The history of the Koruna Opava Hotel dates back to the seventeenth century. At that time, the hotel U Zlaté koruny (Zur Goldener Krone, At the Golden Crown) was located on the site of the current hotel. The first record of this hotel is from 1616. In the middle of the seventeenth century the hotel even had its own brewery. On November 16, 1781, Austrian Emperor Josef II slept in the U Zlaté koruny hotel, and even the heir to the throne, Francis Ferdinand d’Este, visited it.
The current hotel was built between 1984 and 1985. It is the work of architects Jan Kovář and Jiří Horák. In its time, the rather unique interior was designed by the architect Radim Ulman. The hotel was originally named Kamyshin after the twin Soviet city. It was only renamed after the Velvet Revolution in honour of the original U Zlaté koruny hotel.
Hotel Koruna Opava represents the architecture of its time with clear features typical of the region of North Moravia and Silesia. After all, the handwriting of its creators is closely connected with the local region. For example, Radim Ulman is responsible for the interior designs of the Klimkovice cinema, the Shoe House, the Imperial Hotel and the Čedok building in Ostrava. He is also an important designer of theatre seats and chairs for theatres throughout the country. His original handwriting is still visible on the interior of the Koruna Hotel.
The architecture of the hotel is unique in that its creators tried to fit the giant building into the context of its surroundings as much as possible. For example, it was shaped to resemble the original city walls. Its colour was to resemble the colour of the nearby cathedral.
Below you can view photos from the history of Opava and our hotel. All photos were kindly provided by Jan Dlugoš from the portal staraopava.cz.