Prague Municipal Insurance Company, Art Nouveau building in Old Town, Czech Republic
The Prague Municipal Insurance Company is a neo-Baroque and Art Nouveau complex built by Osvald Polívka between 1899 and 1910 on Old Town Square and Salvátorská Street. Its western front deliberately copies the look of the demolished House at the Golden Star. The attic carries Bohuslav Schnirch's seated figures Calling to Alarm and Extinguishing a Fire, and a lunette mosaic shows Libuše with allegories of Prague.
The city of Prague bought the site in 1897 and held an architectural competition; Osvald Polívka's third design, from 1899, was built in 1899–1901 after the demolition of three historic houses, including U Zlaté hvězdy. The western half of the façade reproduces the look of the demolished house U Zlaté hvězdy. Wings along Salvátorská Street followed in 1909–1910, and František Roith added office and garage wings in 1933–1934.
The facade carries a mosaic in the lunette showing Princess Libuše, female allegories of Prague and a panorama of the city; František Urban drew the design, Albert Neuhauser transferred it and Luigi Solerti's firm in Innsbruck made it. Ladislav Šaloun supplied four statues of the faculties of Charles University on the western house and a bronze girl among reeds, an allegory of Water, on an interior fountain.
The building is located in the Old Town and easily accessible from different directions due to its central position. Visitors can view the impressive exterior details from the street, as the interior is not generally open to the public.
The western half of the Old Town Square facade was designed to echo the demolished House at the Golden Star (No. 933/I), a deliberate nod to the building that once stood there. The courtyard hall's metal structure is considered a significant engineering monument, and the 1933–34 office and garage wings were added by František Roith.
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