Semilasso, Cultural center and theatre in Královo Pole, Czech Republic

Semilasso is a cultural center and theater in the Královo Pole district of Brno, combining performance halls, event spaces, and a café under one roof. The building spans several floors and is marked by a glass tower addition that makes it easy to spot from the street.

The Morgenstern inn arose in the first half of the 19th century on the imperial road from Brno to Svitavy, at the edge of the Ugartov settlement, and belonged to the Schaffgotsch estate. Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau stayed there in the 1830s and finished his travel book Semilasso in Afrika in 1836; the inn was then renamed Zum Semilasso. In 1869 the horse-drawn tram line from Brno ended here, and a cultural house bearing the name was built around 1900.

The name comes from Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau, who stayed at the inn in the 1830s and signed his travel books Semilasso, meaning half-rested. A plaque on the building, unveiled in 1999, honours actor Karel Höger, who began his stage career here.

The centre stands at Palackého 126, on the corner with Kosmova, in Královo Pole, and is owned by the city of Brno. A private company, Glanc, has run the venue since 2004. The 2002–2003 reconstruction by the RAW studio added a two-storey corner café with a glass tower.

The building takes its name from a German landscape designer and travel writer far better known for his parks and memoirs than for any connection to a Bohemian inn. This unexpected link between a celebrated garden artist and a roadside stop is something most visitors walk past without ever noticing.