The Lucerna Palace: Recession, Art Nouveau and Vlasta Burian
The unique luxury building that is located in the city centre is used for cultural purposes and is decorated with an eccentric statue with a pinch of humour, an upside- down horse created by David Černý (the work entitled The Horse that represents St. Wenceslas sitting on the belly of his dead horse). The Lucerna Palace is unique and therefore it is worth learning a little about it.
The first Arcade Building in Prague
The Lucerna Palace represents the very first arcade building in Prague, in which luxurious late Art Nouveau and advanced modernism with a natural elegance were combined.
Already in 1905 Vácslav Havel, who was a builder and designer operating in Bohemia at the cusp of the 19th and the 20th Centuries and was also the grandfather of Václav Havel, the former President of the Czech Republic, had the desire to build a modern multipurpose centre right in the heart of the city. In order to be able to finance the construction of Lucerna, he was obliged to sell several of his apartment buildings.
The Centre of Social Life
The Lucerna Palace was built between the years 1907 and 1921 and it was a unique building at that time, one of the first in Prague that was built of reinforced concrete.
Concerts, balls, conferences and even sports matches took place there and, for example, boxing took place there during the period of the First Republic. The complex comprises the Lucerna Cinema and the Lucerna Bar, the Grand Hall, and on the second floor there is the Marble Hall. The complex also includes shops together with the Kávovarna Café, however the Hvězda passage and the U Nováků House passage do not constitute part of the complex; they were built later and were connected to the first passage in Prague.
Cabaret full of stars
In the middle of the last century in the location in which the Lucerna Bar is currently located, , you could step into a luxurious cabaret environment in which such personalities as Vlasta Burian, Karel Hašler and even Voskovec and Werich performed.
Lucerna can boast about its Grand Hall
The Grand Hall of the Lucerna Palace is the pride of the entire complex and represents the central area of the Palace. With its length of 54 metres, its width of 25.5 metres and height 9 metres at its full capacity it holds 2,500 standing and 1,500 seated visitors.
