Sudek watched the course of events on Old Town Square and the changes to the Old Town Hall unfold during the days immediately after the end of the war, and in the following years as well. Therefore his images include the whole northern part of the town hall after the fire, the course of its demolition and in the end the ruin of the eastern wing behind the scaffolding which remained in the same place for several years after the war. The scaffolding is captured in a total of nine negatives, in rainy weather and fog veiling its construction.

Soon after the end of the May Uprising, the damage and the number of victims who lost their lives in the struggle for liberation from the German occupation was documented throughout the city. A temporary memorial – a cross composed of beams from the burnt town hall – was erected in their honour in the symbolic centre of the city, below the bay chapel of the Old Town Hall.

The portal bearing the inscription Praesidium, which led to the former presidium and then to the mayor's room and his council chamberThe office operated under the title Presidium from 1784–1950.; see http://www.ahmp.cz/index.html?mid=20&wstyle=0&page=page/docs/prehled-fondu_magistrat1.html (accessed 13 July 2017)., has always been located on the third floor of the town hall.

Josef Sudek captured the highest level of the staircase in the burnt town hall, between the third and fourth floors of Volflin's former house. The staircase was built in 1853 after plans by the builder Jan Bělský as a replacement for the older, late Gothic staircase. During the post-war reconstruction, the staircase was restored to its original form from before the fire.KB (ZV) [Klára Benešovská (Zuzana Všetečková)], čp. 1/I, in: Pavel Vlček a kol., Umělecké památky Prahy. Staré Město, Josefov, Academia, Praha, 1996, s.

There is no doubt that the large town hall window with its view into the courtyard attracted Josef Sudek due to its expressive drapery. Of the remaining photographs there are thirteen negatives of this object or details with views in the courtyard. The series shows the drama surrounding the destruction of the town hall. The drapery, hanging lifelessly out the window, was most likely textile material hung to prevent flying glass in case of an explosion.

Since 1410 the southern facade of the Old Town Hall has been adorned with a spectacular astronomical clock, which was originally created by the king's clockmaker Mikuláš of Kadaň and the astronomer Jan Šindel. Around 1490 it was adapted by the master clockmaker and locksmith Hanuš of Růže. At the same time the sculptural elements were created by a mason from the court circle of Hans Spiess. The present appearance of the clock comes from the 1860s, when Josef Mánes painted the medallions of the months and the signs of the zodiac.

The devastation of the Old Town Hall became a symbol of the May Uprising in 1945 in Prague. The town hall was established by a decree of King John the Blind in 1338 as the administrative and judicial seat of Prague Old TownVáclav Vojtíšek, Pohroma Staroměstské radnice. In: Bohumil Hypšman, Sto let Staroměstského rynku a radnice, Pražské nakladatelství Václava Poláčka, Praha, 1946, díl I, p. 19., in the pre-existing Gothic house of Volflin od Kamene (Volflin from the Stone). The town hall gradually spread to neighbouring houses.