Rott, Belada and List: the Czechs who designed the Prague metro long before the Communists did
The project to build a metro in the Czech capital dates back to the 1970s, but the first plans for an underground in the Czech capital date back to a much earlier time at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.
We meet our guide Martin Karlík, from the Prague City Tourism, at Muzeum, a station located at the junction of metro lines A and line C, to find out more about the initial plans for a metro in Prague.
The busts engineers Vladimír List and Bohumil Belada can be found in the vestibule of the Muzeum metro station. A plaque states that in 1926 the two men ‘laid the foundations for the construction of the Prague underground’. Can you tell us more about these two men?
"Bohumil Belada was an engineer, designing the metro from an architectural point of view. Vladimír List was primarily responsible for the electrical engineering aspect. Together, they sketched out the plan for the first metro project in Prague. In many ways, it resembled the Berlin metro: deeper than those built today, and covered in small tiles. Belada and List imagined four lines whose layout was more or less the same as the one we know today, including the future D line. The two men garnered a great deal of attention with their plans, and newspapers announced the beginning of construction. However, construction was yet to begin."
So should List and Belada be credited with Prague's first metro project, or were there other proposals before them?
"The first project, or at least suggestion, for an underground railway was made by a Prague entrepreneur, hardware store owner and member of the council of the royal capital of Prague, Ladislav Rott. It was he who first proclaimed: ‘Let's build a metro in Prague!’ At the time - the end of the 19th century - the city council was not ready to take on his idea; most trams were still horse-drawn. Alas, the electric tram had recently been rolled out, and were frightening locals who reacted: ‘How strange! God knows what it is! It's the devil's invention!' Hence, imagine the situation where someone suddenly tells you that from now on you'll be travelling underground by metro; people were not mentally ready.
"Rott was ahead of his time. As construction of the Prague sewer system began, he figured that building the metro system parallel to it would make sense, so that the two systems wouldn’t interfere with each other. Rott raised a good point, but it fell on deaf ears."
Americans on the case
Rott's proposal had obviously come too early, even though the first metro networks were being built around the time in several major cities around the world, including Paris, London and New York. Were there any other projects besides those of Rott and the List-Belada duo?
"During the First Republic, in the 1920s, an American company attempted to win the tender for building the metro and supplying trains. At that time, however, nationalism ran strong through the young republic; large endeavours had to be undertaken by the Czechs themselves. However, there happened to be a large Czech community in Chicago, among them a student who had won an engineering prize for a project proposal for the Prague metro. The Americans attempted to negotiate their right to build the metro by promising that the idea would come from the Czech engineering student. But in the end, it didn’t proceed in this way."
After several unsuccessful attempts, the metro was finally built in Prague in 1974 under the Communist regime. Muzeum was among the first stations to open. The station contains several curiosities. Next to the two busts of List and Belada, there is a door inscribed with the word ‘salónek’ (salon). What's behind these doors and what purpose does this salon serve?
"This lounge reminds me of a similar place in the sewer system. When the latter was built at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, an entrance for visitors was provided near the Staré město town hall. That way, when a delegation from another town came to meet the mayor, they could proudly show off its spaces. It appears to me that was the plan for the metro; when a visitor came to Prague on an official visit, we could offer them a tour of the metro and welcome them using the space. I may be wrong, but I don't think there are many metros in the world boasting a lounge. The salon has been restored, with seminars and conferences taking place here, but to be honest I think we have more beautiful and welcoming places in Prague (laughs)."
‘The national museum had to be big, sumptuous and visible from afar’. We can't talk about Muzeum station without mentioning the museum located just above the station. It is one of the Czech capital's most emblematic buildings. Did its construction in the 19th century have a special significance that justified its size?
"Yes, absolutely. From the mid-19th century onwards, there was a deep-seated quarrel between the Czechs and the Germans. The Czechs needed to show that they were a distinct nation with its own history. So they first built a national theatre and then a national museum. The museum had to be big, sumptuous and visible from afar. And the adjacent horse market, now Wenceslas Square, seemed the ideal place to build it. At the top of the square lay one of the city's gates which formed part of Prague's fortifications. After the war with Prussia in 1866, these fortifications were destroyed because they were no longer of use. Modern warfare was fought differently; bastions, fortresses and other such barriers became obsolete. The gate was destroyed. A space became available and this is where the National Museum was finally built."
What can visitors find inside the museum?
"Visitors will find archaeological finds, palaeontological collections and learn all sorts of things about Czech history. It's also worth noting that the brown colour of the Muzeum station on line A echoes the colour of clay, a reference to the archaeology and ancient history of the country on display at the national museum.
"Thirty years ago, the museum's display cases were very different and, let's face it, a bit boring. School trips there were a form of punishment. Not today. Major efforts have since been made to make the museum more attractive."
Did you know?
On metro line A, the convex and concave aluminium pressed panels lining the platforms served a function beyond its aesthetic value. Their curvature was designed to break up the sound waves emitted by the old Soviet trains. Each station also has its own colour scheme, which over the years has become distinctive for each station.
Related
-
50 Years of Prague Metro
The Prague metro turned 50 years old in 2024! To mark the occasion, we trace its history and explore some of the most iconic stations on the Czech capital's metro network.
