U Červeného páva
(Kamzíková Street)

“The most peculiar of all the famous guests at Goldschmied's establishment was certainly Gustav Mahler. Often, at four o'clock in the morning, he would burst in wearing a rumpled suit, seat himself at the piano in the Japanese Room, and improvise at the piano and compose until late morning, not allowing anyone to enter, not even the servants. Apparently, he chose the location so as not to disturb his family and neighbours. In the morning, ‘Herr Kapellmeister’ (as they addressed him, although they called him ‘meshuga’ [Yiddish for ‘crazy’] behind his back) paid for what he had drunk: one or two bottles of sparkling wine, or sometimes more, depending upon how many guests had been denied entry to the private room because it was occupied.”

Egon Erwin Kisch, 1926, about the brothel U Červeného páva (At the Red Peacock) on Kamzíková Street.

We have no information about whether Mahler ever encountered Otto von Bismarck there. Bismarck was said to have been another visitor to the luxurious brothel “Gogo”. One can’t help but imagine Germany’s future Chancellor standing on the other side of the wall, listening to a muted piano rendition of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony.