1904–1905
There are two reasonswhy this house is called “Hilbert’s.” It was built by architect Kamil Hilbertfor his brother, the writer Jaroslav Hilbert. Kamil Hilbert was born in 1869 in Louny; he first attended the Higher Industrial School in Pilsen, then studied in Vienna under architect Max Fleischer, and later continued his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts there in Professor V. Luntz’s specialized program.
He worked in Prague and in his hometown of Louny, and in 1896 he was granted a building license for the Royal Vinohrady district. In June 1899, following the departure of Josef Mocker, he was appointed chief architect of St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague and spent the next thirty years of his life in that position. At the same time, he built several school buildings and single-family homes in his hometown of Louny, where he also devoted himself to the restoration and renovation of local churches. Unlike Mocker, he approached construction with great sensitivity and respect for the architectural heritage of the buildings. For example, he was instrumental in preserving a number of elements that were originally slated for removal or “re-Gothicization.” In addition to the cathedral, he worked on the restoration of a wide range of churches (Kouřim, Domažlice, Čáslav, Nymburk, Mělník, Plzeň, etc.), and he also pursued a scholarly interest in historic preservation. Among his most significant original designs is the Art Nouveau-style Church of St. John of Nepomuk in Štěchovice, for which he drew up plans in 1907–08. The building itself was completed four years later. In 1921, he was commissioned to renovate Křivoklát Castle. In addition to his work as a restorer, he designed many new Art Nouveau and Neo-Gothic buildings, including a house on Masaryk Embankment, designed for his brother Jaroslav.
This four-story building with five vertical window axes, built for Jaroslav Hilbert, is one of the masterpieces of Prague Art Nouveau, blended with historicism—particularly Vlasislav Gothic and Oriental influences. The stucco decoration of the facade plays a significant role in this. The facade is divided by two bay windows, located in the outermost window axes. The bay windows span three stories; on the top floor, the window is recessed into the wall, creating a loggia-style balcony. The windows on the floor above the bay window feature an open balcony. Above these windows, the facade culminates in two half-round gables adorned with statues of birds.
In addition to the flowers, the shields are dominated by a quartet of birds: from left to right, a vulture, an eagle, a turkey, and a pelican. On the original house plans, the birds are only vaguely sketched and therefore cannot be identified with certainty. It is possible that they were intended to represent some specific symbolism linked to a literary work by Jaroslav Hilbert. The turkey is particularly noteworthy—a typically American bird—which could suggest that the individual birds symbolize the continents. In contrast, the pelican is traditionally identified iconographically with Christ. The vulture and the eagle are both birds of prey; their symbolism can be considered within the context of heraldry, but overall it does not appear that these birds are meant to convey any specific, clearly legible allegory. The decoration of the lower window sills on the first floor can also be attributed to animal symbolism. Here, Karel Novák depicted a highly stylized moth and catfish, both casting a slightly chilling gaze, similar to the wide-eyed face of the water sprite’s mascarón. The entire house is a celebration of nature’s fairy-tale quality, which, however, also has a fantastical character. The mysticism of the overall concept was echoed in the house’s vestibule, which was designed as a sort of dimly lit sanctuary, illuminated only by a rainbow-colored stained-glass window. The window was positioned centrally to resemble an altar.
A comparison with older photographs shows that the façade originally featured a plant-based ornament with lobed leaves, organically connected to the side window jambs beneath the central parapet gable, which corresponded to a similarly conceived motif of a branching tree on the main portal. This charming element, visible in photographs, is completely absent from the original plans, indicating that Hilbert or Novák did not hesitate to ingeniously refine the facade even during the course of construction. Unfortunately, this striking ornament was removed after World War II and was not restored during the building’s recent renovation. After the war, the relief band featuring stucco lilies—originally located above the cordon cornice—was also removed. The areas of the facade with textured plaster were smoothed over in some places.