The Petschek Villa ( cs, Vila Otto Petschka) is a palatial home built by

Otto Petschek Otto Petschek (17 October 1882 – 2 July 1934) was a European industrialist known for building the Petschek Villa in Prague. Early life He was the eldest of four sons of Isidor Petschek and Camilla (née Robitschek) Petschek, who were German sp ...

in the early 1920s in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. Since 1945 it has been the residence of the United States Ambassadors first to Czechoslovakia, and subsequently, to the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

History

The house was built by Otto Petschek, a member of a German-speaking, Jewish family, with financial interests in coal mines and banking. The Petschek family departed Prague in 1938, fearing conquest by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. They immigrated to the United States. During the

German occupation of Czechoslovakia German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, the Villa became the residence of General

Rudolf Toussaint Rudolf Toussaint (2 May 1891 – 1 July 1968) was a German Army officer. Toussaint saw action in both World Wars. During World War II he was appointed Commissioner of the German army in the office of the Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia. Bio ...

, commander of the German army occupying Czech lands. At the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Soviet Army occupied the Residence for several days, after which it became Headquarters for the Czechoslovak General Staff. In 1945

Laurence Steinhardt Laurence Adolph Steinhardt (October 6, 1892 – March 28, 1950) was an American economist, lawyer, and senior diplomat of the United States Department of State who served as U.S. Ambassador to six countries. He served as U.S. First Minister to Sw ...

, American Ambassador, leased the Residence from the Czechoslovak Ministry of National Defense and it became the American Ambassadorial Residence. In 1948, the American government purchased the Villa, and the adjacent buildings now used as the Deputy Chief of Mission's house, and the Staff-house for $1,570,000.

Architecture

The Villa was designed by architect

Max Spielmann Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

and built by the Matěj Blecha construction company between 1924 and 1930.

''The Last Palace''

In 2018,

Norman L. Eisen Norman L. Eisen (born November 11, 1960) is an American attorney, author, and former diplomat. He is a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, a CNN legal analyst, and the co-founder and executive chair of the States Un ...

, United States Ambassador to the Czech Republic in the Obama administration, published a history of the Villa, ''The Last Palace: Europe's Turbulent Century in Five Lives and One Legendary House.''

External links

Ambassador’s Residence
U.S. Embassy in The Czech Republic
Background and Context
in
''Villa Petschek - A Virtual Tour''

References

{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Prague National Cultural Monuments of the Czech Republic Register of Culturally Significant Property 1930 establishments in Czechoslovakia 20th-century architecture in the Czech Republic

History

Architecture

''The Last Palace''

See also

External links

References