From the Prague Exhibition Centre to the Bílina Park

1891 • Provincial Jubilee Exhibition in Prague

This event spontaneously became a kind of symbol that Bohemia, part of the Austrian Monarchy, was moving towards the ideal of an independent nation-state. And thanks to its industry and the huge capacity of natural resources, such as the coal of the Duchcov-Most brown coal basin, Bohemia showed its level of readiness. At that time, the Czechs were considered the most advanced European nation that did not yet have its own nation-state.

This symbolism was felt by everyone, and therefore two different opinions arose about proper exhibitions in Prague. The supporters of the Monarchy with the leading position of Austria and Hungary were against it. The patriots from Bohemia were in favor. The supporters of the future independence of Bohemia were then divided according to their intentions. Some thought of the freedom of all of Bohemia from the Vienna government, others of the complete subordination of the entire territory of the future free Bohemia to the rule of Slavic Prague. For this second interest, an easy key offered itself. And that key was the two languages ​​used for centuries – Slavic in the vicinity of Prague and Germanic in the borderlands.

In Prague, in high circles, the idea of ​​seizing power over all of Bohemia was slowly growing – through a thorough application of the distinction between “friends” and “enemies” according to the language key. This was eventually achieved in two decades through extensive propaganda, but that is another story. But let’s go back to the end of the 19th century and see how it was.

In 1885, the Hungarian General Exhibition was held in Budapest, which was of particular interest in Bohemia, and after its conclusion, efforts were made to organize a similar exhibition in Prague. Industrialist and Chairman of the Prague Chamber of Commerce Bohumil Bondy In 1887, he initiated the establishment of a special commission for the establishment of a permanent exhibition building in Prague. The result of the commission's work was a memorandum of October 26, 1887, on the construction of a permanent exhibition building in Bubeneč Park for the holding of an industrial and agricultural exhibition, which was submitted to the Grand Council of the Kingdom of Bohemia. However, the memorandum was controversially adopted by the Council.

The pro-monarchist deputies mostly rejected the idea of ​​a general provincial exhibition in Prague, arguing that it would only benefit Bohemia. In November 1888, a committee was established to prepare the exhibition, consisting of: Richard Jahn, Frantisek Krizik, Emil Kubinzky, Vaclav Nekvasil, Karl Umrath, Josef Wohanka a Count Karl Max Zedtwitz. It was decided that the exhibition would be held in 1891. In memory of the centenary of the first industrial exhibition, the designation was chosen for it: "jubilee".

At the beginning of 1890, however, businessmen who were inclined towards the Monarchy began to demand that the exhibition be postponed until 1892. They justified this by the alleged impossibility of preparing the exhibition grounds in time for 1891, but the real reason was that the exhibition would cease to be an “anniversary”. In the summer and autumn of 1890, the disagreements in the provincial assembly reached their peak. Pro-monarchist representatives withdrew from all exhibition committees and like-minded businessmen renounced their participation in the exhibition.

The withdrawal of the pro-monarchist Germans from participating in the exhibition, however, had the opposite effect than they had hoped for. Not only did it not disrupt the preparations for the exhibition, but on the contrary, it intensified the efforts of the Bohemian patriots to successfully launch the exhibition. The situation thus made it possible to organize the exhibition as a national event of Bohemia, demonstrating its economic prowess, skills and possibilities.

The Royal Game Reserve was chosen as the exhibition venue. The main designers of the exhibition were Bedřich Münzberger and Antonín Wiehl, and the landscaping was guaranteed by František Thomayer. On February 15, 1890, a meeting of the Executive Committee was held, where a balanced exhibition budget with income and expenses of 1,132,000 zlotys was approved.

The surveying work began in March 1890. At the same time, Emperor Franz Joseph I was asked to accept protectorate over the exhibition. The emperor accepted the protectorate over the exhibition on May 12, 1890 and promised to participate in the exhibition. In May 1890, the construction of the exhibition buildings began. The Machine Building began to be built and the structure of the Industrial Palace was erected.

In September 1890, the Kingdom of Bohemia was hit by a major flood, which had a severe impact on the preparatory work. The massive flood, which also swept away part of the Charles Bridge in Prague, caused significant damage to the exhibition grounds. Two-thirds of the exhibition grounds were flooded and construction work was interrupted. On September 11, four arches of the iron structure of the Industrial Palace collapsed.

However, the natural disaster further stimulated efforts to successfully launch the exhibition the following year. In October 1890, the Max Hergett cement factory applied to build the entire concrete Křižík Fountain for a price of just 6,000 zlotys, which was half the budget price. At that time, the construction of some buildings and pavilions, such as the pavilion of the provincial committee, the restaurant of the Pilsen brewery, and the pavilion of the Czech paper mills, had already been developed or completed. Given the scope of the planned work and the required opening date of the exhibition in May 1891, it was decided that the construction work would also take place in winter. The construction committee purchased a quantity of frost-resistant lime and a boiler for heating water for the production of mortar.

Opening of the exhibition center

On May 15, 1891, the exhibition was officially opened to the sounds of Dvořák's fanfares. The opening speech was given by Archduke Charles Louis. The opening ceremony was attended by ministers of the Viennese government Gautsche, Pražák, Bacquehem, Záleský, the governor Count František Thun, the marshal Prince Jiří Lobkowicz, members of the provincial and imperial assemblies, representatives of the nobility and businessmen of Bohemia. Emperor Franz Joseph I did not attend the opening of the exhibition, he arrived during the exhibition and visited Liberec in addition to Prague.

