Although the Open House Prague festival is already over, in the autumn it continues with the First Republic Architecture in Prague project. Visitors will be able to see ten First Republic-era architectural buildings constructed between 1918 and 1938 free of charge.
The project culminates on the day the independent Czechoslovak state was founded, that is on Sunday 28 October. On that day people will also gain access to the spaces of the historic Vyšehrad steamboat until 6 pm. Those interested will be able to view, for example, the wheelhouse, hold or engine room of the boat, which was declared a national cultural monument in 2013 and this year celebrated its eightieth anniversary. An accompanying programme is naturally provided too, in which visitors will be able to see an exhibition of steamboat models. Photographers will also get their fill, as they will be able to photograph all the spaces on the steamboat at their leisure.
Guided tours will run every hour and are intended for groups of no more than fifteen people. The oldest and largest steamboat on the Vltava, ceremonially launched in 1938 by then-Czechoslovak President T. G. Masaryk on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the Republic, is also partly wheelchair-accessible. People with disabilities will therefore also be able to learn something about the history of the steamboat, which at the height of its glory could carry up to eight hundred and eighty-five passengers at a speed of seventeen kilometres per hour.
The reconstruction is not over
The Vyšehrad steamboat has, however, been refurbished several times. The very first reconstruction took place in 1961, when the interiors were modernised. A few years later, in 1980, the boiler had to be reworked so that the steamboat would not be heated by coal but by light heating oil. Twelve years on the boat was converted into a restaurant saloon steamboat with a capacity of three hundred people, at the same time gaining its current name. Even that has changed several times over the years - the steamboat has been called, among other things, Karlštejn, T. G. Masaryk and, under socialism, Děvín.
The boat was last refurbished this year, when, according to architect František Weber, the original character began to be restored to the steamboat. The interior was the main focus, so that its appearance and materials would match those of its early years - most of the structures inside the steamboat were from the 1960s to 1980s, and these had to be removed. According to Weber, the most difficult part of the renovation was finding the boat's original colour, because the architects had only black-and-white photographs available. Information on what the steamboat looked like eighty years ago therefore had to be sought from witnesses and in historical documents.
The renovation of the Vyšehrad steamboat will continue next year as well. The stern of the boat has been newly repaired, mirroring the original look as well as the materials used; later the front part is also due for renovation. The steamboat will then look just as it did in 1938 at its ceremonial launch.
