Prague in Plain Sight #1 - The Kranner Fountain

In a city like Prague, there are plenty of things that you often walk past but never give them a second thought. Sometimes it’s because there’s something more interesting on the other side of the road, at other times you may just step over them without realising their significance. In this set of posts, I’m hoping to bring some of these places into a bit more prominence. They don’t really qualify as being hidden because they are in such plain sight, but they do deserve a mention, rather than being taken for granted.

The first of these landmarks is the Kranner Fountain, which is just a few blocks from my usual apartment when I’m in town. I’ve walked past it thousands of times but only have one photograph of it, and until I started writing this, I didn’t even know what it was called.

Reminiscent of the Scott memorial in Edinburgh or the Albert Memorial in London, the Kranner Fountain was built in 1848 by the architect Josef Ondrej Kranner from whom it takes its name. It was unveiled in May 1850 as one of the requirements of a project which included the construction of a chain bridge linking Malá Strana and Smíchov and the creation of the first paved stone embankment in Prague, now Smetanovo Nábřeží.

The Homage to the Bohemian Estates or Kranner Fountain

Whilst it’s Kranner whose name is associated with the fountain, the sculptor was Josef Max, and the primary stonemason was Karel Svoboda.

Officially called “The Homage to the Bohemian Estates” (rolls off the tongue nicely, doesn’t it?), the centrepiece of the monument is an equestrian statue of the Austrian Emperor Franz I. Below this are sixteen figures representing the, then, sixteen Czech regions, with Prague at the head. These are allegorical depictions, representing science, art, peace, abundance, ploughing, mining, industry and commerce. A complex water pumping mechanism is built under the main plinth, connected to an underground corridor leading off to Divadelní.

In May 1919, after the founding of the first Czech Republic, the statue of the emperor was removed but a copy was returned to the platform in 2003 when the monument and pumping system was renovated.

One of the things I need to do on my return to Prague in a few weeks is to spend a bit more time in the little park in which the fountain is situated, maybe have a bit of lunch, and take a few more photos of this exquisite fountain.