From history Hotel U Tří Pštrosů

The house was built in 1597 even though a pub used to be there as early as the Middle Ages; it is said that the pub was visited by Charles the Fourth himself when he was supervising the construction of the stone bridge. The original building stood on a pillar of the former Judith Bridge which had been destroyed by flood.

The house was built by Jan Fux; he sold ostrich plumes which were all the vogue at that time. In 1606, he invited Daniel Alexius from Květná to paint a bombastic advertisement with symbols of all services he offered to promote his business; the painting was all over the facade. Jan Fux was a feather merchant alias “federschmucker”, he decorated women´s hats or horse trappings with precious bird feathers, made fans and other decorations which he, being a fashion designer, designed himself.

In 1648, the house was damaged by the Swedes when they were besieging Prague. Cyril Geer, a Prague architect, built up a Baroque top floor during the subsequent reconstruction in 1657. The timber ceiling decorated with grapevine motives, found on the ground floor, comes from that period as well; it was discovered in the 1970s. In 1714, Deodat Ramajan, an Armenian, opened the first coffee house in Bohemia; he sold coffee imported by Deodastus Damascenus, a Greek. In 1972 – 1976 the coloured facade was repaired, the house was reconstructed and shaped into a hotel.