Prague’s New Town Hall

In Prague’s city center, there’s room for two Town Halls. The Old Town Hall, famous worldwide for its extraordinary astronomical clock. And the New Town Hall, more discreet, more isolated, yet just as fascinating. The idea of creating a new building emerged in 1904, when the City Council launched a competition to find the perfect architect for the project. The winner was Austrian architect, Osvald Polívka, his vision became reality between 1908 and 1911 with the building of the New Town Hall of Prague right here. However, this meant demolishing several older buildings, like Romanesque frescoed houses and Renaissance-style structures. The architect did not wish to create a style that would contrast too much with the rest of Mariánské Square, so the New Town Hall was designed in Secession style, an equivalent of France’s Art Nouveau style that features finely sculpted bas-reliefs and statues. At the edge of the building, you’ll notice Rabbi Löw on the right, the legendary Jewish scholar honored for creating the Golem, a mystical creature in Jewish culture. On the left, you have the Iron Man of Prague, a gloomy character from local folklore—don’t worry, we’ll talk about this one in a second. The New Town Hall is still the seat of the local government today, as well as being the mayor’s residence, so it isn’t exactly a tourist attraction. However, if you’re quiet, you can enter and might find one of Prague’s 28 remaining Paternosters, a doorless multi-cabin lift designed to carry passengers up and down. Invented in England in the 1860s, Paternosters are now very rare due to their limited speed and their high risk of accidents, sometimes deadly, especially for the Elderly. In Germany, you even have to sign a liability waiver before going on one! Whether you decide to step inside or not, the Paternoster in Prague’s New Town Hall always leaves a lasting impression. If you’re interested, make sure to visit the nearby Municipal Library, easily recognizable by its five entrances each topped with six statues. In the main hall, you’ll find a spectacular installation that has gone viral on TikTok with 43 million views. Under the name of “Idiom”, it’s a towering stack of 8,000 books, forming a massive column of paper that is beautiful inside and out. Since its creation in 1998 by Slovak artist Matej Krén, the library has had a huge success, attracting any visitors eager to peer into what appears to be a never-ending tower… or a bottomless well. It all depends on the way you perceive this mesmerizing phenomenon!