Commemorative Coin: National Theatre

Product description

The National Theatre represents the Czech people's aspiration for national identity and independence. Individuals from diverse backgrounds contributed to its construction through fundraising efforts, and the ceremonial laying of the cornerstone on May 16, 1868, served as a significant national event.

 The idea of building a dignified stone theatre took shape in the fall of 1844 during meetings of patriots in Prague and began to take form with a request for a "privilege to build, equip, maintain, and manage" an independent Czech theatre, which František Palacký submitted to the Committee of the Bohemian Diet on January 29, 1845. The privilege was granted as early as April 1845. However, it was not until six years later — in April 1851 — that the Committee for the Establishment of the Czech National Theatre in Prague, which had been formed in the meantime, issued its first public appeal to launch fundraising efforts. A year later, with the proceeds from the first fundraising efforts, a plot of land measuring just under 28 ares — the site of a former salt warehouse — was purchased. While this plot provided a magnificent location for the theatre on the banks of the Vltava River, facing the panorama of Hradčany, its cramped size and trapezoidal shape posed significant challenges for the building’s architects.

Material: brass

Size: 30 mm