Zprávy památkové péče 2018, 78(5):466-478 | DOI: 10.56112/zpp.2018.5.07

The parliament, the Letná Plain, and Prague's panorama in the First Czechoslovak Republic

Cathleen M. Giustino

Auburn University, Department of History

The founders of the First Czechoslovak Republic, including President Tomáš G. Masaryk, proudly asserted at home and abroad that their independent government was a democracy. The new country had multiparty rule, a bi-cameral parliament elected by universal adult suffrage, distribution of power among branches of government, and opportunities for the free expression of a plurality of opinions in state and society. Leading Czech politicians worked hard to create images, narratives, and symbols of the fledgling republic's democratic character that could attract powerful western allies abroad and project an appearance of shared civic identity among its diverse population at home.
National parliament buildings have strong possibilities to become symbols that serve to construct national unity and a common commitment to democratic rule. During the First Czechoslovak Republic, efforts were made to provide the young democracy with a new parliament building that was specifically constructed for its legislative branch. Czech experts in the State Regulation Commission spearheaded and organized efforts to construct the proposed edifice. This commission was a new administrative authority under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Public Works. It was designed to have tremendous power over urban planning in interwar Prague. Commission members concluded that the parliament had to be placed on the Letná Plain, a large expanse of land with gardens and sports fields that rested above Prague's Old Town and the recently modernized quarter of Josefov. It was an open space with greenery overlooking the heart of a European capital city and a site with considerable symbolic potential.
Placing the parliament on the Letná posed challenges, however, due to the nearby location of the Castle and the St. Vitus Cathedral, the dominant jewels in Prague's panorama. For some citizens of the First Republic the panorama, with its expansive display of centuries-old architectural heritage, was very worthy of thoughtful preservation. Initially, Czech experts in the State Regulation Commission had concerns about how placing the parliament on the Letná could harm "the picture of the city". They argued that it was necessary to place the building on the eastern end of the plain - as far from the Castle as possible - in order to protect scenic views of Prague. Still, not everyone in the new state, with its broad distribution of power and plurality of opinions, agreed that the parliament should stand on the Letná's eastern end. Czech members of the Executive Councils of the House of Representatives and the Senate had different visions of the symbolic uses of Prague's landscape, as did President Masaryk and his Castle Architect, Jože Plečnik.
The State Regulation Commission undertook numerous activities to construct a National Parliament Building on the Letná. Ultimately, however, its authority was not strong enough to override the diversity of opinions about the parliament and the plain. Thus, Prague's panorama north of the Castle was largely preserved before the Second World War.
This article presents efforts made during the First Czechoslovak Republic to secure a place on the Letná for the parliament. It examines competitions held to determine the best location for the representational site and concerns of Czechs about the disruption that this project could cause to scenic views of Prague. It is argued here that, while these human agents and their ideas were important, they alone are insufficient for explaining why the parliament was never built and that stretch of Prague's panorama reaching north from the Castle was not greatly transformed during the interwar period. Attention must also be given to structural attributes of the young independent state, including distribution of power among branches of government and opportunities for the free expression of a plurality of opinions.

Keywords: Prague, urban panorama, politics of heritage care, State Regulation Commission, Club for Old Prague

Published: December 1, 2018  Show citation