Located in a whimsical part of Prague that many tourists do not venture to, is the abandoned Vyšehrad Train Station. This Art Nouveau gem sits quietly in her old grandeur, a crumbling boarded up beauty laden with graffiti just waiting (like many other gorgeous structures in the city of Prague) for a new face-lift.
Seeing is Believing
The project to build a railway station in the Vysehrad district was set up in 1867 in connection with the proposal to build the Prague connecting line. It was to connect the Smichov railway station with the railway station of Franz Joseph (today the main railway station).
The construction of a connecting junction also involved the construction of a railway bridge to bridge the Vltava river.
It was completed in 1870 and two years later, the operation on the intersection was commenced.
The station first operated on a temporary basis and plans for rebuilding were made.
In 1904, the new building was built and a year later opened.
The designer is considered architect Antonín Balšánek.
Although Vyšehrad became a part of Prague already in 1883, the name Praha-Vyšehrad was stationed until 1942.
The station was on a busy route but it was only 20 years old.
In 1960, it was turned into a dump and since then the station building has been unused. In 1990, the first and, at the same time, the most recent repair attempt took place. However, despite the fact that the art nouveau building of the former railway station became a cultural monument in 2001, no one is trying to save and the state of the building is getting worse.
Since 2007, the owner has been a foreign company who has not been interested in the subject for 10 years. Any attempts at reconstruction are binding, the owner does not communicate with the municipality or the building office.
It was once part of a wooden waiting area (also listed as a listed building), but it was unlawfully destroyed in 2008.
The neighborhood is beautiful as well. It is surrounded by the known Cubist homes of Vyšehrad such as the Kovarovic Villa, the ancient Vyšehrad fortress, the fabled Vltava River and the Charles University Botanic Gardens.
Time Will Tell
But only time will tell the fate of this beautiful Art Nouveau structure.
For now she sits, slowly falling apart, years away from her heyday…
Hopefully in due time it will indeed receive the costly renovation it needs.
Because the Vyšehrad Station is no longer in use as a train station it could more than likely be used for a social complex with cafes, kiosks and gallery space.
What a waste of such an incredible beauty.
And people are throwing $50 million dollar wedding parties?
Someone please… save these amazing structures.
The station building is Art Nouveau and is probably probably Antonín Balšánek, co-author of the Municipal House.
The building has been declared a cultural monument, but has been dwindling for many years. In addition to the station building, the half-timbered house of the waiting room, which was illegally destroyed by the US owner of the station, was even standing in 2008.
You may not know, part of the building used to be a statue of a lion made of artificial stone, a small fountain and figures of a vodka and a bear.
At the turn of the 1940s and 1950s it created a stone workshop located under the Nusel Bridge. If you go to the right of the bridge from Vinohrady to Pankrác you will safely see it from the height … In 2001 the animals disappeared, according to some information the stone workshop at the railway station has just lent and today they are located again in her garden. This workshop is willing to make copies and return it to its original place, but only in case of a reconstruction.
The object of the building in 2007 was the city district of Prague 2, offering Czech Railways a free transfer. She wanted to build a cultural and social center here.
What kind of future is the station, I have not been able to find out now. The latest report I discovered was from March last year, when the reconstruction of the railway station and the construction of two glazed buildings were to begin by the end of the year. These should be connected to the train station, shops and restaurants. Construction should be 16 months. Estimated costs were between 230 and 250 million crowns.
However I was there in last month, in May, 2019 and nothing had changed from these photos.
It was deserted, devastated and the smell of urine reeked out of all walls, doors and windows. I sat in front for over an hour and cried…
Watch this video (in Czech) to learn more – click on the video to view.
Photos & Sources: Opustena Mista, Blesk, RTVPlus, Praha Neznama, Wikipedia, Prazdne Domy.
Truly heartbreaking…
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