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Prague History

Prague is a city with an enchanting and magical past; the present is a celebration of life, the future a fusion between the present and past, the old and the new. Everywhere you walk in Prague all preserved architectural buildings are reminders of the city’s history where many famous artists lived.

Prague has been the capital of the ancient realm of Bohemia for centuries. In the mid-14th century, Prague was the centre of the Holy Roman Empire and Europe’s third largest city in terms of population. The reign of Charles IV was a golden age in Czech history. The end of this period, however, brought economic and political strife to the area as Protestant Hussites – inspired by the ideas of the religious reformer Jan Hus – battled it out with crusaders sent by the Catholic church in the 15th century. In the 16th century the city was a leading centre in the Hapsburg Court and it became the capital of the newly independent country of Czechoslovakia in 1918. This new country, led by President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, experienced a boom and Czechoslovakia became one of the ten richest nations in the world. The Nazi occupation of Bohemia and Moravia was disastrous for Czechoslovakia, leaving only the country’s beautiful buildings unscathed. After World War II, the restored Czechoslovak Republic fell under Soviet influence. An attempt to reform and humanize the Communist system, known as the Prague Spring, failed miserably when Russian forces invaded the country in August 1968.The 1970s and 1980s were stifled times for many Czechoslovaks, who created their own dissident counterculture. Mass protests and demonstrations in Prague led to the bloodless overthrow of the Communist regime in November 1989, also known as the Velvet Revolution. When the Iron Curtain fell in 1989, Prague unveiled its hidden wealth of Bohemian treasures and sent out an invitation to the rest of the world.

History of Prague and Czech Republic

November 26, 2015 Prague History 0

Prague (in Czech “Praha”), the capital of the Czech Republic, is situated on the Vltava River. The capital has the largest number of tourist attractions ranging from medieval buildings, museums up to dozens of annual cultural and social events. Today Prague’s population is of around 1.2 million inhabitants. Prague was …

Prague Brief History

November 24, 2015 Prague History 0

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 1989 Velvet Revolution

November 29, 2015 Prague History 0

During the afternoon of the 17th November 1989, 30000 students assembled in the New Town of Prague to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Nazi suppression of student demonstrations, that had resulted in the shutting of Czech universities up until the conclusion of World War Two. The demonstration in 1989—which …

Czech Famous Personalities

November 28, 2015 Prague History 0

This is a short list of famous Czech personalities. This list includes people of the Czech nationality as well as people having some significant Czech ancestry or association with Czech culture. Aostalli de Sala Ulrico (1525-1597) — Renaissance builder and architect of Prague Castle. Appollinaire Guillaume (1880-1918) — poet; …

Prague Celtic history

November 28, 2015 Prague History 0

At the southern periphery of Prague is a territory which could have been, instead of Prague Castle, the centre of our capital city, and so of the Czech country. At both the banks of Brezansky potok there once was an extensive Celtic oppidum, which is introduced to you by the …

Prague – The mother of cities

November 24, 2015 Prague History, Travel Basics 0

The mother of cities reads the motto on the coat-of-arms of the Capital of the Czech Republic. It was topical in the Middle Ages and the Early New Age, when Prague was the political head and until 1547 also the supreme court instance of the burgher estate, the counterpart of …

Velvet Revolution Memorial

November 25, 2015 Attractions/What to See, Prague History 0

In an arcade between Wenceslas Square and the National Theatre is a small bronze plaque with symbolic hands of revolting Czech students. This is a memorial to one of the most crucial moments in Czech (and Czechoslovak) history – the beginning of the Velvet Revolution on November 17th. On this …