czech republic heritage

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Rich in History


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Maic Croroad

Whenever European nations were set in motion, they met in a rathersmall area called the Czech Republic today. Since the early MiddleAges, this area was crossed by long trade routes rom the severeNorth to the sunny South; at the beginning o the rst millennium,Christianity emerged rom the West, and at its end communismarrived rom the East. For six hundred years, the country was anindependent Czech kingdom, or three hundred years, it belonged

among Austro-Hungarian Empire lands, and since 1918 it has beena republic. In the 14th century, under the Bohemian and German Kingand Roman Emperor Charles IV, as well as in the 16th century underthe Emperor Rudol II, the country enjoyed a avourable positionin European history and also played a great role internationally inthe arts and in social aairs. In 1989, the whole world admired theCzechoslovak velvet revolution lead by charismatic dramatist VclavHavel, which put an end to socialist experimentation.Numerous amous architects, who built Romanesque churches inGermany but were no longer commissioned to build in their homecountries due to the coming Gothic period, succeeded there; atthe same time, the French type o Gothic architecture took root inBohemia. A number o Italian Renaissance or Baroque architects,painters and sculptors, who crossed the Alps to nd new opportunityor creating master works and look or well-paid jobs, were hired bymembers o Czech nobility and clergy; astonished by the masteryo Czech builders and crasmen with whom they cooperated, theycreated wonderul castles and breathtaking Catholic churches. Tismay be seen in several hundreds o masterpieces o architecture castles, chteaux, churches and cathedrals, complete historic cities including twelve gems listed in the UNESCO heritage list.A number o times, entire cities and lands were burned down anddestroyed by wars or by ideologies, even more devastating, makingthousands o exiles ee rom terrible absurdities o the time; however,they brought with them the Czech sense o inspiration, as e.g.Comenius his humanistic spirit, Antonn Dvok his music, MiloForman his art o lm-making, or Martina Navrtilov her tennis

playing. Recent modern DNA tests proved what historians had onlyassumed: 51 % inhabitants o the historic lands o Bohemia, Moraviaand Silesia, which orm the Czech Republic, are o Slavonic origin, theothers bear genetic codes o their Roman, German, Jewish, Finno-Ugric, and South-Caucasian ancestors.

1. Te memorable p mountain a symbolic place where Czechhistory started. According to an old legend, the primal ather Czechchose this particular beautiul countryside surrounding it as a home

or his people.

2. Te rotunda on the top dates back to the beginning o the Czechstate.

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Unlike attractive Czech models as Eva Herzigov,Karolina Kurkov or Petra Nmcov, whorepresent the well-known beauty o Czech girlsin the world, the 11,5 cm clay statue o Venus oVstonice had according to the standards oancient men, mammoth hunters o 30 000 years

ago, ideal proportions. Tis amous statuettewas excavated in 1925 in South Moravia, wherearchaeologists unearth ascinating objects rom thepast even today. Among them, there are numerousobjects rom the earliest West Slavonic empire inthe 9th century (the Great Moravian Empire inLatin Moravia Magna): bones, ceramics, jewels,guns and even special witchcra tools ound inritual graves, which ascinate people lookingat nds rom excavation sites or visiting theAnthropos museum, an outstanding archaeologicalmuseum in Brno.

Once Upon a Time...

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Lovers o mystery and magic may preer visiting a magiccult mountain that bears an old Celtic name, Radho, inthe Beskydy mountains, which is said to have been theseat o Radegast, a kind o Slavonic Zeus, who had powerover thunder and lightening. Another legend tells a storyo a mysterious clairvoyant prophetess, Princess Libue,daughter o the legendary primal ather Czech: standingon a steep rock over the river Vltava she ell in a trance

and prophesied immortal glory to the town o her uturedescendants Prague. Also Alons Mucha, a amous ArtNouveau artist, had his unbounded imagination, ocusedon the nations blurred early past, thrust upon giantcanvases o his Slavonic Epic, exhibited in the MoravskKrumlov castle.

