Langweil’s Model of Prague, Paper model in Prague, Czech Republic

Langweil's Model is a detailed paper replica of historic Prague, representing over 2,000 buildings of the city center at a scale of 1:480. It spans about 20 square meters (215 square feet) and shows houses, roofs, streets, and small details like trees and chimneys.

Antonín Langweil worked on the model from 1826 until his death in June 1837, leaving it unfinished; he had shown it five times in incomplete form, including at an industrial exhibition at Prague Castle in 1833. In 1840 his widow sold it to Emperor Ferdinand, who gave it to the Patriotic Museum. It was first shown publicly after his death in 1862 at the Old Town Hall.

The model shows the old town and Jewish Quarter as they appeared before the late 19th-century renovation, giving visitors a sense of how the city was structured at that time. You can see how narrow the streets were and how buildings were packed closely together.

The model is displayed in the City of Prague Museum on Florenci, whose main building reopened in December 2025 after reconstruction. It is now shown in twelve modern cases as part of the audiovisual exhibition The City in Time, with rotating cameras and new lighting that help visitors examine the details.

The model was not made to document Prague but as a three-dimensional picture of the city, so it records passing details: flaking walls, broken windows, climbing plants, barrels stored in courtyards, a pig-slaughter scene and a ladder leaning against a wall. Only two soldiers on guard appear among the streets.