“It looks like a triumphal arch, but it isn’t – what is that?” could be the naïve and spontaneous question. The right answer would have been: “The factory gate at the Urquell brewery in Pilsen.” And this takes us straight into the history of a very special “architecture parlante”. Triumphal arches were popular as motifs for factory gates around 1890. It is important to know what triumphal arches meant for late 19th century society. They evoke the “sublime” aspect of Roman antiquity, and were monuments to victory and marked a triumph, which was entirely appropriate to the unchecked rise of the capitalist industrial society. There is also an element of humiliation: subjugated peoples had to pass through the low side arches. The factory gate as a triumphal arch is also quoting the late imperial arch as an urban mega-sign of boundless power. The workers pass through the side gates, so that they can be kept under control. The factory owner rises to become the emperor of the new epoch.