1. Venus o Vstonice the oldest ceramic human gure inthe world

2. Exhibits in the Anthropos Pavillon o the MoravianLand Museum in Brno give evidence o the earliestsettlement in Moravia and on the entire Europencontinent

3. Vyehrad the legendary seat o Princess Libue

4. Te oldest Czech rulers depicted in unique wallpaintings, the rotunda o St. Catherine in Znojmo

5. Te three metres high statue o God Radegast on theRadho mountain.

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Te Baroque place o pilgrimage called Baptismsituated in the heart o Moravia, a masterpiece builtby Jan Santini, a great Czech architect, resembles one

o the places where the rst Christian missionariesKonstantin and Method are said to have baptisedpagans. Both Greek apostles, later canonized anddeclared patron saints o Europe, arrived in thiscountry in 863 invited by Prince Rastislav romthe Great Moravian Empire to celebrate the Mass,teach the new religion, and spread it in the Slavoniclanguage. Te basilica at Velehrad, their legendaryseat, was avoured with a symbolic Golden Rose bythe Pope in 1985; it is the greatest honour enjoyed,among others, by Lourdes in France, Guadeloupe inMexico, or Czenstochowa in Poland.Earlier in the past, Bohemia, the western parto the country, was under the inuence o Latin

Christianity rom neighbouring Germany. Terst Czech rulers were ardent Christians. Te

Chritian Tradition

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most amous Czech priest Master Jan Hus, who wasa great church reormer in the 15th century inspired byJohn Wickle, died at the stake or the purity o Christianaith. He became a martyr and his tragic death broughtabout one o the biggest religious conicts in the MiddleAges the Hussite wars. Later, the Catholic world orderwas consistently orced upon Czech inhabitants by thechurch, especially in the Baroque period. Te churchdid not hesitate to use huge sums o money or buildingmonumental churches, monasteries, places o pilgrimage,or providing them with magnicent decoration including

valuable rare organs, and or developing all art orms.Ten in his reorm rom 1781, the enlightened EmperorJoseph II limited Catholic inuence to a large extent andradically opened the door to modern reason, humanprogress, science and technology. In the 19th century,

national problems in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy,where Catholicism was part o the ocial state ideology,contributed to most Czech peoples reserved attitude toreligion. Last but not least, socialist atheism, orced onpeople most recently, also strongly contributed to thisattitude. oday, in a country with the highest density oreligious monuments, it is merely a third o the populationthat declare to have any religious belies.

1. Te pilgrimage chapel o St. Sebastian on the Holy Hillnear Mikulov

2. Te pilgrimage church o St. Mary in Ktiny near Brno a Baroque master work by architect J. B. Santini

3. Te panel painting o the Virgin Marie Deov rommid-14th century in Vyehrad, Prague

4. Te basilica in Velehrad, consecrated by the Pope, isone o the most memorable Catholic monuments in theCzech lands

5. Te Santa Casa in the Loretto, Prague, is one o themost oen visited places o pilgrimage.

6. Te Sculptural group o St. Adalbert and his brotherRadim, Liblice on Cidlina, is a reminder o earlyChristianity in Slavonic Central Europe.

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Jeih Culture

An old legend says that the rst Jews settled in the area o Czechlands beore the arrival o Slavonic tribes allegedly shortly aerthe Romans destroyed the emple in Jerusalem (70 A. D.). Fromthe historical point o view, there is proo that Jewish settlementshad existed by the 10th century at the latest. Te Jewish Quarter ineb was listed in the UNESCO heritage list as the rst Jewishmonument outside Israel; others are part o larger complexes (e.g.the unique complex o historic monuments in Pragues Old own

includes the Old Jewish Cemetery, with its 12 000 tombstones thelargest in Europe, and one o the oldest Jewish buildings in theworld the Old-New Synagogue rom the 13th century).

