Prague - Pacht Palace

The present palace-type building was built on the site of four smaller houses that cannot be precisely located. The first of them, which stood at the end of the plot near the Powder Gate, is documented in 1406. Its slight price of 1433 indicates a small building, as does the neighbouring building. The value of the third house is not given in the inventory, and the value of the fourth is again low. Of these small houses, only two rooms of medieval origin survive in the cellar.

Some of the buildings were probably consolidated in 1454. The owner at this time was Procek of Kunštát, who was a chamberlain and advisor to King George of Poděbrady. He later sold the house to Bohuslav of Žebrák and Plané, and in 1666 the house belonged to the Lords of Seeberg. In 1683 it was sold as a house already registered in the land registers to Baron Antonio de Joaninelli for a relatively high sum, which testifies to previous modifications.

In 1689 the house burnt down during the so-called French Fire of Prague (the fire of the Jewish Town and the northern part of the Old and New Town on 21 June 1689). The owner bought the neighbouring house belonging to the painter Ondřej Oktavián Petr and a small adjacent plot for the intended reconstruction and extension. At the same time, he applied for a plate registration of the then only Shoshov house in exchange for a plate house in Kaprova Street. However, the intended reconstruction did not take place.

In 1737 the house was bought by Josef Ignác, Knight von Langer, and he started the construction probably according to the project of Kilian Ignác Dientzenhofer. In 1738 the baroque new building was not yet under roof, and it was not until shortly after 1740 that it was completed.

In 1789 the house, with the low north wing already completed, was sold. The north wing was raised in 1840. In 1801 the house came into the possession of the Pachts of Rajov, who remained only until 1822.

In the 1930s the palace was the seat of a bank, which required significant alterations, including the roofing of the courtyard. Further alterations to the interior were made in the 1980s.

Today, the palace is used as an administrative building for the Ministry of the Interior.

The large building is located on an almost square plot, enclosing a newly roofed courtyard. The street wings are two-bay, the courtyard wings are one-bay. The main entrance façade to Celetná runs the length of fourteen window axes, the middle eight of which are marked by a risalit. The rusticated pilasters also highlight the central double axis, terminating above the moulded crown cornice with a gable dormer with volute-curved sashes, and the immediately adjacent secondary window axes.

The ground floor has a completely modern treatment, except for the entrance portal accompanied by flanking pilasters with volute capitals and a lean-to semicircular waist. The decoration is concentrated on the windows of the first floor, on the projecting parapets supplemented by clapboards and on the suprafenesters with stucco decoration (in the central two axes, medallions of Maria Theresa and Francis), which are finished with variously shaped cornices.

The articulation of the side façade is similar, only slightly simplified. The courtyard façades have been redesigned, the windows are accompanied by ribboned transoms. The third floor, facing the courtyard, was additionally built above the crown cornice.

Only the main street wings are basemented. On the ground floor, the Baroque vaults have been preserved almost in their entirety; particularly valuable are the passage and the adjacent corridor with staircase, where the vaults are decorated with High Baroque mirrors.

The staircase corresponds to the palace type, the elevator was built into the spindle skylight and the balustrade is also later (late classical). The floor has only one vaulted space, which is dressed to end The corner room preserves a rich ceiling decoration with ornamental painting, consisting of acanthus, but also a grid. Originally, this decoration was also applied to the walls. The second floor is architecturally uninteresting, the third floor is newly created from the former attic.

In 1840, structural changes were prepared by Jan Ripota, consisting in raising the courtyard wings by one storey, and new pavilions were also built. The modifications probably affected the interiors as well. Perhaps at this time the courtyard facades were simplified. In 1844 and 1847 the shop windows in the parterre were modified, and in 1850 a daguerreotype studio was temporarily located in the house.

In 1886, the facade of the house was repaired, and again in 1912, when the palace was 'restored to its original state'. Around 1931 the courtyard was roofed over to serve the needs of the bank, and in 1934 an arcade was set up on Rybna Street, later again converted into business premises. Around 1982, further major alterations were made to the interior for banking purposes.

The building is currently used as an administrative building of the Ministry of the Interior.