Prague

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
For other uses, see Prague (disambiguation).
This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2006)
Coordinates: 50°05′N 14°25′E / 50.083, 14.417
Prague (Praha)
City
Flag
Coat-of-arms
Motto: Praga Caput Rei publicae
Nickname: City of a Hundred Spires
Country Image:Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic
Region Capital City of Prague
River Vltava
Elevation 399 m (1,309 ft)
Coordinates 50°05′N 14°25′E / 50.083, 14.417
Area 496 km² (191.51 sq mi)
 - metro 6,977 km² (2,694 sq mi)
Population 1,204,897 (2007-09-30)
 - metro 1,941,803
Density 2,429 /km² (6,291 /sq mi)
Founded 9th century
Mayor Pavel Bém
Timezone CET (UTC+1)
 - summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 1xx xx
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Name Historic Center of Prague
Year 1992 (#16)
Number 616
Region Europe and North America
Criteria ii, iv, vi
Website: www.cityofprague.cz

Prague (IPA: /ˈprɑːg/, Czech: Praha (IPA: [ˈpraɦa]), see also other names), is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Its official name is hlavní město Praha, meaning the Capital City of Prague.

Situated on the River Vltava in central Bohemia, Prague has been the political, cultural, and economic center of the Czech state for over 1100 years. The city proper is home to more than 1.2 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 1.9 million[1].

Prague is widely considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in Europe[2] and is among the most visited cities on the continent[3]. Since 1992, the historic centre of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. Nicknames for Prague have included "the mother of cities" (Praga mater urbium, or "Praha matka měst" in Czech)", "city of a hundred spires" and "the golden city"[4].

Contents

[edit] History

Main article: History of Prague

The history of Prague spans over thousands of years, during which time the city grew from the Vyšehrad Castle to the multicultural capital of a modern European state, the Czech Republic.

[edit] Ancient Prague

The area on which Prague was founded was settled in ancient times since the Paleolithic Age. Around 200 BCE the Celts had a settlement in the south, called Závist, but later they were replaced by Germanic tribes. The Slavs conquered the site from the 4th century CE onwards, though for a period were subdued by the Eurasian Avars.

According to a legend, Prague was founded by the Princess Libuše and her husband, Přemysl, founder of the dynasty with the same name. Whether this legend is true or not, Prague's first nucleus was founded in the latter part of the 9th century as a castle on a hill commanding the right bank of the Vltava: this is known as Vyšehrad ("high castle") to differentiate from another castle which was later erected on the opposite bank, the future Prague Castle. Soon the city became the seat of the kings of Bohemia. It was an important seat for trading where merchants coming from all Europe settled, including many Jews, as recalled in 965 by the Jewish merchant and traveler Ibrahim ibn Ya'qub. The city became a bishopric in 973.

King Vladislav II had a first bridge on the Vltava built in 1170, the Judith Bridge, which crumbled down in 1342. The Charles Bridge was later built on its foundations.

In 1257, under King Otakar II, Malá Strana ("Small Side") was founded in Prague in the future Hradčany area: it was the district of the German people. These had the right to administrate the law autonomously, pursuant to Magdeburg Rights. The new district was on the opposite bank of the Staré Mesto ("Old Town"), which had a borough status and was defended by a line of walls and fortifications.

[edit] The era of Charles IV

The city flourished during the 14th century reign of Charles IV of the new Luxembourg dynasty. He ordered the building of the New Town (Nové Město) adjacent to the Old Town. The Charles Bridge was erected to connect the new district to Malá Strana. Monuments by Charles include the Saint Vitus Cathedral, the oldest gothic cathedral in central Europe, which is actually inside the Castle, and the Charles University. The latter is the oldest university in central Europe. Prague was then the third-largest city in Europe. Under Charles Prague was, from 1355, the actual capital of the Holy Roman Empire, and its rank was elevated to that of archbishopric (1344). It had a mint, and German and Italian merchants, as well as bankers, were present in the city. The social order, however, became more turbulent due to the rising power of the craftsmen's guild (themselves often torn by internal fights), and the presence of increasing number of poor people.

Under King Wenceslas IV (1378-1419) Jan Hus, a theologian and lector at the University, held his preachers and sermons in Prague. Since 1402 he summoned his followers in the Bethlehem Chapel, speaking in Czech language in order to enlarge as much as possible the diffusion of his ideas about the renovation of the church. Having become too dangerous for the political and religious establishment, Hus was burned in Konstanz in 1415. Four years later Prague experienced its first defenestration, when the people rebelled under the command of the Prague priest Jan Želivský and threw the city's counselors from the New Town Hall. Hus' death had spurred the so-called Hussite Wars. In 1420 peasant rebels, led by the famous general Jan Žižka, along with Hussite troops from Prague, defeated the Bohemian King Sigismund, in the Battle of Vítkov Hill.

In the following two centuries Prague strengthened its role as a merchant city. Many noteworthy Gothic buildings were erected, including the Vladislav Hall of the Prague Castle.

[edit] The Hapsburg era

In 1526 the Kingdom of Bohemia was handed over to the Hapsburg house: the fervent Catholicism of its members was to have grievous consequences in Bohemia, and then in Prague, where Protestant ideas were having instead increasing success. These problems were not preeminent under Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, elected King of Bohemia in 1576, who chose Prague as his home. He lived in the Prague Castle where he held his bizarre courts of astrologers, magicians, and other strange figures. Rudolf was an art lover too and Prague became the capital of European culture. This was a prosperous period for the city: famous people living there in that age include the astronomers Tycho Brahe and Johann Kepler, the painter Arcimboldo and others.

