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. They were soon replaced with copies and thus Mánes' original survived the war unharmed in the Prague City Museum.Klára Benešovská a kol., Deset století architektury. Architektura gotická, Správa Pražského hradu, Praha, 2001, p. 106; KB (ZV) [Klára Benešovská (Zuzana Všetečková)], čp. 1/I, in: Pavel Vlček a kol., Umělecké památky Prahy. Staré Město, Josefov, Academia, Praha, 1996, pp. 141–142; Hana Černá, Přehled výzkumů k obnově hodinového stroje Staroměstského orloje v Praze v letech 1864 – 1865. In: Staletá Praha XXVIII, 2012, č. 1, p. 67.

The photograph shows how the clock was damaged by the German attack on 8 May 1945. Part of the clock was preserved due to the presence of a protective wall over the lower section.Žaneta Vobořilová Kadlecová, Protiletecká opatření architektonických památek na území Prahy v letech 1939–1945, in: Magdaléna Nová – Marie Opatrná (eds.): Staré a Nové. Staré jako východisko, či překážka? Sborník příspěvků mezinárodní konference studentů doktorských studijních program, Katolická teologická fakulta, Praha, 2016, pp. 331–334. Václav Vojtíšek, historian and archivist, described this condition in one of his works: “The Moon, Liška's copy of Mánes's painting […] was walled in to protect it from the bombing and therefore it remained undamaged […] the clock was badly ruined, mainly the track of celestial bodies and the clockworks.” Václav Vojtíšek, Pohroma Staroměstské radnice, in: Bohumil Hypšman, Sto let Staroměstského rynku a radnice, Pražské nakladatelství Václava Poláčka, Praha, 1946, díl I, p. 30. The wooden sculptures of apostles were destroyed by fire and had to be carved anew by Vojtěch Sucharda in 1945. The brass parts melted and iron ones twisted in the heat.Václav Heisler, Přehled rekonstrukcí a oprav pražského orloje v 19. a 20. století, in: Staletá Praha XXIII, 1997, p. 246. Antonín Matějček, the art historian, complained: “This unique work from the late 15th century, captivating in its decorative Late Gothic playfulness, suffered extreme damage in the upper half from the shelling and falling burning beams.” Antonín Matějček, Umělecké ztráty Prahy ve dnech 5. až 8. května 1945, in: Pražská květnová revoluce 1945, Hlavní město Praha, Praha, 1946, p. 77.

The photograph provides a wider view of the surrounding area of the clock, partially showing the burned remains of what had once been the house of Volflin z Kamene (to the left of the clock) but it also captures the hustle and bustle of people on the square. A pile of debris in the front shows the cleaning work in progress.