English Translation

OPENING OF THE RUDOLFINUM ON 16 OCTOBER 1941 Party comrades, honoured guests! Today, as Deputy Reich Protector, I have the honour to complete the structural renewal of the Rudolfinum in the solemn act of state, which the ill Reich Protector Reichsminister Freiherr von Neurath ordered on 11 April 1940 and which was announced in a ceremony of the party on 30 June of the same year. Let me first of all soberly outline the history of this cultural site in terms of data. It gives us the fateful development of this space in the last decades without romantic improvement. In 1872, the Böhmische Sparkasse – then a completely German institute – decided to build a "building dedicated to the arts, the arts and crafts" on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. Built from 1876 to 1884, this house of art was named and solemnly opened on 7 February 1885 after the crown prince Rudolf "Rudolfinum". 33 years the Rudolfinum served its original purpose: 59