Langweil's Model of Prague

Lore & Background

The model represents the Old Town of Prague (including its Jewish Ghetto), the Lesser Town of Prague without Petřín Hill, Prague Castle, and most of Hradčany (without its western part and Strahov Monastery). Langweil used Jüttner's topographical map of Prague as a ground plan. During the eleven years of work, he exhibited the unfinished model five times to the public.

In 1833, he exhibited it at an industrial exhibition held in Prague Castle to mark the visit of Emperor and King Francis I to Prague. After the exhibition, Langweil wrote to the monarch requesting financial support to complete the model, but the request was turned down. Langweil died in June 1837 at age 46, leaving the model unfinished.

The model was not created to document Prague's appearance but as an original work of art—a three-dimensional picture of the city or a relief veduta. The facades show structural and decorative details such as house signs, frescoes, and sundials, as well as transient features like flaking walls, broken windows, and climbing plants. Courtyards and secluded spots contain stores of barrels, a scene from a pig-slaughter, or a ladder leaning against a wall. No people appear in the model except for two soldiers standing guard, as if their unchanging position is part of the street's appearance.

Reader's Guide

After Langweil's death, his widow offered the model to Emperor and King Ferdinand in 1840. The Emperor bought it for a symbolic price and donated it to the Patriotic (now the National) Museum in Prague. The model was first displayed after Langweil's death in 1862 in Prague's Old Town Hall.

In subsequent years, the museum exhibited it only occasionally, including a longer period during the Prague Jubilee Exhibition and later as part of the National Museum Lapidary exhibition. After World War II, the model came into the care of the Prague City Museum, where it has since been exhibited. In 1970, it was placed on permanent display in its own specially built glass case.

In 1999, the original glass case was replaced with a new dustproof display case providing its own protective microclimate. In 2006, the Prague City Hall together with the City of Prague Museum announced a public tender, and the company Visual Connection, a.s. carried out the digitisation of the model. The model's significance lies in its preservation of the appearance of large portions of Prague that no longer exist, particularly the Jewish Ghetto, making it an irreplaceable historical record.

Did You Know?

• The model includes more than 9,000 chimneys and about 5,400 trees and bushes.