1.,2.,3. Te Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague is one o most signicantJewish monuments in the world.

4. Te Old-New Synagogue and the Jewish own Hall are the core othe ormer Prague ghetto.

5. Te New Synagogue (Neuschul) in eb dates back to 1669.

6. Inscriptions on the Pinkas Synagogue walls evoke memories oCzech and Moravian Jewish holocaust victims.

7. Te Great Synagogue in Pilsen is the second biggest synagogue inEurope and the third in the world.

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The Touche of magic

Te Jews lived in all historic Czech towns, isolated romthe Christian world or a long time. Tey ollowed theirown laws and had a dierent way o lie, which wasassociated with a number o mysterious stories and withmystical learning. Most o them were poor, some wereincredibly rich. Te atmosphere o Pragues amousJewish ghetto, the works o the Renaissance thinkerRabbi Judah Lv ben Bezalel and his Golem, an articialcreature made o clay that was brought to lie thanks tothe rabbis proound knowledge o kabbalistic learning,inspired innumerable writers to give various accountso a mysterious city within a city. Since the 19th century,the Jews orthodox inner and outer isolation easedgradually; Czechs, Germans, and German speaking Jewslived together, and this peaceul co-existence gave birthto signicant personalities o modern Jewish literature:Gustav Meyring, Franz Werel, Max Brod and FranzKafa...Unortunately, Jewish history is ull o intolerance,degradation, violence and pogroms. Tese tragicevents culminated in the Czech lands during WorldWar II, when German Nazis deported 84 % CzechJews to concentration camps, usually through erezn,a gathering and transition camp, where, in addition toCzech and German Jews, also Austrian, Dutch, Danish,Hungarian and Slovak Jews (140 000 people in total)were interned.

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At the end o the last century, young Americans oodedPrague: it was cool to see the Paris o the East, supposedly

the most beautiul historic city in the world, even moreexciting because o the act that it had been hiddenbehind the communist iron curtain or hal a century. Itsmonumental panorama showing the Prague Castle overthe river Vltava with a medieval stone bridge straddlingthe river is depicted in millions o tourist pictures. Pragueis admired or its incredible concentration o historicmonuments in all styles o architecture including avant-garde ads designed by world-amous modern architects.Te historic city centre is situated on both sides o theVltava: on the one side, the Old own with its Gothic

Praue a great Citywhoe glory Touchethe star

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The Touche of magic

streets and magnicent churches, on the other,the Lesser own with beautiul Baroque churches,Renaissance palaces and gardens lying below the

castle, the biggest presidential seat in the world.With a guide-book in the pocket, one may endlesslywander in the city and look or masterpieces oarchitecture, bookshops, antique shops, museums,galleries o Czech glass, auction rooms, and perhapsalso or well-known gourmet pubs, merry beergardens, Czech lie-style boutiques and ashiondesigners shops, or may relax in large old parksand on the river islands. Tose who settled inPrague or good cannot stop praising its distinctiveatmosphere lled with culture, its music clubs, musicestivals, street theatres, alternative lm shows,numerous sports events, wonderul shops, dynamic

job opportunities, business prospects, and scienticpotential. Like New York not being the same asAmerica, also Prague is rather a non-Czech city it isa unique European city living its own lie.

1. A magnicent view o Prague rom the top o St. VitusCathedral at the Prague Castle

2.Churches, palaces, and narrow streets createa charming atmosphere in the most picturesque Pragueqarter the Lesser own.

3. Te medieval Old own Hall Clock was constructed in1410 by clockmaker Mikul rom Kada. Te oldest

parts o the clock are a mechanical clockwork and anastronomical ace showing positions o celestial bodies.

4. Te Old own Square the centre o Prague history

5. An exhibition o photos in Prague Castle gardens

6. Te statue o Czech patron saint St. Wenceslas onhorseback gave name to the ormer horse market todaythe busiest Prague square.