In 1618 the famous Defenestration of Prague provoked the Thirty Years' War. Ferdinand II of Hapsburg was deposed, and his place as King of Bohemia taken by Frederick V of Pfalz. But the Czech army was crushed in the Battle of White Mountain (1620), not far from the city, and thenceforth Prague and Bohemia lived a harsh period in which religious tolerance was abolished and Catholic Counter-Reformation became dominant in every aspect of life. In 1621 there was an execution of 27 Czech lords (involved in the Battle of White Mountain) in the Old Town Square. The city suffered also under Saxon (1631) and Swedish (1648) occupation. Moreover, after the Peace of Westphalia of the latter year, Ferdinand moved the court to Vienna, and Prague began a steady decline which reduced the population from the 60,000 it had had in the years before the war to 20,000.

In 1689 a great burning devastated Prague, but this spurred a renovation and a rebuilding of the city. The economic rise continued through the following century, and the city in 1771 had 80,000 inhabitants. Many of these were rich merchants who, together with noblemen of German, Spanish and even Italian origin, enriched the city with a host of palaces, churches and gardens, creating a Baroque style renowned throughout the world. In 1784, under Joseph II, the four municipalities of Malá Strana, Nové Město, Staré Město and Hradcany were merged into a single entity. The Jewish district, called Josefov, was included only in 1850. The Industrial Revolution had a strong effect in Prague, as factories could take advantage of the coal mines and ironworks of the nearby region. A first suburb, Karlín, was created in 1817, and twenty years later population exceeded 100,000. The first railway connection was built in 1842.

The revolutions that shocked all Europe around 1848 touched Prague too, but they were fiercely suppressed. In the following years the Czech nationalist movement (opposed to another nationalist party, the German one) began its rise, until it gained the majority in the Town Council in 1861.

[edit] 20th century

At the beginning of the 20th century Czech lands were the most productive part of the Austo-Hungarian empire and some Czech politics began with attempts to separate it from Habsburg empire.

[edit] 1st Republic

article about First Republic of Czechoslovakia

World War I ended with the defeat of the Austrian Empire and the creation of Czechoslovakia. Prague was chosen as its capital and Prague Castle as the seat of president (Tomáš Masaryk). At this time Prague was a true European capital with a very developed industry. In 1930 the population had risen to a startling 850,000.

[edit] Second World War

article about the Occupation of Czechoslovakia

Hitler ordered Germany's army to enter Prague on 10 March 1939 and from Prague Castle proclaimed Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate. For most of its history Prague had been a multiethnic city with important Czech, German, and (mostly Yiddish- and/ or German-speaking) Jewish populations. From 1939, when the country was occupied by Nazi Germany, and during World War II, most Jews either fled the city or were killed in the Holocaust. The German population, which had formed the majority of the city's inhabitants until the 19th century, was expelled in the aftermath of the war. In 1942 Prague was witness to the assassination of one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany - Reinhard Heydrich (during Operation Anthropoid). Hitler ordered bloody reprisals. At the end of the war Prague suffered a bombing raid by the U.S. Air Force by mistake (the target was Dresden, 83 miles away). Hundreds of people were killed and some important buildings and factories were destroyed. Prague had revolted against the Nazi occupants as early as 5 May 1945 (see Prague uprising). Four days later the Soviet army entered the city. After this fierce acts of revenge against the German minority of the city were perpetrated and many German civilians were killed by Czech militias until the government slowly put an end to these acts of revenge. The surviving Germans were deported from Prague to West Germany [1].

[edit] Prague in the Cold War

Main article: Czechoslovakia: 1948-1968

Prague was thenceforth a city in the territory of military and political control of Soviet Union (see Iron Curtain).

The always lively intellectual world of Prague, however, suffered under the totalitarian regime, in spite of the rather careful program of rebuilding and caring of the damaged monuments after World War II. The 4th Czechoslovakian Writers' Congress held in the city in 1967 took a strong position against the regime. This spurred the new secretary of the Communist Party, Alexander Dubček to proclaim a new deal in his city's and country's life, starting the short-lived season of the "socialism with a human face". It was the Prague Spring, which aimed at the renovation of institutions in a democratic way. The Soviet Union and its allies reacted with the invasion of Czechoslovakia and the capital in August 1968 by 7,000 tanks, suppressing any attempt at renovation.

[edit] Era after the Velvet Revolution

In 1989, after riot police beat back a peaceful student demonstration, the Velvet Revolution crowded the streets of Prague and the Czech capital benefited greatly of the new mood. In 1993, after the split of Czechoslovakia, Prague became the capital city of the new Czech Republic. In the late 90's Prague became again an important cultural center of Europe and was notably influenced by globalization). In 2000 anti-globalization protests in Prague (some 15,000 protesters) turned violent during the IMF and World Bank summits. In 2002 Prague suffered from widespread flooding.

[edit] Prehistory

The land where Prague came to be built has been settled since the Paleolithic Age. Several thousands of years ago, there were trade routes connecting southern parts of Europe to northern Europe which passed through this area, following the course of the river. From around 500 BC the Celtic tribe known as the Boii, were the first inhabitants of this region known by name. The Boii named the region Bohemia and the river Vltava. The Germanic tribe Marcomanni migrated to Bohemia with its king Maroboduus in 9 AD. Meanwhile, some of the Celts migrated southward while the remainder assimilated with the Marcomanni. In 568, most of the Marcomanni migrated southward with the Lombards, another Germanic tribe. The rest of Marcomanni assimilated with the invading West Slavs. (The Migration of Nations started in the 2nd century; it ended at the end of the 9th and at the beginning of the 10th centuries). The Byzantine historian Prokopios mentions the presence of the Slavs in the lands in 512 AD. The Czech Slavic tribe came to Bohemia at the beginning of 7th century and Forefather Czech became the founder of the Czech nation.

