Zemská porodnice Other

Zemská porodnice at the St. Apolinar in Prague 2 is a medical facility and a protected cultural monument from 1865-1875. He's one of the longest-working births in the world. Today, the Gynecologic- obstetrics clinic of the 1st Faculty of Medicine of Charles University and the General Faculty Hospital in Prague is located here.

The building was built according to the decision of the governor of the Kingdom of Bohemia, Leopold Lev Count of Thun-Hohenstein, from 1862. The new building was replaced by an older public hospital from 1789, which was housed in a Baroque canovice house near the church of St. Apolinar. The project was designed by architect Josef Hlávka. The proposal included modern medical knowledge and plans of the then European births. Since Fávka was partially paralyzed during the construction, he managed the project in consultation from his castle in Lužany through the builder Čeňek Gregor. The original name was the Royal Czech Earth Maternity Hospital at St. Apolinar.

The monument is built from red bricks in the North German neo-gothic style. The whole complex consists of six pavilons with eleven tracts and an inner atrium. Above the entrance hall on the first floor is the chapel of the Holy Cross.

The owner of the building is the City of Prague. At different times, the Czech and German birthing clinics and facilities operated by midwives were active. The building was partially hit in the bombing of Prague on February 14, 1945.

The operation started in 1875. According to reports in the National Lists of 28 April of that year, the first newborn in the facility was Barbara Koutna's daughter from Rožmital. In the building was also established the located building. The important doctors who worked here include Jan Streng, Antonín Jan Jungmann, Gottfried Ritter von Rittershain, Karel Pawlík, Václav Rubeška and Josef Jerie.

At present, around 4,600 children are born every year. On the ground floor there are gynecology, oncology, bed department and gynecological operating rooms. On the first floor there is neonatology, birthing halls and obstetrics and bed departments. The Perinatological Centre for Prague and Central Bohemian Region of type I is active in the building, which focuses on the most serious pregnancy and neonatal pathology. Since the 1990s there has been a gradual modernization of interiors taking into account the historical appearance of the building. In 2020, the architect Eva Jiřičná submitted a proposal to expand the complex, but the date of construction is not clear.

Zemská porodnice presents a unique combination of historical architecture and continuity of medical care. Its architectural value and importance in the history of medicine make it an important point on the map of Prague, which is behind the attention of every interested person in history.