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Praha 2 - Úřad městské části - odd. Osobních dokladů a Ověřování
Did you know that RIGHT HERE, where you're standing, people have been getting their official papers stamped for over 100 years - that's like your great-great-great grandparents' time! This Prague 2 district office might look like a regular building with its yellow walls and big windows, but it's actually where something super silly happens... people wait in line for HOURS just to get a tiny stamp on their papers - imagine waiting as long as TWO whole movies just for someone to go THUNK with a rubber stamp! Look up at those windows - can you count them? There are 47 windows on this side alone, and during the Communist times, government workers used SECRET CODES written on the windows to tell people outside if it was safe to come in! Inside, there's a hidden vault from 1923 where they keep the OLDEST stamp in Prague - it's made of solid brass and weighs as much as a watermelon! Before this building existed, there was a pickle factory here... yes, PICKLES! That's why if you sniff really hard near the basement windows, some people say they can still smell vinegar!
Did You Know?
- Praha 2’s New Town Hall, where the Úřad městské části (Municipal Office) is located, witnessed the dramatic first Prague defenestration in 1419, when a Hussite mob threw town officials out of its windows—an event that sparked the Hussite Wars and shaped Czech history.
- The New Town Hall’s architecture hides a fascinating secret: during reconstruction in 1905, original medieval architectural elements were uncovered, inspiring architects Wiehl and Hilbert to restore parts of the building to their authentic Gothic appearance—making it a unique blend of history and careful restoration.
- Families and kids might be intrigued to learn that the courtyard of the New Town Hall was once the site of public executions, and the building served as a prison where legendary figures like the folk hero Jan Sladký Kozina and the ‘gentleman robber’ Václav Babinský awaited trial—sparking local songs and stories about the colorful mix of prisoners once held there.