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Te main square in the town o el looks like a scene roma airy tale lmed by a director with powerul imagination: thereare rows o Renaissance gables in sugary pastel colours, threeGothic churches with spires, a Baroque ountain, and a plaguecolumn in the middle. Te city centre is surrounded by medievalramparts and in its vicinity there is a group o ponds reectingthe blue sky and high summer clouds. el and also other ortyCzech towns are authentic well-preserved historic monuments.Te most attractive ones are esk Krumlov, a unique Gothic-Renaissance town with crooked medieval streets and a hugecastle over the river (the second biggest in the country aer the

Hitoric Ton

1. esk Krumlov a unique holiday town at the oothill oumava

2.,4. Old towns are attractive scenes o historic celebrations,markets, and olk estivals.

3. Krom the Kvtn garden with a summerhouse in Italianstyle

5. el a Renaissance gem in the South o Czech-MoravianHighlands

6. ebo a medieval city protected by a ring o ortications anda massive dike o the Svt pond

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Prague Castle), Kutn Hora, one o the richest towns in

Europe in the past, because a third o the worlds silverwas mined there in the Middle Ages, splendid townso Olomouc, a seat o archbishops, and Krom,amous or its gardens and art collections, Znojmo,a winegrowing town.Moreover, Czech historic cities are not quite open-airmuseums; local inhabitants live their everyday livesin peace there and, on some occasions, hold variouscultural events, music estivals, theatre estivals,historical celebrations and pilgrimages.

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A member o the Luxemburg dynasty, the most signicantEuropean ruler in the late Middle Ages Charles IV (13161378), was brought up at the French royal court, but in hisheart he belonged in the country o his mother, the Czech

Queen Elisabeth, the last o the Pemyslides. Born in Prague,he started to govern the Czech Kingdom as a seventeen-year old, rst to replace his absent ather and aer hisathers death as the king. Aer being elected King o theRoman-German Empire (1346), he rebuilt Prague, made ita magnicent metropolis and the seat o the oldest universitynorth o the Alps. His knowledge o astrology and the thenpopular mysticism is said to have contributed to a numbero his important decisions: e.g. the oundation stone o the

Medieval Treaure

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amous Prague bridge was supposedly laid, in orderto protect it, at a magic moment at dawn: at 5.31, on9.7., in 1357. He died in his beloved Prague, and wasburied in the tomb o Czech kings in St. Vitus Cathedral,which he had built at the Prague Castle. Te buildingboom brought the best architects and other artists othe Gothic period to Prague and gave rise to imposingcities, noble cathedrals, monasteries o catholic ordersthat were growing rich, inaccessible castle complexes.Since the 13th century, the Gothic style inuenced Czecharchitecture or as long as three hundred years.

1. In the course o centuries, the medieval town oZnojmo developed on the steep slopes o the Dyje river.

2. Christ on the Mount o Olives (14 th century), byMaster o the ebo altar, is one o the treasures o theNational Gallery in Prague.

3. St. Prokops basilica in eb a master work olate Romanesque architecture

4. St. Vitus Cathedral at the Prague Castle

5. Czech coronation jewels symbols o Czech kingspower

6. Te metropolitan cathedral in Olomouc is situatedclose to the site o an ancient Pemyslid castle.

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Italy of the North

Italian artists brought Renaissance architecture rom the sunnySouth to Bohemia. However, they soon integrated into thesociety o the new country, which had a strong Gothic tradition;together with local architects, builders, sculptors, painters, andmasters o all cras, they created an original Czech Renaissancearchitectural style, adapted to the relatively rough climate. Asthey had no building stone, they used bricks; palaces, splendidgables o burgers houses, and chteau acades were decoratednot only with rich grato scenes, but also with typical gratiknown as letter envelopes imitating stonework.

1. Te Royal Summer Palace o Queen Ann (Bevedere) in Prague

2. Te Big Ball Game House in Prague Castle gardens

3.,4. Emperor Rudol II (depicted as Vertumnus by GiuseppeArchimboldo, 1590), not only collected art, but also invitedoutstanding artists o his time to Prague.

