Prague authorities shut Amsterdam-style brothel

Authorities in Prague 1 have closed a brothel off of the capital’s most famous square that raised the ire of local residents by literally showcasing half-naked prostitutes in windows lit by red neon lights, such as are associated with the regulated sex industry in Amsterdam.

The owner of the building on Ve Smečkách street housing the brothel, which opened less than two weeks ago, had failed to get the necessary permission to be open to the public, as its permit did not expressly outline its use.

“During an onsite inspection [on May 15], it was ascertained that reconstruction work was done on the site without the knowledge or permission of the Planning Office, and the building is not being used for the purpose for which it is technically equipped and previously authorized for,” Prague 1 spokesperson Veronika Blažková said, as cited by the news server iDNES.cz.

While new to Prague, the Amsterdam-style sex sell is not a total novelty for the Czech Republic as a whole. Window sex shopping developed, for example, in the northern border town of Dubí in the years following the fall of communism in 1989, with German sex tourists among the main targets for the flourishing business along the main road to and from the border.