Cabaret Theatre Labuť

Cabaret Theatre Labuť was a Prague revue theatre that operated until 1936 in a historic building on today's Na Poříčí street. The building itself no longer stands, but its story is one of the more colorful footnotes to Prague's vanished early-20th-century entertainment scene, and the site remains an easy landmark for anyone exploring the New Town on foot.

Where does the name Labuť come from?

Before the cabaret existed, the site was occupied from the early 1700s by a coaching inn called "U bílé labutě" (At the White Swan), whose design is attributed to the workshop of architect Jan Blažej Santini-Aichel. It was a two-story building with a hipped roof, combining a brewery with lodging for travelers arriving in the city center from the direction of today's Florenc. The swan name stuck to the site through every later rebuilding of the property.

How did the building change over time?

In 1846 the property underwent a major reconstruction that gave its facade a new, more classical look. After a fire in 1863 it was rebuilt again, and a swan emblem was mounted above the roofline cornice — a detail that became a lasting visual signature of the address. It was in this rebuilt house that the Labuť cabaret theatre operated, offering Prague audiences the kind of light entertainment typical of revue stages at the time: songs, sketches and cabaret-style variety acts.

Why did the theatre disappear in 1936?

The cabaret company was evicted from the hall in 1936, when the building was purchased by an international trading company planning to build a modern department store on the site. The historic house, whose origins traced back to Santini's era, was demolished that same summer — a fate shared by many older buildings in central Prague during the functionalist redevelopment wave of the 1930s.

What stands there today?

In place of the old cabaret, the Bílá Labuť (White Swan) department store was built in functionalist style, designed by architects Josef Kittrich and Josef Hrubý. It opened with ceremony on 18 March 1939 and became one of Prague's leading department stores for decades. In 1997 an office building called Černá Labuť (Black Swan) was added alongside it, designed by Alexander Holub and Viktor Tučka, and in 1999 a theatre café opened on its eighth floor, borrowing the swan name from the site's older tradition — though it was a separate venture from the original Labuť cabaret.

How do you get there?

The former theatre's location sits on Na Poříčí street in Prague 1, close to the Florenc metro station (lines B and C) and the Bílá labuť tram stop, served by lines 3, 8 and 14 among others. It's only a short walk from Republic Square and the historic Old Town, so it pairs easily with a stroll through the city center.

What else is worth seeing nearby?

The Bílá Labuť building itself is a striking example of pre-war functionalist architecture and a point of interest for anyone curious about 20th-century design. Nearby you'll also find Republic Square with the Municipal House, Masaryk railway station, and the cafés and shops lining Na Poříčí street, which still carries some of the commercial energy the area had a century ago.

Frequently asked questions

Does the original Cabaret Theatre Labuť building still exist? No, the original house was demolished in the summer of 1936. The Bílá Labuť department store, completed in 1939, now stands on the site.

Where does the name Labuť come from? From the old coaching inn "U bílé labutě" (At the White Swan), which stood on the site from the early 1700s, long before the building housed a cabaret stage.

Is there anything left to see connected to the theatre's history? There are no physical remnants of the cabaret itself, but the Bílá Labuť building and the Černá Labuť office extension added in 1997 are both worth a look as examples of 20th-century architecture in this part of Prague.

What's the easiest way to reach the site? Take the metro to Florenc station (lines B and C) or a tram to the Bílá labuť stop — the location sits right in the heart of Prague 1.