The Old Town Square in Prague in 1928

The Old Town Square in Prague in 1928. The monument to the Czech thinker and ideologist of the Czech Reformation, Jan Hus, and the Old Town Hall with its Gothic wing are particularly prominent in the photograph.

The Old Town Hall in Prague was founded in 1338 on the basis of a privilege granted to the citizens of the Old Town by King John of Luxembourg.

The Gothic wing was designed by Viennese architects Pietro Nobile and Pavel Sprenger and built between 1838 and 1848.

The monument to Jan Hus in the Old Town Square was unveiled in 1915. In May 1945, the Town Hall served as one of the defence points as fighting took place in its immediate vicinity. A fire on 8 May 1945 destroyed the Gothic wing of the Town Hall to such an extent that only the outer walls survived.

In 1948, it was decided to demolish these walls, leaving only one outer span, which was necessary to support the tower of the Town Hall.

Photo: Archive of Boris Kogut.