5.,6. Grafto houses in Slavonice

7. Polychromic gilded grill at the courtyard o the Jindichv Hradeccastle (1604)

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Since the second part o the 15th

century, aer thedramatic period o Hussite wars, which maniestedthe distinctive Czech reormation o the Catholicchurch (14191471), with the Jagiello amily comingto the Czech throne, the Czech countryside and citiesbecame more inviting and welcoming. A gloomymedieval way o lie and also medieval architecturewere replaced by cheerul Renaissance in the arts, inthinking and in living. Rened owerbeds in castlegardens with singing ountains, gazebos overgrownwith wild grapevine, and comortable summerhouseswere attractive places or light-hearted assignations.Te applied arts and the art o living set the trend

or noblemens way o lie; they grew rich thanksto prots rom elds, orests, vineyards and newlyounded ponds, which provided the amous Czechsh or royal tables all over Europe.Under the rule o the art-loving and extravagantEmperor Rudol II (15761612), surrounded byobscure alchemists and astrologists as well as the bestscholars o his time, the Prague Castle became notonly a curiosity repository, but also a real treasuryo European art, comparable only with Venice orMilano.

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Te monumental Baroque culture reected well enough thepolitical situation in Czech society dramatic emotions,passion and asceticism, big gestures, and humbly sinkingdown on ones knees in ront o too much light or loud organmusic rom above. Te Czech Protestant noblemen weredeeated by the Catholic Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand II inthe battle at the White Mountain ((1620), their possessionssubsequently conscated; the Tirty Years War broke out, andwas ollowed by ardent recatholization. All these events madea large number o prominent Czech personalities emigrate, gave

The Baroque storm

1. Te organ lo in the church o Our Lady o the Snows inOlomouc

2.,3. Te church o St. Nicholas in the Lesser own in Prague a master work by K. I. Dientzenhoer

4. Vranov on Dyje a medieval castle was rebuilt intoa monumental chteau.

5. Splendid rooms o a large chteau in Jaromice on Rokytnare evidence o the rich social lie o the owners, generouspatrons o opera.

6.,7. Te Kuks castle beautiully integrated into thesurrounding countryside, architecture and statues by the

greatest Czech Baroque sculptor M. B. Braun

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rise to unbounded arrogance o the newly rich, such as thewarrior Albrecht o Wallenstein, caused an inow o oreignnoblemen, who competed or power with the ruling Catholicchurch.Te church representatives, especially rom the Jesuit Order,invited to Bohemia elite European artists, who, like manytimes beore, ound new inspiration in Bohemia. With thehelp o local cra and genius, they created a unique ormo the Czech Baroque style connected with the names asSantini, Dientzehoer, Kaka, Broko, Braun, or Brandl.On the one hand, this monumental style o architecturemay be seen in superb churches, monasteries and places

o pilgrimage, noble palaces built on the ground plans oentire town sectors, proigate chteaux surrounded by largeparks and game preserves; on the other, surprisingly, itsolk variant may be also ound in rural structures, such ascountry arm houses, water mills, parish houses, chapels,which intensiy the natural beauty o the dynamicallyrounded Czech countryside, and may be elt in numerousplaces evidencing great heartelt popularity o the VirginMary and the martyr St. John o Nepomuk.

