The Municipal House is an art nouveau pearl of Prague. Outside you will find 700 rooms, 40,000 works of art and 5,000 chandeliers. It was built between 1905 and 1912 in an opulent style inspired by France, and Alfons Mucha also contributed to the beautiful decoration. However, the Art Nouveau pearl also hides the oldest bar in Prague and even the second oldest in the whole of Europe, where even today you can admire the precise art of barmanship on the black marble. Let yourself be spoiled by the menu, desserts and cocktails that have been served here for a hundred years. With this building, the Czech-speaking people of Prague distanced themselves from the then Austria-Hungary and subscribed to the American ideals of freedom, democracy and equality. This was explicitly announced by the American bar in the basement of the building, one of the oldest in Europe. Here it was possible to taste the American novelty, the cocktail, and women could go here without a male escort without their reputation suffering. No other such company existed in Prague at the time. The right-hand ground floor of the Municipal House is still a gourmet restaurant, where you can taste the original First Republic menu. On the left side, you will find a stylish cafe with the famous cakes of the Municipal House, such as peach cheese symphony or walnut cake. The American Bar is located in the basement of the building. It is the oldest bar in Prague and the second oldest bar in Europe.There are six American flags above the beverage shelves. What cocktails were served here? In the summer heat, the recommended cocktail was the “Prince of Wales”, which is made of crushed ice, champagne, a splash of cognac and a slice of lemon. The ladies were recommended the “Prince of Monaco” cocktail, which had the same composition supplemented with a little red wine. The interior of the American Bar is still black in the lower half after Chicago patterns from the beginning of the 20th century. The bar counter with stools as well as leather armchairs and tables match the walls covered with black tiles, on which the drawings of the Czech national artist Mikoláš Alš stand out. Even at the time of its creation, the Municipal House was technologically unique. It was air-conditioned by a unique mechanism directly with water from two deep wells. For example, it had refrigerated cellars, ice makers, pipe mail, and in addition to drinking water distribution, it even had an ecological service water distribution system. This solution is still admired today. The Municipal House entered the history of the Czech Republic twice. For the first time, the independent Czechoslovak Republic was proclaimed here from the balcony above the entrance on October 28, 1918. During the fall of the Iron Curtain, representatives of the communist government met Václav Havel here for the second time in November 1989.