History : Founded in the latter part of the 9th century, Prague soon became the seat of the kings of Bohemia, some of whom also reigned as emperors of the Holy Roman Empire in later times. The city flourished during the 14th century reign of Charles IV, who ordered the building of the New Town, the Charles Bridge, Saint Vitus Cathedral: the oldest oldest gothic cathedral in Central Europe, which is actually inside the Castle, and the Charles University. Prague was then the third-largest city in Europe. For centuries, Prague was a multiethnic city with an important Czech, German and (a mostly Yiddish and/ or German speaking) Jewish population. From 1939, when the country was occupied by the Nazis, and during WW 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 till the 19th century, was expelled in the aftermath of the war. after 870: foundation of the Prague Castle
after 926: foundation of St. Vitus rotunda within the Prague Castle
10th century: foundation of the Vysehrad Castle on the opposite Vltava bank
965: Prague first reported in the narration of Ibrahim Ibn Jakub, a merchant
973: foundation of Prague bishopric
1085: Prague becomes the residence of the first Bohemian king - Vratislav I
1172: the construction of the Judita's Bridge, the second stone bridge in Central Europe was finished
after 1230: establishment of the Old Town
257: foundation of the Lesser Town
1310-1346: John of Luxembourg rules as the king of Bohemia
around 1320: foundation of Hradcany
1338: foundation of the Old Town Hall - the importance of the city increases
1344: Prague bishopric upgraded to archbishopric, beginning of St. Vitus, St. Wenceslas and St. Adalbert Cathedral (finished 1929)
1346-1378: the epoch of Charles IV - Prague becomes the capital of the Bohemian Kingdom and the Holy Roman Empire
1348: foundation of the New Town and the first university in Central Europe (Charles University)
1419-1437: attempts by the clergy to split from the church result in the Hussite revolutionary movement (Jan Hus - the reform preacher and martyr)
1526: Habsburg dynasty ascends the Bohemian throne (until 1918)
1583-1611: Rudolf II becomes the king of Bohemia, and Prague the emperor's residence, ecomes the centre of social and cultural life
1618-1620: defeat of the Czech nobles uprising; Czech language and Czech national consciousness begin to decline
1784: union of the four hitherto independent Prague urban units (Hradcany, Lesser Town, Old Town and New Town)
1784-1848: period of Czech national revival, beginning of the industrial revolution, establishment of Czech institutions
1918: proclamation of independence of Czechoslovakia, Prague becomes the new state capital
1939-1945: : occupation by the Nazi Germany
1945: the Prague uprising, liberation of Prague by Soviet army
1948: seizure of power by KSC after the February putsch
1968: Prague Spring - an attempt to reform socialism, intervention of 5 states of the Warsaw Pact
1989: so-called velvet revolution, formation of the government of national tolerance, Vaclav Havel elected the president
1990: first free elections
1993: January 1, splitting up of the Federation, formation of the independent Czech Republic
1993: January 26, Vaclav Havel elected the first president of the independent Czech Republic |