According to legends, Princess Libuše, the sovereign of the Czech tribe, married a humble ploughman by the name of Přemysl and founded the dynasty carrying the same name. The legendary Princess saw many prophecies from her castle Libusin, which was located in central Bohemia.[citation needed] (Archaeological finds dating back to the seventh century support the theory of the castle's location).[citation needed] In one prophecy, it is told, she foresaw the glory of Prague. One day she had a vision: "I see a vast city, whose glory will touch the stars! I see a place in the middle of a forest where a steep cliff rises above the Vltava River. There is a man, who is chiselling the threshold (prah) for the house. A castle named Prague (Praha) will be built there. Just as the princes and the dukes stoop in front of a threshold, they will bow to the castle and to the city around it. It will be honoured, favoured with great repute, and praise will be bestowed upon it by the entire world."[citation needed]

Panorama of Prague

[edit] Medieval

Image:PragueCastleAtNight.jpg
Prague Castle at night.
Image:Karlův most.jpg
Charles Bridge.
Image:Praha Bridges.JPG
Bridges of Prague.
Image:St Vitus Cathedral from south.jpg
St. Vitus Cathedral.
Image:Praguetownsquare.jpg
Old Town Square in Prague, Town Hall Tower & Astronomical Clock
Image:Prag rathausturm uhr.jpg
The Astronomical Clock
Image:Astronomical clock prague.jpg
Astronomical Clock
Image:Coldvlatava.jpg
Vltava river
Image:Prague mill.jpg
Old Mill.
Image:ZPraha-07.JPG
Týn Church - a view from east of Prague.
Image:DSC00667.jpg
Old Town Square.
Image:Mikulas.jpg
The Church of St. Nicolas.
Image:Pragueoldtownsquare.jpg
The Old Town Square
Image:Prague - Jerusalemer Synagoge.jpg
The Jerusalem Synagogue, built in 1905 to 1906 by Wilhelm Stiassny, of Bratislava, is the largest Jewish place of worship in Prague
Image:Jusefov2045.JPG
Jewish Cemetery and surrounding buildings
Image:Prague crowd Malá Strana.jpg
Packed with tourists on a busy summer day in Malá Strana (The Lesser Quarter), Prague
Image:Wenceslas Square.jpg
Wenceslas Square and National Museum at night.
Image:Tram91.jpg
The "nostalgic tram" no. 91 runs through the city center
Image:Prag ginger u fred gehry.jpg
Milunić and Gehry's Dancing House
Image:Žižkov tv tower.jpg
Prague TV tower with crawling "babies"

From around 900 until 1306, Czech Přemyslid dynasty rulers had most of Bohemia under their control. The first Bohemian ruler acknowledged by historians was the Czech Prince Bořivoj Přemyslovec, who ruled in the second half of the 9th century. He and his wife Ludmila (who became a patron saint of Bohemia after her death) were baptised by Metodej, who (together with his brother Cyril) brought Christianity to Moravia in 863. Borivoj moved his seat from the fortified settlement Levý Hradec to a place called Prague (Praha). It was also called Prague castle grounds and later Prague Castle. Since Borivoj's reign it has been the seat of the Czech rulers. (Prague Castle became one of the largest inhabited fortress in Europe. Today, it is the seat of the Czech president.)

Bořivoj's grandson, Prince Wenceslas, initiated friendly relations with the Saxon dynasty. Wenceslas wanted Bohemia to become an equal partner in the larger empire. (In a similar way, Bohemia had belonged to Great Moravia in the 9th century and to Samo's empire in the 7th century; both of these empires had been founded to resist the attacks of the Avars). Orientation towards the Saxons was not favoured by his brother Boleslav, and it was the main reason why Prince Wenceslas was assassinated on September 28, 929. He was buried in St. Vitus' Rotunda, the church which he founded. (It stood on the ground where St. Wenceslas' Chapel in St. Vitus Cathedral now is). A few years later Wenceslas was canonised and he became Bohemia's most beloved patron saint. He is "Good King Wenceslas" from the Christmas carol. In 962, Boleslav changed his mind and Bohemia became part of the newly instituted Roman Empire when Otto I the Great from the Saxon dynasty became the emperor. (It was the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire, the exact term being adapted in the 12th century).

By the early 10th century, the area around and below Prague Castle had developed into an important trading centre, where merchants from all over Europe gathered. In 965, a Jewish merchant and traveller, called Ibrahim ibn Ya'qub wrote: "Prague is built from stone and lime, and it has the biggest trade centre. Slavs are on the whole courageous and brave... They occupy the lands which are the most fertile and abundant with a good food supply."

In 973, a bishopric was founded in Bohemia with the bishop's palace located on the Prague castle grounds. The first Czech bishop was Adalbert who became a Czech, Polish and Hungarian patron saint after he was canonised in 999.

Next to the Romanesque fortified settlement of Prague, another Romanesque fortified settlement was built across the river Vltava at Vyšehrad in the 11th century. During the reign of Prince Vratislav II, who rose to the title of King of Bohemia Vratislav I in 1085, Vyšehrad became the temporary seat of Czech rulers.

Prince Vladislav II rose to the title of King of Bohemia Vladislav I in 1158. Many monasteries and many churches were built under the rule of Vladislav I. The Strahov Monastery, built after the Romanesque style, was founded in 1142. The first bridge over the river Vltava — the Judith Bridge — was built in 1170. (It collapsed in 1342 and a new bridge, later called the Charles Bridge was built in its place in 1357).

In 1212, Bohemia became a kingdom when Prince Přemysl Otakar I rose to the title of King by inheritance from Frederick II (Emperor from 1215), which was legalised in the document called the "Golden Bull of Sicily". The king's daughter, Agnes, became another Bohemian saint. Agnes preferred to enter a convent rather than marry Emperor Frederick II. During the reign of King Premysl Otakar I, peaceful colonisation started. The German colonists were invited both to Bohemia and Moravia. For hundreds of years this duality of population did not cause any problem - before nationalism had become a world force.