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In no other city did Wolgang Amadeus Mozart eel as happy asin Prague. Te opera Figaros Wedding, which had le Viennasaudience bored, was a sensational hit in Prague at the end o 1786. InJanuary, soon aer its premiere, Mozart arrived in Prague to conductit himsel and could not believe his eyes when he heard Praguecrasmen whistling his arias in the streets. His immortal opera DonGiovanni, composed in Prague itsel, was also a great success.Te Czechs truly understood music; the saying Each Czech isa musician was born in the 18th century. In the past, music was themost amous o all the arts, and the country was called Europesconservatoire. Actually, the rst Academy o Music (ounded inPrague in 1811) became so amous that many well-known oreignartists, to add to their prestige, declared to have studied there. Czechmusicians inuenced the European music scene as outstanding

My People from PraueUndertand me

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perormers, music teachers, conductors andcomposers. Jose Mysliveek (17371781), an operacomposer, Mozarts riend and model, was adoredimmensely and called Il divino Boemo (a divineCzech) in Italy; Jan Dismas Zelenka (16791745),a composer, is oen compared to J. S. Bach. Jan VclavAntonn Stamic (17171757), a Czech musician at thecourt in Manheim, gave rise to todays sonata ormand symphony orm.Denitely, the most popular Czech composers in theworld are Bedich Smetana (18241884) and AntonnDvok (18411904), whose ninth symphony ine-minor, Te New World, accompanied the Americanastronaut Neil Amstrong, the rst man on the Moon,during his trip to outer space. Nowadays, it is LeoJanek (18541928), an original composer whocreated distinctive music, that is being recognisedmore and more. Te tradition o high quality Czechmusic is developed every year in the orm o numerousmusic estivals and countless concerts, where music oall genres is perormed. However, the most requentlyplayed Czech piece o music is undoubtedly the polkaRoll out the Barrel, originally called koda lsky, byJaromr Vejvoda.

1. Te Antonn Dvok museum in Prague is situated in the BaroqueAmerika Pavillion

2. Czech cultural events include music estivals o all genres.

3. Antonn Dvok

4. House At the Tree Fiddles in Neruda street illustrates the atmosphereo music in the old Prague.

5. Music events oen add to the beauty o historic monuments (a chambermusic concert in St. Georges Basilica at the Prague Castle).

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Belle Epoque

Te Eiel ower, a symbol o the ree-thinking France calledthe Lighthouse o the Modern imes, has a two yearsyounger (1891) and ve times smaller (60 m) sister standingon the Petn hill in Prague; this observation tower aordsa similarly magnicent view o historic roos, spires, and alsoo white housing estates on the horizon. Te tower was born

in the ramework o a big industrial trade air, which provedthat the Czech element in the Austro-Hungarian monarchyhad, aer three centuries, rallied and taken a new dynamicbreath.Te end o the 19th century supported pure science andenthusiastic study, technical innovation, and womensliberation. Ten also sport, done or exercise and amusement,was introduced because a healthy mind could be only ina healthy body. Members o the Club o Czech ourismthemselves built many other observation towers and starteddiscovering local beauty spots; they also invented an ingenioustourist path marking system (unique in the world, today totals40 000 km crisscrossing the whole o the Czech Republic);

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in the Czech mountains numerous mountain chaletswere constructed. Since 1874, every autumn a greatsteeplechase cross-country, the most dicult horsecourse on the European continent also a big ashionshow was held in Pardubice. People danced at balls innew Art Nouveau town palaces and travelled to various

spas. Te health resorts, in addition to wonderulcurative eects due to combining mineral springs,thermal springs, bog baths, and the benecially soothingpower o their beautiul surroundings, always providedattractive social lie. Many renowned Czech spas asKarlsbad, Marienbad, Frantikovy Lzn were visitedby innumerable amous people; they provided plenty oopportunity or unexpected meetings, an example beingthe love story o more than eighty-year-old J. W. Goetheand young Ulrika von Levetzow. Moreover, decadentartists, neurosis, hypnosis and hysteria contributed tothe spirit o the time; perhaps Sigmund Freud, a nativeo the Moravian town o Pbor, might tell some stories

about that.

1. Wooden Art Nouveau mountain chalets in Pustevnyin Beskydy, designed by architect D. Jurkovi, nancedby Moravian tourists

2. An Art Nouveau gem in the centre o Prague TeMunicipal House is the centre o Pragues cultural

and social lie.

