EN
Apothecaries in the Old Town of Prague played an important role in the Middle Ages which resulted from the usefulness of thein profession. The most significant and richest apothecaries in the Old Town of Prague hned houses in central locations. Many of them had vineyards, hop-fields or mills and some of them had a significant income from renting or holding farms in the country. Beside a signifiant wealth and ownership of real property they frequently became members of the town council. Like other significant town patricians, apothecaries took advantage of the possibility to ostentatiously demonstrate their importance by visibly carrying a weapon, using their own seals, impressively decorating the inside and outside of their houses and giving large donations to religious institutions. Based on these facts we need to rank some apothecary families among the elite class of town citizens, i.e. members of the patriciate.