105 years ago, the author of the National Theatre in Prague, Josef Zítek, passed away

Prague - The most significant Czech architect of the 19th century is often regarded as architect Josef Zítek, whose death will mark 105 years on August 2nd. He is most renowned as the author of the Prague National Theatre, and he is also credited with designs for a museum in German Weimar, the Mill Colonnade in Karlovy Vary, the main building of a brewery in Petersburg near Louny, and together with Josef Schulz, he designed the Prague Rudolfinum and also participated in the neo-Gothic reconstruction of the Šovovy Mills in Prague.
    Josef Zítek was born on April 4, 1832, in Prague in Karlín. He studied at the Prague Polytechnic and later also at the Vienna Polytechnic, as well as the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. In 1858, he received a state scholarship for a study trip to Italy, which significantly influenced his later work. He gained international renown with the commission for the State Gallery and Museum in Weimar, which he completed between 1863 and 1868. In the meantime, he also became a professor at the Prague Polytechnic.
    Although he spoke predominantly German, Zítek was regarded as a great patriot. From 1868 to 1881, under his design and supervision, a monumental neo-Renaissance theatre building was constructed on the Vltava River waterfront in Prague. After the fire in August 1881, the completion and reconstruction of the theatre were managed by Zítek's student and collaborator, Josef Schulz.