Hartigovský palác Praha

Clasificación: Palacio
País: Chequia
Región: Praha
Dirección: Malostranské náměstí 259/12, 118 00 Praha 1 - Malá Strana, Česko

In Thunovská Street on Malá Strana stands the three-storey house, No. 183/18, known after its various owners as the Šelmberg, Salm, or Hartigs Palace. In the second half of the 14th century the site was apparently occupied by the residence of Beneš of Kravař, from whom the property was purchased by the Bishop of Litomyšl as a residence for himself and his successors. The house was burned down during the Hussite revolution, and only after a good half-century did the king entrust the building plot of the bishop's house and of the neighbouring house to the Supreme Chancellor Jan of Šelmberg, who united them into a single complex. At the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries the complex was unified with the newly built Smyslovsky House and perhaps at that time acquired its unified early Baroque façade. After many noble families (including, in the course of its history, the Trčka, Berka of Dubá, Hartigs, and Malovec of Malovic), in 1881 the right of ownership was registered to the Hlavatý family (in 1891 then to Marie Materná), and the house was adapted for residential use — the families of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and Teréza Nováková also lived here. After 1907 reconstruction for monastic purposes began, and at the end of 1921 a further reconstruction for embassy use followed. The house acquired its present appearance and served throughout the inter-war period as the seat of the German embassy. After the Second World War the Red Cross was located here; today the house forms part of the TTP Invest investment group, which has carried out a comprehensive renovation.