Photo: Ondřej Tomšů, Radio Prague International
50 years ago, the Ještěd Tower, a television transmitter also housing a hotel and restaurant on top of Mount Ještěd near the North Bohemian town of Liberec, opened to the public for the first time.
Architect Karel Hubáček and structural engineer Zdeněk Patrman received the prestigious Perret Prize of the International Union of Architects in 1969 for their work on the Ještěd Tower.
In addition to the external appearance of the transmitter, experts have also praised the original interior by architect Otakar Binar. In the year 2000, the hyperboloid structure was voted the most important 20th-century building in the country in a poll by Czech architectural experts.
Some time ago, the hotel underwent an expensive renovation, and a number of interior elements that had been destroyed or disappeared over the years were replaced. In 1998, Ještěd became a National Technical Monument and in 2005, a National Cultural Monument.