"Dnes stojí dohotoven náš národní hrad ..." : architektura a architekti národních domů v Moravské Ostravě a Vítkovicích

This study considers the four buildings known as "National Houses", built in the late 19th century in Moravská Ostrava and Vítkovice: the National House, the German House, the Czech House, and the Polish House. It concentrates primarily on their symbolic decoration and architecture, aiming to demonstrate the link between their style and decorations and the nationality of those who commissioned the work. It attempts to throw light on the reasons why those particular architectural forms were used, and what is the meaning of the individual symbolic elements. Its aim is to capture the "national character" of the buildings studied. It also contains contemporary opinions of the buildings and details of the competitions in which the architects were selected, looks at the designs that were eventually never built, and also describes the architects and briefly reviews their related work.