The Straka Academy was originally an educational institution for the indigent children of Czech noble families. The aim of the exhibition (taking place on on 11–12 June, 18–19 June, 25–26 June 2016) organised to celebrate the 240th anniversary of Count Straka’s foundation and the 120th anniversary of the Straka Academy is to shed light on the history and fortunes of this important edifice. The seeds of the idea to help impoverished members of the Czech nobility were sown by Count Jan Petr Straka of Nedabylice in his will of 1710, in which he declared that, were the male line of the Strakas to die out, a foundation was to be established that could use its income to raise and educate poor Czech nobles. After circuitous negotiations with the Viennese authorities, the original plan came to fruition more than a hundred years down the line and the Straka Academy started to function as intended. The chance to study at the Straka Academy was a matter of prestige and attracted a great deal of interest during the institution’s heyday. One of its boarders, for example, was the famous First-Republic actor Theodor Pištěk.
Shortly after the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the building was placed at the disposal of the Red Cross to serve as a makeshift hospital. The dormitories and classrooms were filled to the brim with 470 beds, while offices took up the ground floor and the assembly hall was converted into an operating room. After the end of the First World War, building was put into the service of the First Republic’s state institutions. During the occupation, the Straka Academy became the seat of the Protectorate’s government. This role was short-lived because the premises were ceded to the Imperial Court in 1942. On 15 May 1945, the Academy building was commandeered for the requirements of the Czechoslovak government and, by 1992, had played home to 20 postwar government politburos. Since 1993, the Straka Academy has been the seat of government of the Czech Republic. The place’s history and stories, chronicled in unique photographs, are showcased by an exhibition entitled The Fortunes of the Straka Academy.
