Klatovská street 19 – The German HQ and the Loos architecture

Klatovská Street 19 was built for Hugo and Helena Semler in the early 20th century by the architect Adolf Loos. Other of his works in Pilsen included the Bummel House and 13 apartment interiors, including Klatovská Street 12, directly opposite the "Thank You, America!” Plaza. In 1939, the Semler family was forced to emigrate to Canada. In 1941, the German military headquarters was established in the house. On 5 May 1945 with the appending approach of American and Belgian forces, resistance fighters and Czech police rebelled against the German occupiers. They occupied all important buildings in the city except the German military headquarters at Klatovská Street 19. General Georg von Majewski, commander of the German garrison in Pilsen, refused to surrender to the Czechs and ordered his troops to resist until the arrival of American forces. Today the house remains an important monument of European architecture of the 20th century and the location of dramatic negotiations in the final days of World War II in Pilsen.

Klatovska Straße 19