photographer.
The damaged Old Town Hall, view of the oriel, May 1945. Museum of Prague, unknown photographer.
The damaged Old Town Hall. View over the town hall’s debris, May 1945. Museum of Prague, unknown photographer.
