The beginning of the construction of the National Theatre became a great national celebration

Prague - The laying of the cornerstone for the construction of the National Theatre became one of the largest Czech manifestations of the 19th century. The whole celebration lasted three days, and tens of thousands of people from all corners of the kingdom came to Prague for it. The most sacred moment came on May 16, 1868, when the audience on the Vltava riverbank eagerly watched as František Palacký and other significant figures of Czech society tapped the golden hammer on the cornerstone.

According to the original plans of the organizers of the nationwide collection, the stone was supposed to come from the sacred mountain Říp, but patriotic enthusiasm led people from other regions of Bohemia and Moravia to contribute their stones to the foundation as well. And those who could wanted to see it with their own eyes. Prague was bursting at the seams with enthusiastic crowds, and dozens of special trains were dispatched. The newspapers of the time even reported on the general assembly of the Czech Crown or the Slavic congress, as guests from "brotherly Slavic tribes" were also invited.

The program of the national celebrations, which according to estimates could have attracted up to 150,000 people, began with an evening regatta on the Vltava on May 15, 1868, and the events of the second day were initiated by a grand procession that moved through the decorated city from the Karlín Invalidovna to the construction site of the theatre. It lasted over two hours and involved around 80,000 participants - members of many societies and guilds with flags, Sokol athletes, costumed delegations, and elaborately dressed riding groups from all regions.

After a speech by the chairman of the Board for the establishment of the National Theatre, Karel Sladkovský, the hammer was taken up by the "father of the nation," Palacký, followed by Ladislav Rieger, actor Josef Jiří Kolár, and composer Bedřich Smetana. He contributed to the success of the day with the premiere of the opera Dalibor. A capsule was embedded in the cornerstone, which, in addition to the founding document painted by Josef Mánes, concealed the plans for the theatre, a commemorative brochure, coins, banknotes, newspapers, magazines, and a piece of mortar from the prison in Constance of Master Jan Hus.

The cornerstone that was tapped on that memorable May day, however, was not from Říp. Due to disputes over which place in the country is the most significant and historical, the board ultimately diplomatically chose a stone from a randomly selected neutral and unknown location. The true cornerstone is, therefore, a granite block from Louňovice in the Černokostelecko region, but other locations were also given a place in the foundation, as more than 20 other commemorative stones were eventually included in the National Theatre's foundations.

However, it took another 13 years for the theatre, which Emperor Franz Joseph I also contributed a significant sum to alongside thousands of small donors, to welcome its first audience. The grand opening of the National Theatre was held hastily in a still unfinished building. The reason for this somewhat rushed event had little to do with Czech culture or history. The Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary, Rudolf, along with his new wife Stephanie, happened to visit Prague shortly after their wedding.

However, the celebration did not go very well; the best seats were filled with people in Austrian uniforms instead of patriots, and furthermore, the archduke, in whose honor the performance was held, did not even stay until the end. But a worse disaster awaited the golden chapel in the hot months of 1881. The building still needed finishing, so it was crowded with craftsmen over the summer. Among them were roofers who were installing a lightning rod, and likely due to their negligence, a fire broke out in the theatre on August 12, 1881.

Due to confusion during the firefighting efforts, it took half a day to get the fire under control, and it was not extinguished until the next morning. The sight that then faced the people of Prague was grim - the disaster completely destroyed the roof, stage, and auditorium. Immediately after the fire, a second collection was initiated, to which the heir to the throne, Rudolf, contributed 5,000 guilders. In less than three years, "from its ashes, like a phoenix, the magnificent building rose again..." and on November 18, 1883, the National Theatre was ceremoniously reopened for the second time.