Perníková chaloupka, Hunting lodge and museum building in Ráby, Czech Republic.
Perníková chaloupka is a wooden hunting lodge in Swiss Cottage style, designed and built in 1882 by Franz Schmoranz Jr. on a high stone base. A staircase on the west side leads to a carved gallery on the raised ground floor, and two projections mark the east side. It stands on the southwest slope of Kunětická hora at 307 m, within the Kunětický forest.
Originally built in 1882 by architect Franz Schmoranz Jr. for industrialist Richard von Drasche-Wartinberg, the lodge served noble guests before being nationalized in 1919 following Czechoslovak expropriation laws.
Since 2003 the lodge has housed the Muzeum perníku, run by the Kralovství Perníku association, with several themed experience rooms. Its core is an international collection of book editions of the Brothers Grimm tale Hansel and Gretel, including German, Swedish, Norwegian, Esperanto, Russian, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian and Polish versions.
Visitors can access the museum through local roads from Ráby village, with interactive workshops available for learning traditional gingerbread making techniques and regional confectionery history.
The building is often confused with the protected Renaissance hunting lodge of the Pernstein family in Ráby, which stands elsewhere in the village. The wooden lodge itself was designed and built within a year by architect Franz Schmoranz Jr. and originally held 25 living rooms plus eight rooms for servants.
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