Palác hrabat z Lissau Palace

In the northern front of the Old Town Square, the palace was built in the first decade of the 18th century, which is connected with two prominent figures of the then Prague - builder Rudolf Josef Count of Lissau and architect Jan Blazej Santinim-Aichle. Today's visitor on site No. 935-I will remember nothing about the decayed construction of the high baroque, as it was the victim of Prague's rendering in 1896.

Rudolf Josef Count of Lissau (born 19.3.1665) was the imperial chamber and captain of the Old Town of Prague. The family from Lissau was originally from Brandenburg; only the count's ancestor - his grandfather Johann von Lissau - gained an incubate and affiliation to the state of government in Bohemia. Emperor Leopold was promoted to the count by Rudolf Josef himself by the First Charter of 10 July 1702. It was in the early 18th century that he joined the generous reconstruction of the older houses in the square in a representative family palace and invited the fast-growing star of Czech architecture - Jan Blazej Santiniho-Aichl. The reconstruction and partial new construction were completed by 1705.

The palace was located in the immediate neighbourhood of the presbytery of St. Nicholas' church, on the interface of Old Town and Joseph, on the corner of the northern front of the Old Town Square and the then crooked Maisel Street, at that time called the Three-Vall Street. In the neighbourhood was the so-called Kreno house (no. 936-I), a four-wing Baroque building that largely overshadowed the facade of the Lisovsky Palace. This house was removed from Old Town Square in 1901, five years after the demolition of the palace itself.

The appearance of the main facade is reconstructed from historical photographs of F. Friedrich (around 1870) and J. Eckert (1895) and from the Langweil model of Prague. Michal Brix processed the painting reconstruction of the facade. Santini laid out the main front in nine axes, stressing the five-axis risalite at the centre of which he still applied a flat attachment in the width of three axes - a motive that belonged to his favorite. In the extreme axes, the entry portals opened symmetrically. The central portion was completed with a gazebo planted above the crown ledge; The gazebo was decorated by a triangular cloud front, on whose sides the high Mansard roofs were lined with sections of split front. The distinctive horizontal cordon ledge, plastically developed parapets and the belt under the windows of the upper half-floor carried a firm rhythm into the facade. The facade rose above the ground floor in two equally high lines of rhythmised narrow rectangular windows.

The cooperation of Rudolf Josef with Santinim did not only exceed construction contracts. In 1707, the Count issued a commission to Santini's work at the Černín Palace in Hradčany to help him open the door to other prestigious clients. The relationship between both men was personal: the Earl of Lissau testified at Santini's children's christening. The massive testimony of this friendship is the statue of St. Anne Saméthird on the Charles Bridge, created in 1707 on the Donor's order from the sculptor Matìj Václav Jäckel. On the base of the statue you can see the lineage coat of arms of the Earl of Lissau and it is assumed that Santini was involved in the design of this plinth.

The visitor of today's Old Town Square will not see the palace with his own eyes - the reconstruction of the place took place during the rendering. Who wants to catch at least a trace of his builder, goes to the Charles Bridge: Jäckel's statue of St. Anne Saméthird with the count's coat of arms from Lissau on the pedestal is still in place today and reminds him of the man who made one of Santini's remarkable Prague works.