Built in 1892, it predates the famous carousel at the base of Monmartre in Paris by some 20 years. Faded and weather-beaten, it remained operational until two years ago when the National Technical Museum, with the intent to restore its glory, bought it from the family that owned and operated the mechanical wonder for decades.

A lack of funds coupled with the difficulty of finding suitable materials is delaying the project, however. And it could take years before Prague's iconic attraction is ready to start running again.

"Once we have the money and materials, the carousel could be ready to go in two years," says Radek Bilí­k, project coordinator at the National Technical Museum in Prague. "But the way things stand now, who knows?"

Bilí­k estimates the total cost of the restoration to be nearly 9 million Kč ($423,500). Last year, the museum applied without success for European Union funds to help cover the cost. Early next year, the museum plans to reapply.

Only one of the 21 life-size horses that make up the carousel has been restored so far.

Karel Dušek, an upholsterer who was commissioned to restore the horses, says the reconstruction is a daunting task.

Traditionally built

Like the rest of the carousel, the inner construction of each horse is wooden, but each sculpture is then wrapped in horse hair and dressed in a hide that had to be skinned from a dead horse all in one piece.

While the wood is in relatively good condition, the hide on all of the horses is moth-eaten and mottled and must be replaced completely.

"Finding the right hide takes forever," Dušek says.

According to Bilí­k, the 21 original horse hides all came from one herd that was slaughtered explicitly for the purpose of constructing the carousel.

"That's just not done anymore," says Dušek. "Now we have to wait until a suitable horse is slaughtered somewhere and then check if it might be a good fit."

All of the saddles also need to be replaced, so that the carousel would satisfy modern safety regulations.

The museum also needs to make sure that the horse sculptures are structurally sound. "The carousel was made so that it can be used by adults as well as kids," says Bilí­k, "And we want to keep it that way. Each horse should be able to support the weight of an adult."

Originally located in Vinohrady, the carousel was moved to Letná in 1894, to the same spot where it stands today and where it became a popular attraction for families on weekend outings.

Bilí­k says only three similar functional carousels exist in Europe today. The attraction remained virtually unchanged throughout the years, save for four wooden cars that were added sometime in the 1930s.

In the first years of its existence, the carousel's swivel was powered by hand, pushed around by a servant. By the late 1890s, the original owner, Josef Nebeský, thoughtfully replaced the servant with an electrical motor.

It's lucky that the workings remained functional all these years, says Bilí­k. "It meant it never fell into complete disrepair. It didn't just languish somewhere rotting."

Hopefully, that won't be its fate now, as the project awaits funding.