Chotkův palác, Cultural monument in Malá Strana, Prague 1, Czech Republic.
Chotkův palác is an Empire-style palace at Hellichova 458/1 in Malá Strana, created after 1804 by rebuilding three Baroque houses. Its 60-metre street facade is divided by two entrance portals; a narrower courtyard wing adjoins the main two-storey block on the west, and an attic floor was inserted in 1954.
The building originated in the early 19th century from the reconstruction of three older baroque houses transformed by an architect into a single Empire-style structure. This transformation marked the shift from older baroque to the contemporary style of that period.
The name U Zlatého pelikána comes from one of the three Baroque houses merged into the palace; it belonged to violin maker Jan Jiří Hellmer, from whom Ludwig van Beethoven is said to have obtained a violin. Since 1996 the building has housed offices, including the Finnish and Norwegian embassies and the Japanese Cultural Centre.
The building underwent major renovation work in the 1990s and now serves as an office building housing various diplomatic institutions. Keep in mind this is an active administrative building, so public access may be limited and might require prior permission.
The 1890 and 2002 floods both reached the ground floor; in 2002 the water rose to a third of the ground-floor windows and damaged the whole level. The violin maker Jan Jiří Hellmer, who owned the house U Zlatého pelikána, is said to have supplied Ludwig van Beethoven with a violin.
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