The palace of the Moravian industrialist Franz Klein was reconstructed on the Grosser Platz (currently náměstí Svobody) in 1848 by the Viennese architects Theophil Hansen and Ludwig Förster (1847–48). This consisted of a new type of burgher house in terms of layout with a range of technical innovations and with cast-iron architectural features on the main façade. The cast-iron not only served as a construction and artistic novelty, but also as an advertisement for the area of business of the owner. The Franz von Klein Palace became a genuine demonstration of Modernity.