Exhibition organization and management

All organizational and work activities at the exhibition were managed by the Executive Committee, which represented the exhibition externally – towards authorities and other persons. The Chairman of the Executive Committee was Karel Max Count Zedtwitz. The Executive Committee met 158 ​​times during the exhibition and processed 21,300 submissions during that time. In organizationally critical periods and during significant events during the exhibition, the Committee met permanently.

Several other committees were subordinate to the Executive Committee:

• The construction committee managed and organized all construction work, approved construction budgets, supervised static calculations of iron structures and construction work, the establishment of a water supply system, road maintenance, and the payment of wages to construction workers.
• The Financial Committee ensured complete financing of the exhibition, including responsibility for the exhibition financing contract concluded with the Provincial Bank of the Kingdom of Bohemia.
• The installation committee recorded and decided on exhibitors' applications and supervised the even representation of exhibits at the exhibition.
• The editorial committee supervised the exhibition's press office and ensured general awareness of the exhibition through newspapers and other media.
• The transportation committee took care of mass visits, organized exhibition trains, exhibition festivals, and various entertainment venues.

In addition to the above-mentioned exhibition committees, a number of group committees were active during the anniversary exhibition, dealing with individual exhibition sectors and ensuring the installation of exhibits. The group committees included, in particular, the Central Economic Committee, chaired by Prince Karel Schwarzenberg, and then more than twenty other committees. The committee for the anniversary art exhibition was chaired by Josef Myslbek. The committee for the retrospective exhibition was chaired by Vojtěch rytíř Lanna and, after his resignation, Count Zdeněk Thun.

Exhibition financing

Two financial funds were established to finance the exhibition: a basic fund and a guarantee fund. The basic fund served to ensure the coverage of expenses in connection with the holding of the anniversary exhibition. The guarantee fund was established to compensate for any financial deficit after the final settlement of the exhibition. The basic income to both funds flowed from exhibitors' contributions. The amount of exhibitors' contributions depended on the exhibitor's annual turnover. For example, factories with a turnover higher than PLN 1,000,000 contributed PLN 1,000 to PLN 2,000 to the basic fund and PLN 2,000 to PLN 4,000 to the guarantee fund. Other sources of finance were a subsidy of PLN 100,000 provided to the exhibition by the Parliament of the Kingdom of Bohemia and a number of financial collections. The total costs of construction activities at the exhibition site amounted to PLN 921,194, of which the largest part fell on the construction of the industrial palace, totaling PLN 474,690.

Focus and scope

Visitors to the anniversary exhibition had the opportunity to get a comprehensive look at the state of industrial, agricultural (plant and animal) and forestry production, fruit growing, viticulture, brewing, beekeeping and other sectors of the Bohemian economy. The exhibition included industrial expositions of engineering, mining, glassmaking, ceramics and industrial chemistry. Part of the exhibition focused on the social side of life in Bohemia: healthcare, provincial corporations and associations, fine arts and archaeological excavations.

Buildings, pavilions, attractions and other objects at the exhibition

The Industrial Palace, frontally closing the main exhibition avenue, was the largest and most expensive building of the exhibition grounds. It was designed by architects Bedřich Münzberger and František Prášil. For the first time in the history of Czech architecture, prefabricated iron structures were used for its construction. The construction was carried out by the First Czech-Moravian Engineering Works Kolben-Daněk in cooperation with the construction company of architect František Víška in 5 months, during very adverse weather conditions. The iron structure of the Industrial Palace weighed 800 tons. The steel arches had a span of 38 m. The Industrial Palace was opened on March 15, 1891. The costs of the palace reached 500,000 gulden.

The Machine Room, or the building for the exhibition of machine exhibits, was also the work of architect Bedřich Münzberger. It was located in the rear part of the exhibition grounds, separated from the front part by a tree-lined road. It had an iron lattice structure, but unlike the Industrial Palace, it did not have any large brick decorative parts. The installation was carried out by the bridge workshop of the Prague Joint Stock Machinery Works. The construction costs reached 100,000 gulden. The machine exhibits in the Machine Room largely contributed to the fame of the anniversary exhibition beyond the borders of the monarchy. The main exhibitors were the companies Emil Škoda, Plzeň, Joint Stock Machinery Works (formerly Breitfeld), Daněk a spol., František Ringhoffer, První českomoravská továrna na stroje, Prague Joint Stock Machinery Works, formerly Ruston a spol. and the František Křižík electrotechnical plant. In 1893, the Machine Room was dismantled and sold to Innsbruck.

Location of our Caffé Pavilon

The aristocratic pavilions were located to the left of the Engine House in the so-called manorial quarter. Among the aristocratic business families, the following exhibited: Archduke Franz Ferdinand d'Este, Prince Maurice Lobkowicz, Count Jaromír Černín, Count Jan Harrach, Count Arnošt Silva Tarrouca, Czech governor Count Thun, Prince Hanavský, Count Karel Buquoy. Prince Adolf Josef of Schwarzenberg opened tasting rooms for his products, and his son Jan Nepomuk was also involved in organizing the exhibition. The pavilions were stylized as hunting lodges and forest game reserves. They contained exhibits on agriculture and forestry, fishing, and mineral extraction. They were mostly supplemented with family histories, sometimes with interesting and even eccentric exhibits. For example, Count Černín exhibited the bloodied clothes of Vilém Slavata, thrown from a window of Prague Castle in 1618.

On the occasion of the Jubilee Provincial Exhibition, two new funiculars (to Letná and Petřín), the new Petřín Lookout Tower and the Křižík Electric Railway to Letná, the first Czech electric railway, were put into operation in 1891.