Lang's House, Renaissance and Baroque house in Litovel, Czech Republic.
Lang's House is a one-story corner burgher's house with an attic half-story, standing at the corner of Náměstí Přemysla Otakara and Masarykova Street in Litovel. Its main section facing the square is 21 m long, with an eastern wing along Masarykova Street and a western wing facing the courtyard. The facade has a smooth ground floor with pilasters, and the square-facing frieze carries reliefs of flowers, fruits, masks, Turks' heads, and griffins.
Lorenz Lang commissioned the house in 1542, and it underwent multiple renovations across centuries. These changes reflect how European building traditions evolved from the 16th century onward.
The house is named after Lorenz Lang, a cloth merchant and town councillor who merged two Gothic houses here in 1542. The balcony above the square-facing portal carries the town coat of arms on its central console, which may indicate that the town council met in the building before Litovel had its own town hall and announced its decisions from the balcony. A stone plaque with a German inscription, now on the courtyard facade above the arcade, recalls Lang and the construction.
The house is located at Masarykova Street number 2 and is easy to find from the main town square. Its prominent southern orientation makes it possible to view the facade from various vantage points around the plaza.
The facade displays three different building styles layered together in harmony rather than one covering the other. Visitors can see how architecture in Europe was modified across generations without demolishing and rebuilding.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,633 contributors worldwide.