The Palacký Bridge is the third oldest still functioning bridge in Prague, it was built in 1876 mainly because of the industrial boom at Smíchov.
The bridge is made of granite blocks of different colours, it is 228 long. When it as built it was 7,7 m wide, however after World War II during which it was damaged in an air attack in February 1945, it was widened to 13,9 m (with pavements).
Before 1945 the bridge was decorated with the statues with motifs from Czech mythology made by Josef Václav Myslbek, the author of the statue of St Wenceslas on Wenceslas Square, but they were damaged during the February bombardment and then removed. Nowadays they are on display in Vyšehrad Gardens.
Between the Palacký Bridge and the neighbouring Jirásek Bridge there is one of the places on the Vltava river in Prague from where the river cruises start. The boats take you either back to this place or to the Čechův Bridge by the Jewish Quarter where there is another landing station.
Albert Einstein used to walk on this bridge in 1911 and 1912 when he was professor at German University in Prague. Einsteint lived in Smíchov (Lesnická Street) and walked over the bridge to work.
Originally the bridge was called „Stone bridge to Smíchov“ or „Podskalský“, though soon it got its name after František Palacký (1798 – 1876), a famous Czech historian and politician. During World War II the bridge held the name of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