In the 13th century, towns started to increase in size. Three settlements around the Prague Castle gained the privilege of a town. The settlement below Prague Castle became the New Town of Prague in 1257 under King Otakar II, and it was later renamed Little Quarter of Prague Kleinseite. The town of Hradčany which was built around its square, just outside Prague Castle, dates from 1320. Across the river Vltava, the Old Town of Prague Staré Město had already gained the privilege of a town in 1230.

In the 13th century, King Premysl Otakar II was the most powerful king in the Holy Roman Empire during his reign, known as the King of Iron and Gold. He ruled in seven other countries, and his reign stretched from Silesia to the Adriatic coast.

The Přemyslid dynasty ruled until 1306 when the male line died out. The inheriting dynasty was the Luxembourg dynasty when Eliška, sister of the last Přemyslid ruler, married John of Luxembourg.

[edit] Renaissance

The city flourished during the 14th century during the reign of Charles IV, of the Luxembourg dynasty. Charles was the oldest son of Czech Princess Eliska Premyslovna and John of Luxembourg. He was born in Prague in 1316 and became King of Bohemia upon the death of his father in 1346. Due to Charles's efforts, the bishopric of Prague was raised to an archbishopric in 1344. On April 7, 1348 he founded the first university in central, northern and eastern Europe, called today the Charles University, the oldest Czech university. In the same year he also founded New Town (Nové Město) adjacent to the Old Town. Charles rebuilt Prague Castle and Vysehrad, and a new bridge was erected, now called the Charles Bridge. The construction of St. Vitus' Cathedral had also begun. Many new churches were founded. In 1355, Charles was crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in Rome. Prague became the capital of the Holy Roman Empire. Charles wanted Prague to become one of the most beautiful cities in the world. He wanted Prague to be the dominant city of the whole empire, with Prague Castle as the dominant site in the city and the stately Gothic Cathedral to be more dominant than Prague Castle. Everything was built in a grandiose Gothic style and decorated with an independent art style, called the Bohemian school. During the reign of Emperor Charles IV, the Czech Lands were among the most powerful in Europe.

All that changed during the reign of weak King Wenceslas IV, son of Charles IV. During the reign of King Wenceslas IV — Václav IV — (1378–1419), Master Jan Hus, a preacher and the university's rector, held his sermons in Prague in the Bethlehem Chapel, speaking in Czech to enlarge as much as possible the diffusion of his ideas about the reformation of the church. His execution in 1415 in Constance (of accused heresy) led four years later to the Hussite wars (following the defenestration, when the people rebelled under the command of the Prague priest Jan Želivský and threw the city's councillors from the New Town Hall). King Wenceslas IV died 16 days later. His younger stepbrother Sigismund was the legitimate heir to the throne. But the Hussites opposed Sigismund and so he came to Prague with an army of 30,000 crusaders. He planned to make Prague capitulate and to take the crown. (It was Sigismund, who invited Jan Hus to Constance to defend himself from heresy and he promised him immunity, but he didn't keep his word). In 1420, peasant rebels, led by the famous general Jan Žižka, along with Hussite troops, defeated Sigismund (Zikmund, son of Charles IV) in the Battle of Vítkov Mountain. There were more crusades, all of which ended in failure. But after Zizka died, the Hussite lost their focus. Eventually they split into groups. The most radical Hussites were finally defeated at the battle of Lipany in 1434 when the moderate Hussites got together with the Czech Catholics. Sigismund became King of Bohemia.

In 1437, Sigismund died. The male line of the Luxembourg dynasty died out. The husband of Sigismund's daughter Elizabeth, Albert II, Duke of Austria , became the Bohemian king for two years (until his death). Then, the next in line for Bohemian crown was the grandson of Sigismund, born after his father's death, and thus called Ladislaw Posthumous. When he died 17 years old, the nobleman George of Podebrady, former adviser of Ladislaus, was chosen as the Bohemian king both by the Catholics and by the Utraquist Hussites. He was called the Hussite king. During his reign, the Pope called for a crusade against the Czech heretics. The crusade was led by the King of Hungary Matthius Corvinus who, after the crusade, became also the King of Bohemia. George did not abdicate. Bohemia had two kings. George, before his death, made an arrangement with the Polish King Casimir IV that the next Bohemian king would come from the Jagellon dynasty. (The wife of King Casimir IV was the sister of late Ladislaus Posthumous and so her son Vladislav was related to the Luxembourg dynasty and also to the original Bohemian Premyslovec dynasty). The Jagellon dynasty ruled only until 1526 when it died out with Ludwig Jagellon, son of Vladislav Jagellon.

The next Bohemian king was Ferdinand Habsburg, husband of Ann Jagellon, who was the sister of Ludwig Jagellon. It was the beginning of the Habsburg dynasty. After Ferdinand's brother Charles V resigned in 1556 as Emperor, Ferdinand was elected Emperor in 1558. After he died, his son Maximilian II inherited all his titles and then upon his death, his son Rudolf II inherited them in turn. It was during the reign of Emperor Rudolf II, when there was another glorious time for Prague. Prague became the cultural centre of the Holy Roman Empire again. Rudolf was related to the Jagellon dynasty, to the Luxemburg dynasty and to the Premyslovec dynasty. But he was also related to Spanish Joan the Mad (the daughter of Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon); Joan was the mother of Rudolf's grandfather. Although Rudolf II was very talented, he was eccentric and he suffered from depression. Emperor Rudolf II lived in Prague Castle, where he held his bizarre courts of astrologers, magicians and other strange figures. But it was a prosperous period for the city; famous people living there included the astronomers Tycho Brahe and Johann Kepler, the painters Giuseppe Arcimboldo, B. Spranger, Hans von Aachen, J. Heintz and others. In 1609, under the influence of the Protestant Estates, Rudolf II (a devout Catholic), issued an "Imperial Charter of the Emperor" in which he legalised extensive religious freedoms unparalleled in the Europe of that period. Many German Protestants (both Lutherans and Calvinists) immigrated to Bohemia. (One of them was Count J.M. Thurn, a German Lutheran; under his leadership the Third Defenestration of Prague happened in 1618, leading to the Thirty Years War).

