Kinský Palace (Prague)

Goltz -Kinsky, Czech Palac Goltz Kinských, a palace at the Old Town Square is ( Town Square ) No. 12, a market of the Czech capital Prague.

It was built in the years 1755-1765 on the site of two medieval houses on behalf of Ernst Johann Wenzel Graf von der Goltz. The original designs are by Kilian Ignaz Dietzenhofer which, however, died before construction started in 1751. His work continued, the Italian architect Anselmo Lurag. After completion of construction, the client died, and his widow sold the building in 1768 to the Czech noble family Kinsky which the building until 1945 had in possession. The palace was built in the rococo style, but has definite signs of emerging classicism. The figure decoration comes from the workshop of the sculptor Ignaz Franz Platzer. 1819 lived Anton Langweil there. Bertha von Suttner ( born Countess Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau ) was born at the Palais Kinsky and spent part of her childhood. Later a part of the building served as k.k. State school with German language of instruction in Prague Old Town, attended among others Franz Kafka, Franz Werfel, Max Brod, and Karl Kraus. On February 25, 1948 was here the general secretary of the Communist Party of Klement Gottwald the Czech people from the balcony of the building the complete takeover of power by the Communists in Czechoslovakia known.

Today the building houses the Directorate-General, the Central, the distributed all over the city Prague National Gallery, as well as a permanent exhibition of Czech / Bohemian landscape painting.