Praha hlavní nádraží (English: Prague main railway station, abbreviated Praha hl.n) is the largest and most important railway station in Prague in the Czech Republic. It was originally opened in 1871 and named Franz Joseph I after Franz Joseph I of Austria. During the First Republic and from 1945 to 1953 the station was called Wilson station (Czech: Wilsonovo nádraží) after former President of the United States Woodrow Wilson. His statue was placed in the park in front of the station before later being destroyed by German occupiers after the U.S. entered the war. The monument was destroyed by night on 11 December 1941 and the statue melted. The Art Nouveau station building and station hall was built between 1901 and 1909, designed by the Czech architect Josef Fanta, on the site of old dismantled Neo-Renaissance station. The station was extended by a new terminal building, built between 1972 and 1979, including an underground station and a main road on the roof of the terminal. The new terminal building destroyed a large part of the park, and the construction of the road cut off the neo-renaissance station hall from the town. The station is being refurbished by the Italian company Grandi Stazioni.