Next in line for Bohemian crown was Rudolf's brother Matthias, but since Matthias was childless, his cousin, the archduke Ferdinand of Styria (related also to Jagellon, Luxemburg and Premyslovec Dynasties), was initially accepted by the Bohemian Diet as heir presumptive when Matthias became ill. The Protestant Estates of Bohemia didn't like this decision. Tension between the Protestants and the pro-Habsburg Catholics led to the Third Defenestration of Prague, when the Catholic governors were thrown from the windows of Prague Castle on May 23, 1618. They survived, but the Protestants replaced the Catholic governors. This incident led to the Thirty Years War. When Matthias died, Ferdinand of Styria was elected Emperor as Emperor Ferdinand II, but was not accepted as King of Bohemia by the Protestant directors. The Calvinist Frederick V of Pfalz was elected King of Bohemia. The Battle on the White Mountain followed on November 8, 1620. Emperor Ferdinand II was helped not only by Catholic Spain, Catholic Poland, and Catholic Bavaria, but also by Lutheran Saxony (which disliked the Calvinists). The Protestant army, led by the warrior Count J.M. Thurn, was formed mostly from Lutheran Silesia, Lusatia, and Moravia. It was mainly a battle between Protestants and Catholics. The Catholics won and Emperor Ferdinand II became King of Bohemia. He proclaimed the re-Catholicisation of the Czech Lands. Twenty-seven Protestant leaders were executed in theOld Town Square in Prague on June 21, 1621. (Three noblemen, seven knights and seventeen burghers were executed, including Dr. Jan Jesenius, the Rector of Prague University). Most Protestant leaders fled, including Count J.M. Thurn; those who stayed didn't expect harsh punishment. The Protestants had to return all the seized Catholic property to the Church. No faith other than Catholicism was permitted. The upper classes were given the option either to emigrate or to convert to Catholicism. The German language was given equal rights with the Czech language. After the Peace of Westphalia, Ferdinand II moved the court to Vienna, and Prague began a steady decline which reduced the population from the 60,000 it had had in the years before the war to 20,000.

[edit] The Jewish Quarter of Prague

The 17th century is considered the Golden Age of Jewish Prague. The Jewish community of Prague numbered some 15,000 people (approx. 30 per cent of the entire population), making it the largest Ashkenazic community in the world and the second largest Jewish community in Europe after Thessaloniki. In the years 1597 to 1609, the Maharal (Judah Loew ben Bezalel) served as Prague's chief rabbi. He is considered the greatest of Jewish scholars in Prague's history, his tomb in the Old Jewish Cemetery eventually becoming a pilgrimage site.

The expulsion of Jews from Prague by Maria Theresa of Austria in 1745 based on their alleged collaboration with the Prussian army was a severe blow to the flourishing Jewish community. The Queen allowed the Jews to return to the city in 1748. In 1848 the gates of the Prague ghetto were opened. The former Jewish quarter, renamed Josefov in 1850, was demolished during the "ghetto clearance" (Czech: asanace) at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century.

[edit] 18th century

In 1689 a great fire started by French agents[citation needed] devastated Prague, but this spurred a renovation and a rebuilding of the city. The economic rise continued through the following century, and in 1771 the city had 80,000 inhabitants. Many of these were rich merchants who, together with noblemen, enriched the city with a host of palaces, churches and gardens, creating a Baroque style renowned throughout the world. In 1784, under Joseph II, the four municipalities of Malá Strana, Nové Město, Staré Město and Hradčany were merged into a single entity. The Jewish district, called Josefov, was included only in 1850. The Industrial Revolution had a strong effect in Prague, as factories could take advantage of the coal mines and ironworks of the nearby region. A first suburb, Karlín, was created in 1817, and twenty years later the population exceeded 100,000. The first railway connection was built in 1842.

[edit] 19th century

In 1806, the Holy Roman Empire ended when Napoleon dictated its dissolution. Holy Roman Emperor Francis II abdicated his title. He became Francis I, Emperor of Austria.

At the same time as the Industrial Revolution was developing, the Czechs were also going through the Czech National Revival movement: political and cultural changes demanded greater autonomy. Since the late 18th century, Czech literature occupied an important position in the Czech culture.

The revolutions that shocked all of Europe around 1848 touched Prague too, but they were fiercely suppressed. In the following years the Czech nationalist movement (opposed to another nationalist party, the German one) began its rise, until it gained the majority in the Town Council in 1861.

In 1867, Emperor Francis Joseph I established the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy of the Austrian Empire and Kingdom of Hungary.

[edit] 20th century

The next in succession to the Austro-Hungarian throne was Francis Ferdinand d'Este after Crown Prince Rudolf (son of the emperor Francis Joseph I) had committed suicide and after the Emperor's brother (Ferdinand's father) had died. Ferdinand (related also to Jagellon, Luxemburg and Premyslovec Dynasties) was married to Sophie von Chotek from a Czech aristocratic family. They lived in Bohemia at the Konopiste Castle, not far from Prague. He was in favour of a Triple Monarchy, expanding an Austro-Hungary Dualism into Austro-Hungary-Czech Triple Monarchy, but on June 28, 1914 he and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo. This assassination led to World War I.

World War I ended with the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the creation of Czechoslovakia. Prague was chosen as its capital. At this time Prague was an European city with developed industrial background. In 1930 the population had risen to 850,000.

