Rudolfinum (Prague)

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The Rudolfinum in Prague

The Rudolfinum (German also Rudolphinum ) is a neo-Renaissance concert and gallery building on the right bank of the Vltava in the Old Town of Prague ( Staré Město ) in Prague . The building belongs to the Czech Philharmonic , which is based here.

history

The outstanding building made of light-colored sandstone was built on behalf of the Bohemian savings banks by the two architects Josef Zítek and Josef Schulz in the years 1876–1884. The rounded facade design was based on that of the Dresden Semperoper . The patron was Crown Prince Rudolf . The building was named after him and his art-loving ancestor Emperor Rudolf II . It was conceived from the beginning as a house of artists ( Dům umělců ) and should serve the maintenance of music and the fine arts .

In the newly founded Czechoslovakia , the house was transformed into a House of Representatives in 1920. During the German occupation by the Nazis from March 1939, the building was converted back into a concert hall. Initially only Czech workers worked here, who, according to the story in Prague, deliberately removed the statue of Richard Wagner instead of the statue of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy . After this “mistake” was exposed, the dismantling was continued by German workers. As far as we know, this anecdote is taken from the novel Mendelssohn on the Roof by Jiří Weil and never happened in reality because there was never a statue of Wagner. After the Second World War, the Czech parliament resided briefly in the house. Since 1946 the building has been used as a concert and exhibition venue again. From 1990 to 1992 the building was restored.

The Dvořák Hall
Entrance hall

The Rudolfinum houses three concert halls. In its largest, the Dvořák Hall , Antonín Dvořák conducted the first concert of the Czech Philharmonic, today's most important classical Prague orchestra, in 1896. Important concerts of the Prague Spring Music Festival are also held here. There is also a Suk Hall and a Kubelík Hall.

Rudolfinum Gallery

There is also an important state art gallery , the Rudolfinum Gallery, in the building complex. Its focus is mainly on exhibitions of contemporary visual arts and, to a lesser extent, on so-called classical modern art . Important exhibitions included: František Drtikol - Photographer, Painter, Mystic (1998), Cindy Sherman : Retrospective (1998), Jürgen Klauke : Side Effect (1998), Czech Photography 1840–1950 (2004), Annelies Štrba (2005), Neo Rauch : New Roles (2007), Uncertain States of America (2007-2008), Gottfried Helnwein : Angels Sleeping (2008).

Web links

Commons : Rudolfinum  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ History | Rudolfinum - in English. official website of the Rudolfinum. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  2. ^ The Prague Rudolfinum under the National Socialists on Radio Praha of October 13, 2009, accessed on May 2, 2011

Coordinates: 50 ° 5 ′ 24 ″  N , 14 ° 24 ′ 56 ″  E