Postcard - Prague, Štvanice winter stadium, postmark, written

Product detailed description

Condition: as found, good

Dimensions: 15,1 cm x 10,8 cm

Štvanice Winter Stadium, opening match ČSR - France, 1932. The Czech and Czechoslovak national ice hockey teams had to win five European titles before the players got their first stadium with an artificial ice surface, something unprecedented in Europe. On 15 March 1929 the Prague city council granted the Prague Sample Fairs a plot on Štvanice island for the construction, influenced by the success at the 1929 European Ice Hockey Championship, won by the Czechoslovak team. The 90 x 34 m surface was divided into two parts, with a 60 x 30 m area for hockey matches. The stands, some covered and some even movable, held up to 10,000 spectators, who also had a café; athletes had lockers, a warm-up room and a gym. The stadium hosted four Ice Hockey World Championships (1933, 1938, 1947 and 1959), and the home team won a medal at each. It was roofed only in 1956 for the Women's European Basketball Championship (design by Ing. Josef Zeman). At club level it was used mainly by LTC Praha, and in the 1950s by five different clubs; on 11 February 1955 a Prague selection played the Swedish club Leksand IF here, the first match in front of television cameras. Czechoslovak Figure Skating Championships were held here from 1951 to 1976. The stadium was repaired in 1968, but parts were gradually closed in the following years. From 1998 it was leased by the APeX CLUB association, which reopened it at its own expense after two years out of use; in 2000 it was declared a cultural monument. After the 2002 flood APeX CLUB restored operation again within two months. In 2008 the city terminated the lease, confirmed by a court in 2011. As the structure was in danger of collapse, the stadium was closed; demolition began on 28 May 2011 and took about 20 days. (Source: Wikipedia)