3. Te Emperors Bath in Karlsbad

4. Unique in the world, dancing lessons and etiquetteclasses or teenagers were introduced in the 19th

century.

5. A well-designed hydroelectric power station at theHradec Krlov lake, built by architect F. Sander

6. Te Art Nouveau National House in Prostjovshows a perect taste o its architect J. Kotra and hiscollaborators.

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Not only castles and chteaux, but also historic watermills, breweries, ironworks, lime works, waterworks,bridges, railway stations, mining towers, and actoriesare part o the typical picture o Czech and Moraviantowns and countryside. Tey appeared mostly in the

course o the 19th century and at the beginning o the20th century, when almost 70 % o the Austro-HungarianEmpires total industrial production concentrated in theCzech lands.Tanks to its ample raw materials, especially rich inblack coal resources, limestone, iron ore deposits, itspopulation size, and maybe the highest railway networkdensity in Europe, the Czech lands became one o themost developed industrial countries. Te best-knownindustries were, in particular, coal mining, iron and

Black Coal, white suar

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steel production in the Ostrava region innorthern Moravia, and also in the Kladno region

near Prague, extensive beet sugar production(including lump sugar, a convenient beveragesweetener, which was invented in Daice inMoravia), world-amous hop growing theSaatz variety rom atec, beer production(especially the light lager Pilsner Urquell, whichgave its name to a general type o beer), textileindustry, glassworks, shoe industry ounded inZln by the Baa amily, products o engineeringindustry, and koda cars. At the same time,a number o industrial premises, technicalbuildings or power stations were designed byprominent architects and added to the reputation

o their owners.

1.,2.Waterworks and a water purication plant, stillworking, in Podol , Prague (1929)

3. Te water purication plant in Bubene, Prague, rom

the early 20th

century, houses the Eco-technical Museum.

4. Blast urnaces in ormer iron works in Ostrava-Vtkovice, nominated to be listed in the UNESCOheritage list

5. Pardubices automatic mill buildings, designed by theamous Czech architect J. Gor

4.,7. A mining tower and other unique acilities andmachines in the complex o the ormer Michal mine,open to the public, evidence o the mining tradition inthe Ostrava region

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Rie and Fall

om Garrigue Masaryk, the rst president o theCzechoslovak Republic, is oen compared to GeorgeWashington. On 28th October 1918, at the end o World WarII, which led to the demise o the then unstable HabsburgAustro-Hungarian Empire, a new independent state wascreated comprising a group o historic lands: Bohemia,Moravia, Silesia, Slovakia, and ranscarpathian Ukraine.President Masaryk, a proponent o modern sociology anda humanistic philosopher promoting cooperation o nationsand personal reedom, became a symbol o the periodcalled the rst republic.Te period was short-lived as it took mere twenty yearsuntil the Munich Agreement in 1938; yet all generations hitby the post-war socialist development recall it nostalgicallyas an example o a well-organized and ecient democracy.Te euphoria o the rst reedom years was ollowed, in the1930s, by a period o the world-wide economic crisis and,

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The Touche of magic

at the same time, gathering ascist war clouds. Although

Czechoslovak citizens were determined and ready toace the German threat and provided the borders witha unique ortication system, the country ell one othe rst victims to Hitlers crazy plans. It became theProtectorate o Bohemia and Moravia, did not enterthe war actively, but experienced wartime atrocities:the sad ate o Lidice and Leky, two villages brutallyobliterated by the Nazis in 1942, will leave a bloody scarin peoples hearts orever.

