ABSTRACT
BY THE END OF THE NINETEENTH century, the strongly developed movement for the preservation of the historical parts of Prague was of great importance. In 1900 it led to the creation of the influential Club for Old Prague, Klub za starou Prahu. From its foundation its members were representatives of various professions. It was founded by the writer, Vilém Mrštík, the architect, Jan Koula, the art historian, Karel Chytil, and the lawyer, Luboš Jeřábek. At the same time it was a purely Czech organization independent of the system of the state protection of historical monuments in imperial Vienna. For the future of Prague it was important that the Club for Old Prague gradually worked out a theoretical foundation for the protection of this historical town, in place of the previous arguments, which were mostly emotionally motivated or not specific enough. The theory was based above all on the conservation of historical monuments as represented by the Vienna School of Art History, especially in the understanding of Aloïs Riegl and, later, of Max Dvořák. It is as a result of this that historical Prague has been preserved to a considerable degree.