For most of its history Prague had been an ethnically mixed city with important Czech, German, and Jewish populations. Prague had German-speaking near-majority in 1848, but by 1880 the German population decreased to 13.52 percent, and by 1910 to 5.97 percent, due to a massive increase of the city's overall population caused by the influx of Czechs from the rest of Bohemia and Moravia and also due to the assimilation of some Germans. As a result the German minority along with the German-speaking Jewish community remained mainly in the central, ancient parts of city, while the Czechs had a near-absolute majority in the fast-growing suburbs of Prague. As late as 1880, "Germans" still formed 22 percent of the population of Stare Mesto (the Old Town), 16 percent in Nove Mesto (the New Town), 20 percent in Mala strana (the Little Quarter), 9 percent in Hradcany, and 39 percent in the former Jewish Ghetto of Josefov. From 1939, when the country was occupied by Nazi Germany, and during World War II, most Jews either fled the city or were killed in the Holocaust. Most of the Jews living in Prague after the war emigrated during the years of Communism, particularly after the communist coup, the establishment of Israel in 1948, and the Soviet invasion in 1968. In the early 1990s, the Jewish Community in Prague numbered only 800 people compared to nearly 50,000 before World War II. In 2006, some 1,600 people were registered in the Jewish Community.

During the Nazi German occupation of Czechoslovakia Prague citizens were oppressed and persecuted by the Nazis. Politicians (e.g. prime minister Alois Eliáš), university professors and students and many others were murdered, imprisoned or sent to concentration camps. Prague was a target of several allied bombings, the deadliest one occurring on February 14, 1945, when large parts of the city centre were destroyed, leaving over 700 people dead and nearly 1200 injured. The Prague uprising started on May 5, 1945 when Prague's Czech citizens, assisted by a renegade Russian division formerly in service of the Waffen SS, had revolted against the Nazi German occupiers. That same day, General Patton's American Third Army (with 150,000 soldiers) arrived in Pilsen (only a few hours away from Prague) while Marshal Konev's Soviet Army was on the borders of Moravia. General Patton was in favour of liberating Prague, but he had to comply with the instructions from General D. Eisenhower. General Eisenhower requested the Soviet Chief of Staff to permit them to press forward, but was informed that American help was not needed (a prior agreement from the Yalta Conference was that Bohemia would be liberated by the Red Army). Finally, on May 9, 1945 (the day after Germany officially capitulated) Soviet tanks reached Prague. It was not until May 12, 1945 that all fighting ceased in the Czech Lands. German occupation caused the death of 270,000 Czechoslovak citizens, including 77,297 Czechoslovak Jews, whose names are inscribed on walls of the Pinkas Synagogue in Prague.

The ethnic German population of Prague either fled or was expelled in the months after May 1945. During the gathering and transfer of Germans a number of local massacres occurred resulting in an unknown number of fatalities.

After the war, Prague again became the capital of Czechoslovakia. Many Czechs genuinely felt gratitude towards the Soviet soldiers. Soviet troops left Czechoslovakia a couple of months after the war but the country remained under strong Soviet political influence. In February 1948, Prague became the centre of a communist coup.

The intellectual community of Prague, however, suffered under the totalitarian regime, in spite of the rather careful programme of rebuilding and caring for the damaged monuments after World War II. At the 4th Czechoslovakian Writers' Congress held in the city in 1967 a strong position against the regime was taken. This spurred the new secretary of the Communist Party, Alexander Dubček to proclaim a new phase in the city's and country's life, beginning the short-lived season of "socialism with a human face". This was the Prague Spring, which aimed at a democratic reform of institutions. The Soviet Union and the rest of the Warsaw Pact, except for Romania, reacted, occupying Czechoslovakia and the capital in August 1968, suppressing any attempt at innovation under the treads of their tanks.

During the communist period little was actively done to maintain the beauty of the city's buildings. Due to the poor incentives offered by the regime workers would put up scaffolding and then disappear to moonlighting jobs. Vaclavske Namesti (Wenceslas Square) was covered in such scaffolds for over a decade, with little repair ever being accomplished. True renovation began after the collapse of communism. The durability of renovations was aided by the fact that Prague converted almost entirely from coal heating in homes to electric heating. The coal burnt during the communist period was a major source of air pollution that corroded and spotted building facades, giving Prague the look of a dark, dirty city.

In 1989, after the Berlin Wall had fallen, and the Velvet Revolution crowded the streets of Prague, Czechoslovakia finally freed itself from communism and Soviet influence, and Prague benefited deeply from the new mood. In 1993, after the split of Czechoslovakia, Prague became the capital city of the new Czech Republic. Prague is capital of two administrative units of Czech Republic - Prague region (Czech: Pražský kraj) and Central Bohemian Region (Czech: Středočeský kraj). As Prague is not geographically part of Central Bohemian Region it is a capital outside of territory it serves.

[edit] Timeline of important moments in Prague history

The four independent boroughs that had formerly constituted Prague were eventually proclaimed a single city in 1784. Those four cities were Hradčany (the Castle District, west and north of the Castle), Little Quarter (Malá Strana, south of the Castle), Old Town (Staré Město, on the east bank opposite the Castle) and New Town (Nové Město, further south and east). The city underwent further expansion with the annexation of Josefov in 1850 and Vyšehrad in 1883, and at the beginning of 1922, another 37 municipalities were incorporated, raising the city's population to 676,000. In 1938 population reached 1,000,000.

[edit] Historical population

Demographic evolution of Prague between 1230 and 2007
1230 1370 1600 1804 1837 1850 1880 1900 1925 1950 1980 1991 2007
4,000 40,000 60,000 90,000 105,500 118,000 162,000 201,600 718,300 931,500 1,182,800 1,214,174 1,204,897
  • The record of 1230 includes Staré Město only
  • The records of 1370 and 1600 includes Staré město, Nové město, Malá Strana and Hradčany quarters
  • Numbers beside other years denote the population of Prague within the administrative border of the city at that time (and population including present suburbs in parentheses).

