Kramář's villa will be open to the public on Thursday

Prague - Kramář's Villa, the residence of Czech and Czechoslovak prime ministers, will be open to the public on Thursday, September 28. The open house will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek (ODS), who uses the residence built by the first Czechoslovak Prime Minister Karel Kramář for working meetings and discussions.
    Interested visitors can view the villa with its unique view of Prague from 09:00 to 16:00, thus celebrating the Day of Czech Statehood commemorating Saint Wenceslas. "For the first time, the rooms occupied by the prime ministers will also be accessible to the public. The tour of this historically and architecturally interesting cultural monument will include an expert commentary on the history of the villa and its first owner, Karel Kramář," the government office informed ČTK today.
    People were able to visit Kramář's Villa for the first time last year on October 28, when Jiří Paroubek (ČSSD) was the prime minister. The last resident of the villa was Vladimír Špidla; his successors Stanislav Gross, Jiří Paroubek, and Mirek Topolánek did not wish to move in.
    The villa, built on an old bastion, has over 50 rooms - a five-room apartment is prepared for the prime minister and his family, while the other spaces serve representative purposes. During the First Republic, the villa near Prague Castle was referred to as the "Vzdorohrad" - due to the strained relations between the then Prime Minister Kramář and President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk.