The oldest part of the St. James parish church is the tower chapel (10th century) with two compact columns and cube-shaped capitals (Chapel of Grace today). The church was erected in the 12th century as the result of a vow made by Engelhard Brömser who had promised to build a church if he returned home safely from his captivity by the Moors. The Gothic hall church from the 14th/15th century is also a gift from the Brömser family. It was completely renovated in 1719. In 1766 a 'pigtail helmet' (onion tower) was added to the Romanesque church tower and a Baroque high altar was installed. An ambitious expansion of the parish church was carried out in 1913-1914. On 25 November 1944, the church was almost completely destroyed during a heavy bomb attack. Immediately after World War II, work began to rebuild the church as a hall church incorporating the preserved old parts. St. James' Church was consecrated in 1955.
References:The Jan Hus Memorial stands at one end of Old Town Square. The huge monument depicts victorious Hussite warriors and Protestants who were forced into exile 200 years after Hus, and a young mother who symbolises national rebirth. The monument was so large that the sculptor designed and built his own villa and studio where the work could be carried out. It was unveiled in 1915 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Jan Hus' martyrdom. The memorial was designed by Ladislav Šaloun and paid for solely by public donations.
Born in 1369, Hus became an influential religious thinker, philosopher, and reformer in Prague. He was a key predecessor to the Protestant movement of the sixteenth century. In his works he criticized religious moral decay of the Catholic Church. Accordingly, the Czech patriot Hus believed that mass should be given in the vernacular, or local language, rather than in Latin. He was inspired by the teachings of John Wycliffe.