School Palace

Today's palace, in which the conservatory is housed, is a reconstruction of the original magnificent Renaissance palace with a loggia. The Renaissance house was built at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, the current Baroque form dates from the mid-17th century. For many years the house was owned by the Straka family from Nedabylice, after whom it is now named. The name Straka is associated with another important Prague building - Straka Academy, the building where the Czech government meets.

The Straka family owned the house until the end of the 18th century, after which it changed hands several times. The house was successively owned by Count Clary Aldringen, Joseph of Wallenstein, Luisa Němcová and also by the Congregation of Grey Nuns. In 1899 the Municipality of Prague bought the palace from the congregation of sisters. The magistrate lends the house free of charge for the project of educating the blind and on 17 March 1910 Jan Deyl opens his Deyl's Educational Institution for the Blind, the first Czech institution for the blind, and on 17 October of the same year the first thirteen inmates enter the institution.