Houses and Palaces in the Square (Pt 1)

Did it ever happen to you to rewatch a movie for the hundredth time and still notice new details you hadn’t seen before? Well, that’s the same feeling you’ll get on Prague’s Old Town Square. No matter how many times you come here, there will always be a wall, a statue, or a hidden detail that gives you this strange sensation, as if you were seeing it all for the first time again. And it’s no surprise, given how charming this city spot is. Rococo palaces, Baroque houses, Renaissance porticos… there are so many architectural marvels to get lost in. To help you navigate through it all, here are a few landmarks truly worth the visit. On your right, you’ll spot the Štorch House, an amazing building built in the late 1800s for a wealthy Prague publisher of the same name. Its neo-Gothic façade is richly adorned with sculpted details and colorful frescoes. Look closely down to the bottom left, you’ll notice Comenius, a Czech philosopher and educator watching over the square. Up above, there is Saint Wenceslas I on his white horse, Duke of Bohemia and patron saint of the Czech Republic. His assassination, ordered by his brother Boleslav in 935 AD and commemorated each year on September 28th, is now a national holiday in Czechia. Next door, there is also an ordinary bronze plaque to the right of the entrance. At first glance, it may not seem like much, but if you take a closer look, you’ll see that it honours one of the most famous scientists in history: Albert Einstein, Nobel Prize winner in Physics in 1921. The famous author behind the E=mc² formula gave lessons at the German University in Prague—then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire—from 1911 to 1912. Beyond his scientific brilliance, he loved Mozart as well as playing his violin. And he shared his love of music, for he joined a circle of artists and intellectuals who regularly met in the salon of Berta Fantová, a key literary and cultural figure of the city, for two years in Prague. It was in this very house that Einstein became friends with writers like Max Brod and Franz Kafka. Though his time in Prague is too often looked upon in his biographies, this humble plaque serves as a reminder to locals that he was once one of them.