A Story of Burnt Books and Broken Bricks

Text Lars Š. Laichter

The Laichter House stands at the edge of a park on one of Prague’s hilltops. Built in 1910, its unassuming brick façade and surprising interior stand as poignant examples of early Bohemian modernist architecture. They also serve as powerful mementos of the rise and fall of one of the most influential Czechoslovak publishing houses. It is a place that tells the story of the 20th-century tensions between democracy and totalitarianism and demonstrates that once seemingly decimated cultural hotspots can come alive again.

The assignment for the architect was twofold. Jan Laichter dreamed of a space that, like the house of the 16th-century Antwerp printer Christopher Plantin, would harmoniously merge work, family life, and intellectual pursuit. But while many contemporaries leaned toward decorative imitations of Baroque styles, Jan Laichter had the courage to build something different. Defying popular opinion and at the risk of controversy, he entrusted the project to the father of Czech architectural modernity, Jan Kotěra (1871-1923).

Kotěra drew inspiration from his contemporaries abroad. In his use of bare bricks, he was inspired by H.P. Berlage from the Netherlands, and in the tectonic façades and large windows by Frank Lloyd Wright from the United States. His style emphasized functionality over ornamentation and resulted in a building that was years ahead of its time.

Protected on the outside by bare bricks and rugged granite, the interior harbors many surprising features, custom-designed for the publishing house's operations. Large, west-facing windows fill the main publishing hall with natural light and reveal a grand entrance hall that remains a testament to Kotěra’s design mastery. With its angled staircase of larch wood ascending in bold, graceful lines and an imposing, custom-designed chandelier illuminating the space, the hall is surrounded by a warm palette of ochre and blue stencil paintings, adding depth and sophistication to the clean architectural lines.

The publishing house itself has remarkable origins. Jan Laichter’s story is an example of the Bohemian dream, as he worked his way up in the late 19th century from a simple merchant in a small town to become the main publisher of T. G. Masaryk, the first president of independent Czechoslovakia. His focus was on publishing comprehensive literary editions of philosophy, history, science, and translated literature that were meant to educate the newly emerging democratic nation. At the end of his life, he was awarded an honorary doctorate for his contribution to Czech literature, the only publisher in Czech history to receive such an honor to date. Nevertheless, his dedication to an independent and democratic society became the peril of the publishing house when the communists rose to power in 1948. While Jan Laichter did not live to see that, his son witnessed the liquidation of the family business along with more than three hundred other publishing houses. Over twenty-seven thousand highly prized books from the storage in the Laichter House were taken away to be incinerated.

The descendants of Jan Laichter received the house back in the 1990s, and today I am working, as Jan Laichter’s great-great-grandson, towards restoring and reviving its once vibrant cultural heritage. The building boasts multiple event spaces, a coworking space, apartments, a house museum, as well as a suite for guests to stay and experience the historical spirit of the place themselves. The house is at the beginning of a journey to restore all its original features, but it already tells a powerful story of resilience in the face of communism and a dedication to democratic values and free thought.

For an inside look at the Laichter House, view our listing, or take this as your invitation to experience its history firsthand.

Posted October 30, 2024