The National Theatre in Prague and the Problem of its Corner
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Jan Galeta
Jan Galeta , art historian. Studied law and art history at Masaryk University in Brno; 2020 doctorate with a thesis on the architecture of national houses in 19th century Moravia as hubs of Czech and German bourgeois culture, society, and politics. 2018 – 2022 research assistant at the Academy of Arts Architecture & Design in Prague on the project »Architecture and Czech Politics in the 19th – 21st Century«. From 2020 assistant professor at the Department of Art History, Masaryk University, a Centre for Early Modern Studies member. From 2022 research assistant at the Czech Academy of Sciences on the project »›Invisible Agents‹ in Architecture (1908 –1938). Policies, Principles, and Projects in Central European Ministries of Public Works«. 2023 board member of the Association of Czech Art Historians. His primary focus is 19th and 20th century European architecture, but he generally deals with topics like architecture and nationalism, architecture and propaganda, architecture and politics and sociology of art. He is also interested in the historiography of art history.
Abstract
Participants in two competitions for the Czech National Theatre in Prague (1854 and 1866) had to deal with a challenging building programme, especially with the unsuitable building site, which had an acute angle at one corner. Scholarly literature has focused mainly on the executed project by Josef Zítek, whose personality is also surrounded by the myth of the genius architect. By analysing six competing architectural designs, the presented paper argues that although Zítek’s project was the best in terms of the external form of the building, in terms of the solution to the problematic acute corner, most of the other competitors also approached the task with an unusual degree of resourcefulness. Especially Franz Fröhlich, who, even on an unfavourable plot, managed to design a symmetrical building, and Ignác Ullmann, who, against all period architectural opinions, courageously used acute angle instead of hiding it. Thus, the paper argues that most architects approached the corner problem with original solutions and that, therefore their works witness the innovative power and possibilities of the 19th century architectonical approaches.
About the author
Jan Galeta, art historian. Studied law and art history at Masaryk University in Brno; 2020 doctorate with a thesis on the architecture of national houses in 19th century Moravia as hubs of Czech and German bourgeois culture, society, and politics. 2018 – 2022 research assistant at the Academy of Arts Architecture & Design in Prague on the project »Architecture and Czech Politics in the 19th – 21st Century«. From 2020 assistant professor at the Department of Art History, Masaryk University, a Centre for Early Modern Studies member. From 2022 research assistant at the Czech Academy of Sciences on the project »›Invisible Agents‹ in Architecture (1908 –1938). Policies, Principles, and Projects in Central European Ministries of Public Works«. 2023 board member of the Association of Czech Art Historians. His primary focus is 19th and 20th century European architecture, but he generally deals with topics like architecture and nationalism, architecture and propaganda, architecture and politics and sociology of art. He is also interested in the historiography of art history.
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Credits
Fig. 1: Prague, Bohemian Union for Promoting Visits of Foreigners to the Kingdom of Bohemia, Prague 1911. Public domain, from Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prague_(1911),_National_Theatre.jpg (4.3.2025) — Fig. 2, 4, 13, 14: Národní archiv, Sbírka map a plánů (NA-SMP), inv. no. 1204, 1217; inv. no. 1201/2; inv. no. 1199 — Fig. 3: Šubert 1881, 90 — Fig. 5: Krtilová 1954, Fig. 83 — Fig. 6, 9, 10, 12: Národní technické muzeum, Muzeum architektury a stavitelství (NTM MAS), 65 Zítek Josef, inv. No. 20041202/13; 30 Národní divadlo, inv. No. 20100223/01; 30 Národní divadlo, inv. No. 20100223/01; 30 Národní divadlo, inv. No. 20041202/14 — Fig. 7: Benešová/Hornychová 1986, 238 — Fig. 8: Hilmera 1999, 192 — Fig. 11: Národní divadlo. Týdeník věnovaný otázkám divadelní kultury 34.1958, 8, 14 — Fig. 15: Šubert, 1881, [419]
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© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Cover
- Frontmatter
- Aufsätze / Articles
- Editorial
- Die Thematisierung der Bauwerksecke
- Old Columns, New Architecture
- Muri, colonne e angoli nell’architettura di Palladio
- Die Gestaltung interner Ecken in der italienischen Renaissance und Michelangelos Cappella Sforza von S. Maria Maggiore
- The National Theatre in Prague and the Problem of its Corner
- Historistische Ecklösungen in Deutschland und Frankreich. Symbole nationaler Baukultur
- Schwache Ecken
- Richard Neutras Eckfenster
- Complicated Simplicity
- »Vier Stützen lösen das Eckproblem.«
- Kurzbiographien der Autorinnen und Autoren
- Corrigenda
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Cover
- Frontmatter
- Aufsätze / Articles
- Editorial
- Die Thematisierung der Bauwerksecke
- Old Columns, New Architecture
- Muri, colonne e angoli nell’architettura di Palladio
- Die Gestaltung interner Ecken in der italienischen Renaissance und Michelangelos Cappella Sforza von S. Maria Maggiore
- The National Theatre in Prague and the Problem of its Corner
- Historistische Ecklösungen in Deutschland und Frankreich. Symbole nationaler Baukultur
- Schwache Ecken
- Richard Neutras Eckfenster
- Complicated Simplicity
- »Vier Stützen lösen das Eckproblem.«
- Kurzbiographien der Autorinnen und Autoren
- Corrigenda
