are the so-called German and Spanish halls. They were built during the reign of the Emperor Ferdinand I. The former for a time contained the famed collections of Rudolph; the latter has, since the time of the Empress Maria Theresa, occasionally been used for court functions. Balls were given here during the stay of the Crown Prince Rudolph, and the reigning Emperor has several times here received the representatives of Bohemia.
We now enter the third court, where we see, to our left, St. Vitus’s Cathedral, while to the right is the most interesting part of the palace—that which dates from the time of King Vladislav. It was built between 1484 and 1502 by the celebrated architect Benes, of Loun, in what is known in Bohemia as the Vladislav style, a transition between Gothic and the style of the Renaissance. Benes was, with Matthew Reysek, the originator of this style of architecture, to which many of the most interesting buildings in Prague belong. Here is the ‘hall of Vladislav,’ where the Bohemian nobles did homage to their Sovereign after his coronation, and where the coronation banquet was held. When finished—in 1502—the hall of Vladislav excited general admiration. A contemporary chronicler writes that ‘there was no building like it in all Europe, none that was longer, higher and broader, and yet had no pillars.’
Historically very interesting is the chamber where the Bohemian Estates met up to 1848. It clearly indicates their relative position. While the nobles and the clergy (who only after the Battle of the White Mountain became one of the Estates) occupied benches to the left and right of the throne, the few town representatives were placed on an isolated platform surrounded by a wooden railing. In this part of the Hradcany, also, is the old council chamber, the scene of the famous defenestration of 1618.
Of the other palaces in this part of Prague, the Waldstein Palace—in the square of that name—first deserves notice. The building dates from the time of the great Wallenstein, who began its construction shortly after the Battle of the White Mountain. To make room for the foundations of the vast edifice 23[42] houses were demolished. The building was finished in 1630, and, after the death of the Duke of Friedland, it was given by the Emperor to his chamberlain, Maximilian of Waldstein. It has ever since continued in the possession of that branch of the Waldstein family. It has a very fine Renaissance hall, a chapel with paintings attributed to divers Italian painters, and extensive gardens that are the finest at Prague.
In the Thun Street is the palace of Count Oswald Thun, which contains some good pictures and some very fine porcelain. In the steep Ostruhova Ulice are the palaces of Count Francis Thun, the Morzin Palace, which has a very fine façade, and many others. On the Hradcany Place, opposite the Royal residence, is the vast Schwarzenberg—formerly Rosenberg—Palace. The Fürstenberg and Lobkovic Palaces also deserve mention.
