Husova třída (today’s Husitská Street)
The street was originally named Husova in 1872. Until then, it had been called the Vienna Road or Horská Street based on its direction towards Kutná Hora. In 1866 to 1869, Karel Hartig built the first houses nos. 126 and 128 along this particular road; the buildings have remained at the beginning of today’s Koněvova to this day. They were situated outside the Prague fortification line, so there was no obligation to destroy them in case of military danger; the land the buildings occupied was owned by Amálie Stomeová, Hartig’s wife as of 1865. Other builders of the first balcony access houses, just single-storey buildings then, along the Vienna Road included Ferdinand Kuhn, a plumber from Karlín, and Antonín Fanta, a citizen of Prague and originally a tailor. Hartig’s efforts helped to build a number of houses along the northern side of Husova Street itself in the 1860’s and 1870’s. Their names demonstrated his patriotism and admiration of the Hussite movement – the House of Jan Žižka of Trocnov (no. 160), House of Jan Hus (no. 191), House of Jerome of Prague (no. 192), House of God’s Warriors (no. 404).
The Husova Street holds another primacy, too – it was the route of the first tram in 1883. The tram was a horse-drawn operation from Prague over the U Bulhara junction, Husitská and Prokopova Streets to the famed ex-restaurant Bezovka not far from the today’s Olšanská Street.
In 1903, the City of Žižkov had the biggest and most modern spa in Prague and the surrounding area built on today’s Husitská Street no. 1050. The ground floor featured a pool for sixty people, steam baths and massage rooms; the first floor had two smaller pools, a lounge, steam bath and inhalation room for upper classes. Everything was bathing in electric light; there was air ventilation and the water was filtered. About 120,000 people visited the spa in 1909.
On September 3, 1910, František Ponec opened a new Žižkov cinema – Royal Bioskop in the building of today’s Ponec Theatre. It was originally in Smíchov but after the first building was demolished, F. Ponec moved the establishment to Žižkov. In 1910, he arranged a lease of the former Stabenow Machine Works from the City Hall and, together with architect Karel Mašek, remodelled it as a cinema. František Ponec made a short documentary on the firefighting and rescue operation drill of Žižkov fire brigade at Prokopovo Square in 1915.