[edit] Sights

Panorama of Prague

Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, Prague has become one of Europe's (and the world's) most popular tourist destinations. It is the sixth most-visited European city after London, Paris, Rome, Madrid and Berlin.[3] Prague suffered considerably less damage during World War II than some other major cities in the region, allowing most of its historic architecture to stay true to form. It contains one of the world's most pristine and varied collections of architecture, from Art Nouveau to Baroque, Renaissance, Cubist, Gothic, Neo-Classical and ultra-modern. Some of the most known sights are:

[edit] Culture

Prague is traditionally one of the cultural centers of Europe, hosting many cultural events.

Significant cultural institutions:

There are hundreds of concert halls, galleries, cinemas and music clubs in the city. Prague hosts Music Festivals including the Prague Spring International Music Festival, the Prague Autumn International Music Festival and the Prague International Organ Festival. Film Festivals include the Febiofest, the One World and Echoes of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Prague also hosts the Prague Writers Festival, the [Prague Fringe Festival]], the World Roma Festival as well as hundreds of Vernissages and Fashion Shows.

Tens of films have been made at the Barrandov Studios. Hollywood movies set in Prague include Blade II and xXx. Among others, Czech films Empties and The Fifth Horseman is Fear were shot in Prague.

[edit] Economy

The GDP per capita of Prague is more than double that of the Czech Republic as a whole, with a per-capita GDP (PPP) of 33,784 (purchasing power standard) in 2004, which is 157.1% of the European Union average, ranking Prague among the 12 richest EU regions [5]. However, the price level is still significantly lower than in comparable cities.

The city is the site of the European headquarters of many international companies.

Since the late 1990s, Prague has become a popular filming location for international productions and Hollywood motion pictures. A combination of architecture, low costs and the existing motion picture infrastructure have proved attractive to international film production companies.

[edit] Colleges and universities

The city contains several universities and colleges including the oldest university in Central and Eastern Europe:

[edit] Transport

Prague's integrated transport system, Prague Integrated Transport (PIT) (Czech Pražská integrovaná doprava – PID), is incredibly reliable and cheap, and covers a very large percentage of the metropolitan area and surrounding outskirts. Using a combination of bus, tram, train, and metro it is possible to get to within a five minute walk of essentially any part of the central city.

[edit] Integrated transport system

The public transport infrastructure consists of an integrated transport system of Prague Metro (with 55 stations in total), Prague Tram System (including the "nostalgic tram" no. 91), buses, the Petřín funicular to Petřín Hill, a chairlift at Prague Zoo, and three ferries. All services have a common ticketing system, and are run by Prague Public Transit Co. Inc. (Dopravní podnik hl. m. Prahy, a.s.) and some other companies (full list).

[edit] Rail

The city forms the hub of the Czech railway system, with services to all parts of the Czech Republic and abroad.

Prague has two international railway stations, Hlavní nádraží (sometimes referred to as Wilsonovo nádraží) and Praha-Holešovice. Intercity services also stop at the main stations Praha-Smíchov and Masarykovo nádraží. In addition to these, there are a number of smaller suburban stations. In the future rail should play a greater role in Prague Public Transport System.

[edit] Air

Prague is served by Ruzyně International Airport, the biggest airport in the Czech Republic and one of the busiest in Central and Eastern Europe. It is the hub of the flag carrier, Czech Airlines and of the low-cost airlines SkyEurope and Smart Wings operating throughout Europe. There is also the oldest Prague airport in the suburb of Kbely, after WWII turned into a military airport, and the small domestic airport with grass runways in Letňany.

[edit] Taxis

Taxi services in Prague can be divided into three sectors. There are major taxicab companies, operating call-for-taxi services (radio-taxi) or from regulated taxi stands, where overpricing is rare and regulation mostly in place. There are independent drivers, who make pick-ups on the street; cheating is mostly associated with these cars.

[edit] Sport

Prague is the site of many sports events, national stadiums and teams

The City is also bidding for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

[edit] Miscellaneous

Prague is also the site of the most important offices and institutions of the Czech Republic and Central Europe.

[edit] Prague as a venue

Recent major events held in Prague:

[edit] International relations

Prague is involved in a number of official as well as unofficial partnerships with other major world cities.[6] The city of Prague also maintains its own EU delegation in Brussels called Prague House.[7]

Partner cities:

official:

unofficial:

[edit] See also

Prague Portal

[edit] References

This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2006)
  1. ^ www.urbanaudit.org. Larger urban zone, Eurostat 2003. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
  2. ^ whc.unesco.org. Advisory Body Evaluation. Retrieved on 2007-05-01.
  3. ^ a b www.radio.cz. Prague, sixth most visited city in Europe. Retrieved on 2006-11-26.
  4. ^ Prague Information Service
  5. ^ Regional GDP per inhabitant in the EU 27 (PDF), Eurostat, Retrieved July 07, 2007
  6. ^ www.praha-mesto.cz. Partner cities. Retrieved on 2007-04-20.
  7. ^ www.prazsky-dum.cz. Prague House. Retrieved on 2007-04-20.

[edit] External links

Image:Commons-logo.svg
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Praha
Look up Prague in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
v • d • e
Regions of the Czech Republic
Image:Flag of the Czech Republic.svg
v • d • e
Image:Flag of Europe.svg Capital cities of the Member States of the European Union
Amsterdam · Athens · Berlin · Bratislava · Brussels · Bucharest · Budapest · Copenhagen  · Dublin · Helsinki · Lisbon · Ljubljana · London · Luxembourg City · Madrid · Nicosia · Paris · Prague · Riga · Rome · Sofia · Stockholm  · Tallinn · Valletta · Vienna · Vilnius · Warsaw
v • d • e
Image:Flag of Europe.svg European Capitals of Culture

