Schieszl's descendants call for his villa to be declared cultural heritage site as demolition begins

The descendants of the Czechoslovak politician Josef Schieszl, a close associate of T. G. Masaryk, have called on Culture Minister Martin Baxa to declare their ancestor's historic Prague villa a cultural heritage site, Czech news site Deník N reported on Wednesday. The villa on Petřín hill is currently having demolition work carried out on it in order for a new house to be built there instead for a secret investor. Deník N writes that the investor's identity is hidden behind a tangle of sixteen offshore companies based in Cyprus.

The Czech Building Authority approved the demolition work despite the objections of the Prague 5 local government and the National Heritage Institute. Residents from the local neighbourhood in Smíchov have also started a petition against the demolition of the villa.