1. House At the Black Mother o God is an example o theoriginal Czech use o Cubism in architecture (J. Gor).

2. Jan Zrzavs Kleopatra and other outstanding modernworks are exhibited in the National Gallery in Prague.

3. Memorial to the Lidice victims

4. Aer 1926, uture technicians and designers o theamous koda car actory in Mlad Boleslav studied ata new industrial school designed by J. Kroha

5.,6. Te Krlov Hradec Museum building and most o itsurnishings were designed by the ounder o modern Czech

architecture J. Kotra

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Te most striking change that anyone who had visitedthe socialist Czechoslovakia beore 1989 will notice maybe seen in the colours in todays streets and in peoplesminds. Te sad grey country with miserable citizens, edup with decades o communist rule, woke up as a sleepingbeauty; it has straightened up, wants to join the world andeagerly tries to make up or the lost time.Czechoslovakia became part o the so-called Eastern bloc

shortly aer World War II. As it was agreed by the Allies,it was liberated by the Soviet Army; moreover, communistideals t very well in the era o the post-war constructiveenthusiasm. Aer the election in 1948, the model pre-wardemocracy moved in the direction o socialism.In the rst years o communist rule, political trials tookplace, as a result o which some people were executed andmany sentenced to orced labour in uranium mines; thenin the sixties, the country experienced a reorm spirit,subsequently leading to the Prague Spring in 1968and resulting in a military invasion carried out by veWarsaw Pact states. In the next twenty years, a period onormalisation with strict censorship and powerul secret

police ollowed. Te socialist Czechoslovakia readily tookpride in its amily silver, even though it was inherited

Family silver

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rom the countrys capitalist predecessors. It went onexporting outstanding Czech beer and hops, Bohemiancrystal, Petro pianos, as well as iron and steel, Zetortractors, atra and koda cars, railway engines, tramways,or guns. Beore socialist realism, a pretentious art orm,had time to take root in the country, the Czech workso art and architecture were a great success at the EXPO

world exhibitions (Laterna Magika, a unique audio-visualproject, in Brussels in 1958, and Kinoautomat, a amouslm project, in Montreal in 1967). Apart rom uniormpreab housing estates, also some quality structures wereerected, e.g. a transmitting tower on the Jetd mountain,awarded by a prestigious international Perret prize.In addition to those who wanted to please the regime,there were other authors who did not bow their heads tocommunist rule, such as the poet Jaroslav Seiert (a Nobelprize winner in literature in 1984), or the dramatist VclavHavel. oday, talented Czechs are no longer obligedto emigrate to be able to voice their views, as was thecase with Milan Kundera in 1975. Many o them are

demanded in the world, e.g. hockey players Jaromr Jgrand Dominik Haek, the ootball player Pavel Nedvd, orthe skier Kateina Neumannov; however, they are stillnatives to the Czech Republic.

1. Te Brno rade Fair is a traditional trade aircomplex, unique or its Functionalist architecture.

2. koda works in Pilsen, known or the production ocars, tramways, aeroplanes and ships

3. Fine aromatic hops grown near atec guaranteeoutstanding taste and smell o Czech beer, exportedworld-wide.

4. Aero, an aircra actory, extended its range oproducts in 1929 to produce an original small car or bigtravels.

5. Te Dancing House at the Vltava river (called Gingerand Fred), an exceptional work o architectureinternationally, by Frank O. Gehry and V. Miluni(1995)

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Published by Sign-Print for Czech Tourism

Prague 2008

Text: Yvonna Friov

Translation: Zdena Povicov

Photos: CzechTourism, Karel Cudln, Pavel Fri, Dan Friedlaender & Sr.,

Jaroslav Jebek, Miroslav Krob & Jr., Karel Neubert, Libor Svek, Ji Veteka,

Vydavatelstv MCU s.r.o., Archiv Poszav o.p.s.

Printed: Print Design & Production

This indicates official tourist information centres

This indicates officially certified accommodation facilities

Official tourist presentation of the Czech Republic

.czechtourim.com

Te Jetd hill near Liberec completes the storyo Czech architecture by a symboliccombination o modern technologies,outstanding architecture, and beautiulcountryside. Its V tower and a mountainhotel, designed by K. Hubek, awarded bya European prestigious August Perret prize inland architecture, is a challenge to the 21 stcentury.


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Rich in History

czech republic heritage

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