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Historical building of Prague National
Theatre - Alma Mater of Czech Opera,
national monument of Czech history and art
The National Theatre is the embodiment of the will of the Czech nation for its national
identity and independence. Collections of money among the broad masses of the people facilitated its construction and so the ceremonious laying of the foundation stone on May 16, 1868 was tantamount to an
all-state political demonstration.
The idea of building a dignified edifice to serve as a theatre matured in the autumn of 1844 at the gatherings of patriots in Prague and began to by implement by an application submitted by František Palacký to the Provincial Committee of the Czech Assembly on January 29, 1845 having requested ’the privilege of
constructing, furnishing, maintaining and managing’ of an independent Czech
theatre. The privilege was granted already in April 1845. But it was not until six years later – in April 1851 – that the founding Society for the Establishment of a Czech National Theatre in Prague made the first public appeal to start a
collection.
 A year later the proceeds went toward the purchase of land belonging to a former salt works covering an area of not quite 28 are
which, fair enough, determined the magnificent site of the theatre on the banks of the river Vltava facing the panorama of Prague
Castle, but at the same time the cramped area and trapezium shape posed challenging problems for the designers of the
building.
The era of Bach absolutism brought to a halt preparations for the envisaged theatre and supported the concept of a modest provisional
building which was erected on the south side of the theatre parcel by architect Ignac Ullmann and opened on November 18, 1862. The building
of the Provisional Theatre then became a constituent part of the final version of the National Theatre; its outside cladding is visible to this day in the elevated section of the rear part of the building and the interior layout was only obliterated following the latest reconstruction of the National Theatre in
1977 - 1983. Simultaneously with the realization of this
minimal programme asserted by F.L. Rieger and the Provincial Committee the young
progressive advocates of the original ambitious concept of the
 building
(Sladkovský, Tyrš, Neruda, Hálek) launched an offensive. In 1865 these men
attained leading positions on the Society and requested the thirty-three-year
old professor of civil engineering at the Prague Technical College, architect
Josef Zítek to draft a design for the National Theatre. He then came out on top
in a later declared open competition and in 1867 actual construction work began.
On May 16, 1868 the foundation stone was ceremoniously laid, and in November the
foundations were completed. In 1875 the new building reached the full height and
in 1877 the theatre was roofed over. As of 1873 there was an on-going
competition for the interior decoration of the building whose scenario had been
elaborated by a special commission under the leadership of Sladkovský: the
themes were on the one hand in the spirit of the Neo-Renaissance concept of a
classic building, on the other hand they were inspired by the current enthusiasm
for Slavonic mythology and the stories of the Manuscripts – both these
concepts were based on Mánes’ paintings and connected with the contemporary
style of romantic landscape painting (also linked to Czech history),
providing the
fundamental ideology guiding artistic expression which to day
is described as the art of the generation of the National Theatre.
The National Theatre was opened for the first
time on June 11, 1881 to honour the visit of crown prince Rudolf. Another 11
performances were presented after that.
 Then the theatre was closed down to
enable the completion of the finishing touches. While this work was under way a
fire broke out on August 12, 1881 which destroyed the copper dome, the
auditorium and stage of the theatre. The fire was seen as a national catastrophe
and met with a might wave of determination to set up a new collection: within 47
days a million guldens were collected. This national enthusiasm, however, did not
correspond to the behind-the-scenes battles that flared up following the
catastrophe. Architect Josef Zítek was no longer in the running and his pupil
architect Josef Schulz was summoned to work on the reconstruction. He was the
one to assert the expansion of the edifice to include the block of flats
belonging to Dr Polák which was situated behind the building of the Provisional
Theatre. He made this building a part of the National Theatre and simultaneously
changed somewhat the area of the auditorium to improve visibility. He did,
however, take into account with the utmost sensitivity the style of Zítek’s
design and so he managed to merge three buildings by various architects to form
an absolute unity of style.
The building of the National Theatre was
inaugurated on November 18, 1883 with a performance of Smetana’s festive opera
Libuše composed for this occasion. The building, technically perfectly equipped
(electric illumination, a steel constructed stage), served without any extensive
modifications for almost one hundred years. It was only on April 1, 1977,
following a performance of the Lantern by Jirásek, that the theatre was closed
down for six years. Architect Zdeněk Vávra was appointed to take charge of the
overall reconstruction work. This extensive project was combined with the
completion of work on the entire setting of the theatre. The work was completed
to meet an important deadline which was the date of the 100th anniversary of the
opening of the National Theatre: November 18, 1983. |
