Striking Doorways of Ordinary Houses

Walking around Prague, you will come across striking doorways of ordinary houses. The front door may seem like just a simple way to enter and exit a house, but it almost always reveals more about the resident than you would expect. The style of the door, the colour, the letterbox and the doorbell, show characteristics of the current resident or his predecessor(s).
Here is a selection of some striking doorways of private houses and apartment buildings in Prague, arranged by district.

1. Jungmannovo náměstí, Nové Město

Mottlův dům is a neo-Baroque building with Art Nouveau elements built between 1905 and 1906 and designed by the architect Karel Mottl for Vendelin Mottl, the owner of a large textile company in Prague. The monograms of the architect and the client can be seen on the grille of the front door.

2. Mostecká, 17, Malá Strana

A bronze door depicting a meeting between the theologians Jan Amos Comenius and Desiderius. The bearded man on the left is Comenius and on the right is Erasmus. The globe on the table represents the world. The envelope can be opened and is the mailbox. On the floor is a scroll with the name of the artist Petr Cisarovsky.

3. Ovocný trh, Staré Mesto

Door with the Heads. A number of bronze heads looking in different directions sit on a large door at Ovocný trh. This door gives access to the technical facilities of the Myslbek Shopping Centre and office complex. It is the work of sculptor Karel Nepraš (1939-2002) and the heads symbolise the shoppers in Myslbek.

4. Široká 9, Josefov

Two female figures frame the front door. The building dates from 1908 and the door in secessionist style is, a precursor of Art Nouveau, which is characterized by geometric shapes. In secessionism, artists distanced themselves from existing art forms which were considered conservative. This door decorated with graceful female figures is a good example of modernity.

5. Hastalka 6, Josefov

A fanlight in the shape of a sun and opulent Art Nouveau details decorate the front door of this apartment building. The purpose of the fanlight is to let light shine into the hallway. In earlier times, the front door opened directly into the living room, and a fanlight in the front door was not necessary. It was only with the construction of larger houses and apartment buildings that front doors got fanlights.

6. Kamenická 33, Holešovice

A facade in the style of the building but if you look closer you will see that this is a movable façade. It is the entrance door to a garage.

7. Chopinova 8, Vinohrady

The doorframe is formed by bas-reliefs of four Greco-Roman women, placed on either side of the door. The graceful, primitive shapes make the façade particularly decorative. It is worth checking out more houses in this street as they are a mixture of architectural styles: neo-Gothic, turrets and oriels, as well as straight lines and sober modernist.

8. Blanická 5, Vinohrady

The classical frieze above the entrance to an apartment building shows an idealized portrait of domestic life in communist Czechoslovakia. It is a typical example of socialist realism, the only approved form of public art during the communist era
A happy proletarian family is the scene. The mother is nursing a newborn baby while the father is drawing up designs for a new steel mill, the other children are engaged in musical and sporting activities.

9. Italská 2, Vinohrady

Following the Italian Baroque style, two gigantic marble pillars in the shape of a male figure support the frame of the doorway. This extravagance is entirely in keeping with the style of the building.

10. Ruská 12, Vinohrady

A striking double door with iron grille in Art Nouveau style, one of the impressive architectural highlights in this street on the border of Vršovice and Vinohrady.

11. Ruská 6 and 8, Vinohrady

These two houses are richly decorated with stucco, house no. 6 has the inscription Věrné naše milování, True to our love and no. 8 Kde domov můj, Where is my home, the opening words of the Czech national anthem.

12. Londýnská 26, Vinohrady

This beautiful neoclassical facade in Vinohrady is a typical example of Prague’s fin-de-siècle urban architecture. The door would not have been out of place in London, the city after which the street is named.

13. Přemyslova 11, Vysehrad

This front door is a beautiful example of cubist architecture, asymmetrical and with corners whose diagonals create a sense of movement, especially in bright sunlight.

14. Masarykovo nábřeží 16

Hlahol House at number 16 is one of many houses on Masarykovo nábřeží with beautiful front doors. Walk along the embankment from the National Theatre to Jiraskuv Bridge and you will come across many beautiful front doors.

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