- 550/18 Old Town Square
House of the Stone Table
The House of the Stone Table in Old Town Square can be considered a significant site of the Prague Uprising. At the end of World War II, it served as the headquarters for ‘Alex’, one of the military resistance centres. The headquarters coordinated the operations of its external forces with the street fighting in Prague, particularly thanks to a highly efficient intelligence service that collaborated with the ‘Bartoš’ group, which included the former legionaries František Bürger and Karel Kutlvašr.
The ‘Alex’ Command placed the uniformed Protectorate forces, including police, gendarmerie, government armed forces, and others, under its authority while overseeing military troops outside of Greater Prague and the ‘Bartoš’ group that had Greater Prague under its command. For the sake of secrecy, ‘Alex’ stayed away from the main insurgent activities, also because the Nazi administration offices were located nearby (the NSDAP secretariat in Old Town Square and the Prague SS Headquarters in the Faculty of Law).
It was evident from the early morning of 5 May 1945 that an uprising was imminent and a clash with German forces would occur. Strategic negotiations regarding the coordination of anti-Nazi groups were held in the Kunerle Company offices. During the gunfire in the city centre, an entrance to the building was blocked, isolating the headquarters. On Monday, 7 May, the house was damaged as a result of the fighting. The SS officers, who attacked the Old Town Hall from multiple sides, occupied the entrance.
Left to right: Štorch House, House of the Stone Lamb, and House of the Stone Table. Museum of Prague, photo by J. Böhm, 1940–1944.
House of the Stone Table in Old Town Square (far right, originally F. Kunerle Mineral Water Wholesale) after the Prague Uprising fighting. Museum of Prague, photo by Josef Hezoučký, 1945.
