Remembering an Important Piece of Czech Theatre History

It is 125 years since the country faced a national tragedy – the fire that swept through the National Theatre in Prague on August 12, 1881. Many unfortunate events and circumstances surrounded the famous fire that occurred almost immediately before the building was completed. The true story that will uncover the actual cause may never be revealed.

The National Theatre was first opened on June 11^th, 1881, to honour the visit of Crown Prince Rudolf, and hosted 11 performances. The theatre was then closed to make the final preparations before it was to be reopened to the general public. Some say that the tinsmiths working on the roof of the National Theatre on August 12th had not properly extinguished the coals used to put the necessary final touches on the metal roofing. The tradesmen placed the coals in the gutters of the building and doused them with water, but it was thought that the hot cores of the wooden coal had reignited. This was the reported cause of the blaze according to the official investigation report - the copper eaves of the theatre were filled with hot coals that eventually ignited the wooden rafters of the building.

The blaze was noticed at approximately six o’clock in the afternoon. Fireman Kořínek smelt smoke as he left the theatre building and later noticed flames in the flies above the stage. The fire alarm was sounded at 18:37. At the same time, the blaze was discovered by a police officer working on Poštovská Street. The dispatcher at the Fire Station misread the Morse code message that came through and thus could not determine where the fire was. Kořínek continued to repeat his plea for help for another half hour, but it was already too late.

Among the first to attempt to put out the fire was sculptor Bohuslav Schnirch – whose sculpture of the Triga can still be found on the roof of the theatre. After a few minutes, the water that was being used to extinguish the fire stopped flowing. At that time, water sprinklers were placed above the stage and all hydrants in the building were turned on. This reduced the overall water pressure and the water supply was quickly drained. In addition, the theatre received water from the water reservoir located on Karlová Street, whose supply pipes had burst the previous day, lowering the necessary height of the water in the reservoir.

The fire curtain, which remained under the scaffolding of the construction workers making the final touches to the stage, could not be lowered completely to the ground; thus the fire spread into the seating area. The heavy winds that were apparent that day also caused the fire to spread quickly out of control. The gas lines exploded, and when the ceiling with the chandelier caught fire, it signalled the end to the National monument. The fire was eventually put out just before six o’clock the following day.

The fire took with it the roof of the theatre, the stage, the auditorium and the entire set that was to be used for the premiere of “Libuše”. The foyer, the loggia, and other spaces such as the archives, cloakrooms and theatre offices were the only spaces that were saved. The firemen however were able to salvage several pieces of artworks. The damages assessed by the First Czech Mutual Insurance Company (První česká vzájemná pojišťovna) was estimated at a total cost of 300 thousand forint.

After the tense atmosphere following the tragedy, rumours flew around the country that the fire had been started by the Germans who were living in Prague. At that time, there was often tension between the Czechs and the members of the Burschenschaft student society, who supported marches throughout the city causing some disturbance. And at the end of July that year, during a skirmish in Chuchle, the Germans received a great blow from the citizens of Prague and it was thought that they decided to take revenge. The evidence to this theory has never been found.

The investigation focused on two tradesmen working on the roof and determined the cause of the blaze to be their negligence, even though the court overruled their plea to present evidence based on practical experience. Tinsmiths Emil Jenisch and Václav Zinniburg of the Deckert and Homolka Company were found guilty of misdemeanour and received minor punishment.  The Committee for the Establishment of the National Theatre (Sbor pro zřízení Národního divadla) determined other reasons why the fire spread so quickly in addition to the poor fire hydrants in the theatre; the organization also criticized the fire department, its poor organization and its insufficient engineers.

In one of his books Požár Národního divadla, aneb Přilíš mnoha náhd, Miroslav Ivanov attempts to clarify the circumstances revolving around the fire in his book. In 1982, research conducted proved that the blaze could not have been caused by poorly extinguished coals. Thus the convicted tradesmen were innocent.

The National Theatre was nonetheless destroyed and collections for a new one were taken. After four weeks, almost one million forints were collected and two years later, the “golden chapel” returned to its beauty – in the end, improved by electrification. The reconstruction of the theatre was completed by Josef Schultz. The original author of the project Josef Zítek due to a conflict with the Committee turned down the offer, and never entered the building of the National Theatre. The reconstructed theatre was opened on November 18, 1883 with the premiere of Bedrich Smetana´s opera “Libuše” that had been specially written for the grand opening of the theatre.

More information about the National Theatre, its history and programme can be found on the website: www.narodni-divadlo.cz

Source: Iva Pokorn and ČTK