Prague to start charging tourists to use paternoster in New Town Hall

The Prague municipal government is planning to end free access to the paternoster lift on the ground floor of the New Town Hall and to instate an entrance fee for using it. The paternoster has been used by increasing numbers of tourists in recent years after appearing in a Prague Honest Guide video a few years ago.

The local authorities temporarily closed the elevator in April, saying that the large number of tourists coming to ride the old lift did not abide by safety regulations, blocked the normal operation of the town hall and that the excessive load had damaged the paternoster.