Salm Palace

Museum in Prague, Czech Republic

Salm Palace

Salmovský palác

Front view

General information
Type| Museum
Architectural style| Neoclassical
Empire
Location| Prague, Czech Republic
Address| Hradčanské náměstí 186/1
118 00 Prague 1-Hradčany
Czech Republic
Coordinates| 50°5′24″N 14°24′0″E﻿ / ﻿50.09000°N 14.40000°E﻿ / 50.09000; 14.40000
Current tenants| National Gallery Prague
Construction started| 1800; 225 years ago (1800)
Completed| 1811; 214 years ago (1811)
Renovated| 2008; 17 years ago (2008)
Design and construction
Architect(s)| František Pavíček [cs]

Salm Palace (Czech: Salmovský palác) is a Neoclassical building in Prague, Czech Republic. It currently serves as a collection site of the National Gallery Prague. It is protected as a cultural monument.

## History

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Before the construction of Salm Palace, the site housed several other buildings, notably two Renaissane palaces owned by Paul Sixt III of Trautson [it] and the lords of Šternberk.[1] The site contained some of the oldest buildings in Prague.[2] Before 1648 František Karel Matyáš of Šternberk [cs] joined the two palaces together. The merged building was acquired in 1770 by Josef Bretfeld [cs], who transfered it to Archbishop of Prague Wilhelm Florentin von Salm-Salm [cs] in 1795. In 1800 he began renovations, before completely rebuilding the palace from 1810 to 1811 with designs by architect František Pavíček [cs].[1] Despite the scale of the renovations, many interior details were preserved.[2] After Salm-Salms' death, the palace was acquired by the House of Schwarzenberg and used as the primogeniture's Prague residence until 1945. The building was nationalized by the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic after the Second World War.[1]

In 2003 the building was given to the National Gallery Prague to house collections. From 2008 to 2012, the building underwent extreme renovations.[1] In 2017 the National Gallery Prague closed the permanent exhibition of 19th-century art in the palace, with attendence more than halving the following year.[3]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, was shut down alongside the other galleries of the National Gallery Prague. The Salm Palace would remain closed in during early 2020 along with the Sternberg Palace as other buildings of the National Gallery were reopened.[4] The building was renovated during its closure, and eventually reopened in 2022.[5]

## References

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1. ^ a b c d "National Gallery Prague — Salm Palace". Prague City Tourism. Retrieved 2024-12-19.
2. ^ a b "Salmovský palác". National Heritage Institute [cs]. Retrieved 2024-12-19.+[cs]&rft_id=https://www.pamatkovykatalog.cz/salmovsky-palac-15628310&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Salm+Palace" class="Z3988">
3. ^ Conrad, Daniel (2019-04-24). "Klesá návštěvnost Národní galerie, nebo ne? Ministr Staněk si protiřečí" [Is the number of visitors to the National Gallery decreasing or not? Minister Staněk contradicts himself]. Aktuálně.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 2024-12-19.
4. ^ "Národní galerie otevřela, bude častěji uklízet. Návštěvnost je poloviční" [The National Gallery has reopened, will be cleaned more often. Visitor numbers are halved.]. Aktuálně.cz (in Czech). 2020-05-12. Retrieved 2024-12-19.
5. ^ Rail, Evan (2022-07-28). "Prague Gets a Reset and the Emphasis Is Local". New York Times. Retrieved 2024-12-19.

## Further reading

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* Křížová, Šárka; Blažková, Gabriela; Skála, Roman (2018). "Chemical Analyses of Glasses Found in Cesspits during Archaeological Excavations in the Salm Palace, Prague, Czech Republic". Journal of Glass Studies. 60: 183–206\. ISSN 0075-4250. JSTOR 26678013.183-206&rft.date=2018&rft_id=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26678013#id-name=JSTOR&rft.issn=0075-4250&rft.aulast=Křížová&rft.aufirst=Šárka&rft.au=Blažková,+Gabriela&rft.au=Skála,+Roman&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Salm+Palace" class="Z3988">