Peter Lowe's information about locating house numbers (Sept 8, 2008) in the
Czech Republic is quite helpful and practical. For an historical account of
the origin of Jewish and non-Jewish house numbering in Bohemia (in German),
enter the following in your favorite search engine. The material is
'somewhere' in the middle of this doctoral dissertation (e.g., p. 149). You
can search according to word entries, but see the Index as well.:

http://othes.univie.ac.at/28/1/tantner_diss.pdf


Anton Tantner has lectured on this topic in Prague and I think a summary of
this lecture in English may be on-line. These house numbers, as a number of
sig members can attest, are still in effect and you can ofen find your
ancestor's house >from as far back as when the numbering system was
inaugurated in the middle of the 18th c.

Paul King
Jerusalem