The need of a new modern maternity hospital in Prague became apparent at the beginning of the 19th century. The construction of the Municipal maternity hospital at No. 441/18 of Apolinářská St. was finally initiated by František, the earl Thun-Hohenštejn. The project was prepared by Josef Hlávka. He decided to study the available medical literature about maternity so his plan and the following construction would efficiently serve the purpose.
That is why he used a square floor plan of the building with a four-wing core and with an oblong courtyard. The main forefront of the building features three buttresses, the middle of which is extended by the polygonal bay of the chapel. The axial building wings have two adjacent triads of lateral wings. These are designed as a double-aisle with the rooms oriented to the south. This architectural solution had one big advantage. In a case where an infection broke out in one of the sections, this section could be closed without a greater disturbance to the over- all hospital operation.
The construction of the large building was carried out in 1867-1875 in the style of north-German gothic. Josef Hlávka assigned to lead the building work could not finish his task due to his serious illness so Čeněk Gragor had to take over and carry the construction to its successful completion. The building of the Municipal maternity hospital is unique because of the building material used here. The fundamental material – the fair-faced bricks – was not covered with external rendering as it was done in those days in Prague.
The octahedral steeple of this building is 30m in height and rises from the chapel roof. The top of the steeple then features lantern and finial with spire. The finials are also on the roof corners. The rear part of the chapel is crowned with steeple shape roof with the finial and spire on the very top.