1985 Athens · 1986 Florence · 1987 Amsterdam · 1988 West Berlin · 1989 Paris · 1990 Glasgow · 1991 Dublin · 1992 Madrid · 1993 Antwerp · 1994 Lisbon · 1995 Luxembourg City · 1996 Copenhagen · 1997 Thessaloniki · 1998 Stockholm · 1999 Weimar · 2000 Reykjavík · Bergen · Helsinki · Brussels · Prague · Kraków · Santiago de Compostela · Avignon · Bologna · 2001 Rotterdam · Porto · 2002 Bruges · Salamanca · 2003 Graz · 2004 Genoa · Lille · 2005 Cork · 2006 Patras · 2007 Luxembourg City and Greater Region · Sibiu · 2008 Liverpool · Stavanger · 2009 Linz · Vilnius · 2010 Essen · Pécs · Istanbul · 2011 Turku · Tallinn · 2012 Maribor · Guimarães

v • d • e
World Heritage Sites in the Czech Republic

Český Krumlov · Gardens and Castle at Kroměříž · Holašovice Historical Village Reservation · Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc · Jewish Quarter and St. Procopius' Basilica, Třebíč · Kutná Hora · Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape · Litomyšl Castle · Pilgrimage Church of Saint John of Nepomuk · Prague · Telč · Tugendhat Villa, Brno

Image:Flag of the Czech Republic.svg
v • d • e
Districts of Prague
Municipal/administrative districtsPrague 1 · Prague 2 · Prague 3 · Prague 4 · Prague 5 · Prague 6 · Prague 7 · Prague 8 · Prague 9 · Prague 10 · Prague 11 · Prague 12 · Prague 13 · Prague 14 · Prague 15 · Prague 16 (formerly Radotín) · Prague 17 (formerly Řepy) · Prague 18 (formerly Letňany) · Prague 19 (formerly Kbely) · Prague 20 (formerly Horní Počernice) · Prague 21 (formerly Újezd nad Lesy) · Prague 22 (formerly Uhříněves)
Other municipal districtsBěchovice · Benice · Březiněves · Čakovice · Ďablice · Dolní Chabry · Dolní Měcholupy · Dolní Počernice · Dubeč · Kbely · Klánovice · Koloděje · Kolovraty · Královice · Křeslice · Kunratice · Libuš · Lipence · Lochkov · Lysolaje · Nebušice · Nedvězí · Petrovice · Přední Kopanina · Řeporyje · Satalice · Slivenec · Suchdol · Šeberov · Štěrboholy · Troja · Újezd u Průhonic · Velká Chuchle · Vinoř · Zbraslav · Zličín
Cadastral areasBěchovice · Benice · Bohnice · Braník · Břevnov · Březiněves · Bubeneč · Čakovice · Černý Most · Chodov · Cholupice · Čimice · Ďáblice · Dejvice · Dolní Chabry · Dolní Měcholupy · Dolní Počernice · Dubeč · Háje · Hájek · Hloubětín · Hlubočepy · Hodkovičky · Holešovice · Holyně · Horní Měcholupy · Horní Počernice · Hostavice · Hostivař · Hradčany · Hrdlořezy · Jinonice · Josefov (Jewish Quarter) · Kamýk · Karlín · Kbely · Klánovice · Kobylisy · Koloděje · Kolovraty · Komořany · Košíře · Královice · Krč · Křeslice · Kunratice · Kyje · Lahovice · Letňany · Lhotka · Libeň · Liboc · Libuš · Lipany · Lipence · Lochkov · Lysolaje · Malá Chuchle · Malá Strana (Lesser Town) · Malešice · Michle · Miškovice · Modřany · Motol · Nebušice · Nedvězí · Nové Město (New Town) · Nusle · Petrovice · Písnice · Pitkovice · Podolí · Přední Kopanina · Prosek · Radlice · Radotín · Řeporyje · Řepy · Ruzyně · Satalice · Sedlec (Prague-East District) · Slivenec · Smíchov · Sobín · Staré Město (Old Town) · Štěrboholy · Stodůlky · Strašnice · Střešovice · Střížkov · Suchdol · Točná · Třebonice · Třeboradice · Troja · Uhříněves · Újezd nad Lesy · Újezd u Průhonic · Veleslavín · Velká Chuchle · Vinohrady · Vinoř · Vokovice · Vršovice · Vyšehrad · Vysočany · Záběhlice · Zadní Kopanina · Zbraslav · Žižkov · Zličín

af:Praag am:ፕራግ ar:براغ arc:ܦܪܐܓ az:Praqa bn:প্রাগ be:Горад Прага be-x-old:Прага bo:པུ་ལ་ཁེ bs:Prag br:Praha bg:Прага ca:Praga cs:Praha cy:Prag da:Prag de:Prag et:Praha el:Πράγα es:Praga eo:Prago eu:Praga fa:پراگ fo:Prag fr:Prague ga:Prág gd:Pràg gl:Praga - Praha ko:프라하 hy:Պրագա hsb:Praha hr:Prag io:Praha id:Praha ia:Praga os:Прагæ is:Prag it:Praga he:פראג jv:Praha kl:Praha ka:პრაღა csb:Praga kw:Praha sw:Praha ht:Prag ku:Prag lad:Praga la:Praga lv:Prāga lb:Prag lij:Pragg-a lt:Praha li:Praag hu:Prága mk:Прага mt:Praga na:Praha nl:Praag ja:プラハ no:Praha nn:Praha nrm:Prague nov:Praha oc:Praga pms:Praga pl:Praga pt:Praga qu:Praha ro:Praga ru:Прага sco:Prague sq:Praga simple:Prague sk:Praha sl:Praga cu:Прага sr:Праг sh:Prag fi:Praha sv:Prag tl:Lungsod ng Prague th:ปราก vi:Praha tg:Прага tr:Prag uk:Прага vec:Praga vo:Praha zh-yue:布拉格 zh:布拉格

Retrieved from "http://india.smashits.com/wikipedia/Prague"
Views
Personal tools

Toolbox