Headquarters of the Primeros company

But by far the most interesting interwar tenant in the house was the Primeros company, which had its main office in the house.

The company was founded in 1909 by a young Gustav Schwarzwald, who had moved to Prague with his parents from what is now Poland in 1888. He opened his first shop, which we would probably call a drugstore today, in Karlín. He was interested in modern technology and the production of the goods he sold, and soon patented a method of vulcanising rubber and began selling condoms in addition to the usual rubber goods.

Primeros openly promoted protected sex as a path to health, a major undertaking given the high incidence of venereal disease, especially during the First World War. It broke down taboos and shame, offering discreet condom shipments in unmarked packages, but also playful condoms in bizarre shapes with cheerful names.

Thanks to its commercial success, the company had branches all over Europe, which is perhaps why the Primeros name became synonymous with the condom itself in Central European countries. Its commercial headquarters were located in this house for most of the 1930s, perhaps because Gustav Schwarzwald never forgot the poor circumstances from which he himself came. And although he married a Czech woman who was not Jewish, he did not forget his family roots.