After 130 years, the historical carousel turned again on Prague’s Letná
“The eleventh of July 1894 was the day when the carousel was approved at this exact place,” said Karel Ksandr, director of the National Technical Museum (NTM), which owns the carousel. The carousel was in operation for the first time two years earlier. At that time, it stood in Královské Vinohrady, which at that time was not part of the capital. The owner then decided to move to Letná, where the people of Prague often went for a trip on Sundays.
According to the director, the carousel was planned for 20 years, this year it is 130. It was owned by a private person until 2004, his family bought it in the 1930s. According to Ksandra, the fact that the carousel has survived to this day was saved by the reconstruction of the leaking roof in the 1990s.
The current reconstruction took four years longer than the original plans. It was also delayed by a few months that the entire structure was collapsing due to the charred lower parts. In total, the repair cost 22.7 million crowns, of which 7.6 million were repaired for 19 horses made of genuine horse skin and three knight’s armors, which stand in the middle. The museum bought the carousel in 2004 for 1.5 million CZK.
The carousel will be open to the public from Tuesday morning, then every day until the end of the week from 9am to 6pm. In the following weeks, it will run from Friday to Sunday and on holidays. According to Ksandra, it is not possible to operate the carousel every day, because it is an immobile cultural monument. The load capacity of the horses is 100 kilograms, so even adults can ride them. Horses are for children from two years old, up to ten years old should be supervised by parents. A five-minute ride will cost 80 crowns.
An even older carousel from Italian owners spins on Prague’s Petřín near the observation tower until September. Its age is estimated at about 200 years. According to some sources, its production dates back to the end of the 17th century. He starred in several films, such as the one directed by Paolo Soren.