CHARLES IV, HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR

Charles IV (German: Karl IV, Czech: Karel IV., Hungarian: IV. Károly; 14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378), born Wenceslaus, of the House of Luxembourg, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1355 until his death.
He was the eldest son and heir of John the Blind, from whom he inherited Luxembourg and Bohemia on 26 August 1346. He was elected King of Germany (rex Romanorum) in opposition to Louis IV on 11 July that year and crowned on 26 November in Bonn. In 1349, he was elected (17 June) and crowned (25 July) King of Germany without opposition. In 1355 he was crowned King of Italy on 6 January and Holy Roman Emperor on 5 April. With his coronation as King of Burgundy, delayed until 4 June 1365. he became the personal ruler of all the kingdoms of the Holy Roman Empire.

DANCING HOUSE

The Dancing House (Czech: Tančící dům) is the nickname given to an office building in downtown Prague, Czech Republic. It was designed by Croatian-born Czech architect Vlado Milunić in co-operation with Canadian architect Frank Gehry on a vacant riverfront plot (where the previous building had been destroyed during the Bombing of Prague in 1945). The construction started in 1994 and was finished in 1996.
The very non-traditional design was controversial at the time. Czech president Václav Havel, who lived for decades next to the site, had supported it, hoping that the building would become a center of cultural activity.
Originally named Fred and Ginger (after Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers - the house vaguely resembles a pair of dancers) the house stands out among the Neo-Baroque, Neo-Gothic and Art Nouveau buildings for which Prague is famous.
On the roof is a French restaurant with magnificent views of the city. The building's other tenants include several multinational firms. (The plans for a cultural center were not realized.) Because it is situated next to a very busy road it depends on forced air circulation, making the interior somewhat less pleasant for its occupants. http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/dancinghouse

PRAGUE STATE OPERA

Prague State Opera (Czech: Státní opera Praha), is an opera and ballet company in Prague, Czech Republic, and is one of the most important companies in the Europe. Until 1945 it was named the New German Theatre where great musicians of the world music history as Gustav Mahler, Alexander Zemlinsky, Georg Széll, Richard Strauss, Enrico Caruso, Beniamino Gigli, Lilli Lehmann, Maria Jeritza, Leo Slezak and others performed.

The opera house history 1888–2006
The history of the Theatre building that has born the name Prague State Opera since 1 April 1992, and whose past has always stood in the shadow of the National Theatre (unjustly, though on the whole understandably in the Czech capital) began to be written in the second half of the nineteenth century. At that time the Czech lands were part of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, and there was a large German minority living in Prague. The birth of a magnificent Czech Theatre – National Theatre – in the year 1883 indirectly created a longing among the Prague German community, too, for a great theatre. On 4 February 1883 the Deutscher Theatreverein was founded with the initial goal of raising funds. The plans were elaborated by the well-established Viennese firm Fellner & Helmer, this time in co-operation with Karl Hasenauer, the architect who designed Vienna’s Burgtheater. The implementation of the project was entrusted to Prague architect Alfons Wertmüller who accomplished his task with flying colours within the span of the next twenty months and handed over the building to the commissioners in a fully operational condition. Thanks to its spacious auditorium and the rich neo-rococo décor Neues deutsches Theatre (New German Theatre) belongs to the most beautiful opera houses in Europe. http://www.opera.cz