The Faust House | New Town

The Faust House

There are many mysterious places in Prague connected with legends and myths. But none is more mysterious than the Faust House in Karlovo Namesti. It is if shrouds of mist and magic surround this creepy Baroque house, and according to its magical history, magic did indeed exist. Various stories has appeared over the past years involving Dr. Faust and the Devil taking him to hell through a hole in the ceiling, as well as a story concerning a poor student living in the house, practicing black magic who eventually disappeared into thin air. It has been documented in history that several alchemists have lived in the house including Vaclav the Duke of Opava in the 15th century and the famous Eduard Kelly, Court Alchemist to Rudolph II, who turned ordinary metal into gold using a philosophical stone. In the 18th century Mladota of Solopysk, a reported magician lived in the house, entertaining his guests with experiments in chemistry, physics, and whimsical figurines that had the physical power to move. In the 20th century the most eccentric man called the Faust House his home. Although not an alchemist or magician, Karl Jaenig was an ordinary man with an extraordinary obsession with death. He reportedly slept in a coffin and collected funeral objects and human bones. A vampire, perhaps? Creepy things have happened since then as well, several inexplicable fires, alchemist paintings and symbols found on the walls, and many skeletons of cats found under the basement of the building. It is interesting to note that long before alchemists and magicians inhabited the Faust House, long before the house even existed; the area was the site of many pagan sacrifices to the dark goddess Morana. The Faust House is unfortunately closed to the public and belongs to the Faculty of Medicine of Charles University, but you can still have a look at the facade and wonder what magic or artifacts lay beneath and inside its walls.

Karlovo Namesti 40, 41 Praha 2, New Town.

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