The building at the address Úvoz 15, Prague 1 – Hradčany, in which the Hotel QUESTENBERK originated following the extensive reconstruction in 2003, has a rich history reaching back to 1610. Questenberk Palace was built in 1665-68 along with the St. Elizabeth and St. Norbert Hospital by Hans Georg Gottwieck evidently from his own design. The façade went through high and late baroque modifications, during which a new staircase was built and the fasade modified.
Rudolph II contributed to the establishment of the hospital, as is evident from his rescript from February 18th, 1610.
We actually know nothing about the actual hospital, nor when it was exactly built – its construction first appears much later, in 1622, under the Abbot Kašpar Questenberk, who is also the founder according to the descriptive panel above its entrance. While the construction of the original hospital grew from the foundations up, as period rhetoric reveals, it is likely that the structure of an older building got into the shell of the construction. The creator of this structure was evidently Melchior Meer, who worked for Questenberk in the 1620’s and 30’s.
The foundation instrument from 1625 has been preserved and it tells us that while the hospital stood on the monastery grounds, it was beyond the monastery gates, and it was endowed with “splendid work along with the chapel of its patron St. Elizabeth." Today you can visit these places in our restaurant.
The surrounding terrain has also changed with respect to its original state, which was higher and only later dropped sharply to Úvoz Street. Access is provided by a later staircase from 1726 with stairs from the side, protected by a full balustrade, and supplemented by statuary with a Calvary collection. There is a striking statue of St. Mary Magdalene on one side of the reinforcing pillar at the accession to the stairs with a statue of St. John on the other side. There is a sandstone copy of a statue of the Virgin Mary of Sorrows under a cast-iron figure of the crucifixion from the 19th century in the middle of the staircase, projecting into the street in a semicircle.
Above the portal there is a marble slab from the original Questenberk Hospital with the inscription:
„DOM / HOSPITALE QUESTEMBERGIAN M /AD HONOREM OMNLPOTENTIS DEI ET MEMORIAM BEATAE / ELISABETH“…
