Vojtěch Sucharda

Koruna Building, with the three figures by Vojtěch Sucharda

Sculpture at the Eastern Bohemia Museum in Hradec Králové

Vojtěch Sucharda (6 January 1884 in Nová Paka – 31 October 1968 in Prague) was a Czech sculptor, woodcarver and puppeteer.

Sucharda was the founder of Prague's Ríše Loutek ("Puppet Empire") Theater in 1920, and he is known for restoring the wooden figures of the apostles on the Prague Astronomical Clock, which had been heavily damaged by enemy fire in mid-May 1945. Sucharda wrote a letter detailing the difficult conditions in Prague at the time, which he hid in a metal case inside the restored statue of the apostle St. Thomas. His hidden message was discovered 70 years later in 2018, when restorers noticed that one of the statues was heavier than the rest and an x-ray revealed the hidden message.

Family

Sucharda was the brother of sculptor Stanislav Sucharda.

Work

As an architectural sculptor, Sucharda's work includes:

• the two seated figures flanking the entrance to the Museum of Eastern Bohemia in Hradec Králové, for architect Jan Kotěra, 1908-1912
• the three figures at the crown of the Koruna Building at Wenceslas Square in Prague, 1912-1914
• work at the St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague

Sources

• Czech-language biography
• HIDDEN MESSAGE FOUND IN PRAGUE'S ASTRONOMICAL CLOCK