Prague, Czech Republic
October, 2025
Good King Wenceslas, Kafka, Iron Curtain, Vaclav Havel and the Velvet Revolution, Hussites, Golem, Alfons Mucha, Czechoslovakia/Slovakia/Czechnia/Czech Republic, Pilsener, crawling babies – the city of Praque has something to do with all of these and more.
We didn’t expect to visit Prague originally. We had booked a river cruise from Vienna to Amsterdam in September with Grand Circle in Boston. They called us in early September to say our tour was overbooked, and would we be willing to delay our tour until early October? If we did, they would throw in a five-day tour of Prague – all expenses paid. Of course we agreed. Unfortunately, after our five days in Prague we discovered that our ship cruise was cancelled due to mechanical problems. Fortunately, we were able to spend a day in Vienna.
We arrived at the Hotel Hermitage to find 14 other tour members. The hotel was fine, centrally located, and offered an amazing buffet breakfast. We met our guide, Michal, a native of Bratislava who turned out to be very knowledgeable, charismatic, and spoke excellent English.
After Michal’s orientation we mounted a bus that took us on a tour of the town with Michal explaining the sites. Among the sites:
Kafka’s home: Yes, the great writer Franz Kafka spent most of his life here writing classical favorites such as “Metamorphosis”, about the man who woke up one morning to find that he had transformed into a beetle. Interestingly. He worked for 14 years as a clerk for an insurance company. He never married.
Astronomical Clock: The Orloj is mounted on the southern wall of the city’s Old Town Hall in the Old Town Square. The clock mechanism has three main components – the astronomical dial, representing the position of the Sun and Moon in the sky and displaying various astronomical details; statues of various Catholic saints stand on either side of the clock; “The Walk of the Apostles“, an hourly show of moving Apostle figures and other sculptures, notably a figure of a skeleton that represents Death, striking the time; and a calendar dial with medallions representing the months. According to local legend, the city will suffer if the clock is neglected and its good operation is placed in jeopardy; a ghost, mounted on the clock, was supposed to nod its head in confirmation. According to the legend, the only hope was represented by a boy born on New Year’s night. he oldest part of the Orloj, the mechanical clock and astronomical dial, dates back to 1410, when it was created by horologist Mikuláš of Kadaň and Charles University professor of mathematics and astronomy Jan Šindel. The first recorded mention of the clock was on 9 October 1410.[2] Later, presumably around 1490, the calendar dial was added and the clock facade was decorated with gothic sculptures.
Formerly, it was believed that the Orloj was constructed in 1490 by clockmaster Jan Růže (also called Hanuš); this is now known to be a historical mistake. A legend, recounted by Alois Jirásek, has it that the clockmaker Hanuš was blinded on the order of the Prague Councillors so that he could not repeat his work; in turn, he disabled the clock, and no one was able to repair it for the next hundred years.
In 1552 it was repaired by Jan Táborský (1500–1572), master clockmaker of Klokotská Hora, who also wrote a report of the clock where he mentioned Hanuš as the maker of this clock. This mistake, corrected by Zdeněk Horský,[3] was due to an incorrect interpretation of records from the period. The mistaken assumption that Hanuš was the maker is probably connected with his reconstruction of the Old Town Hall in the years 1470–1473. The clock stopped working many times in the centuries after 1552, and was repaired many times. The legend was used as the main plot in the 2008 animated film Goat story – The Old Prague Legends.
In 1629 or 1659 wooden statues were added, and figures of the Apostles were added after a major repair in 1787–1791. During the next major repair in the years 1865–1866 the golden figure of a crowing rooster was added.
The Orloj suffered heavy damage on 7 and especially 8 May 1945, during the Prague uprising, when the Nazis fired on the south-west side of the Old Town Square from several armoured vehicles in an unsuccessful attempt to destroy one of the centers of the uprising. The hall and nearby buildings burned, along with the wooden sculptures on the clock and the calendar dial face made by Josef Mánes.[4] After significant effort, the machinery was repaired, the wooden Apostles restored by Vojtěch Sucharda, and the Orloj started working again in 1948.[5]
The Orloj was renovated in autumn 2005, when the statues and the lower calendar ring were restored. The wooden statues were covered with a net to keep pigeons away.
The last renovation of the astronomical clock was carried out from January to September 2018, following a reconstruction of the Old Town Tower. During the renovation, an electric clock mechanism that had been in operation since 1948 was replaced by an original mechanism from the 1860s.[6]
600th anniversary
On 9 October 2010, the Orloj’s 600th anniversary was celebrated with a light show on the face of the clock tower. Two projectors were used to project several animated videos on the clock. The videos showed it being built, torn down, rebuilt, and peeled away to show its internal mechanisms and the famous animated figures, as well as various events in the clock’s history. The video interacted with the tower’s architecture, such as rain rolling off the arch, and showing the passage of time with moving shadows.[7]
We arrived in a very crowded square where everyone was looking up at a clock. It was about 11:55 AM. At precisely noon, the clock chimed a fancy tune, and statues began to appear in rotation: Vanity, Greed, Death, Pagan Invasion. Next, the twelve apostles. Quite a show! See link: Prague astronomical clock – Wikipedia
Jan Hus: Michal then led us to another part of the square and the statue of Jan Hus, the founder of the Hussites. The “Hussites” were an offshoot of Catholicism, founded at a time when the religious leaders were thought to be “living large”. They were selling indulgences and living in what appeared to the Hussites as luxury. They appeared to be following the same path as the Cathars in France. Jan Hus was eventually burned at the stake.
Charles River Bridge: Named after King Charles IV, who held the title of Holy Roman Emperor and founded Charles University in the 1300’s. During his reign Prague became the capital of the Holy Roman Empire. To this day he remains the most revered figure in Czech history.
This walking-only bridge is known for its statuary. On both sides of the bridge there’s a 10-12 ft. statue of an historic or religious person about every 30 ft. Suffice to say, Michal directed us to the most famous, St. John of Nepomuk. He became a saint and martyr because he refused to disclose the confessions he had heard as a priest from the wife of King Wenceslas IV. In 1393 the King had John thrown to his death from the bridge. St. John’s statue sports a rather cute shiny round belly. Legend has it that, if you rub his belly, you shall return.
Wenceslas Square: A vast plaza located in the center of town. Among the many buildings is the Radio Free Europe Building. Funded by the U.S. it helped bring down the Communist regime
The Velvet Revolution:
In 1948 the Communists took over the country. In the late 60’s Alexander Dubcek, then Communist leader of the country, attempted to loosen up the Communist rule. It was known as the “Prague Spring”. In 1968 the Soviets crushed the Czechoslovakian government and ousted Dubcek.
In the ‘80’s playwright Vaclav Havel organized opposition. His group assembled ever larger gatherings until in 1989 he gathered 500,000 in Wenceslas Square. This demonstration forced the Communists to resign. Without any bloodshed this takeover was known as the “Velvet Revolution”. Havel became the new leader. He escorted President Bill Clinton during his visit: to a jazz club where the Pres. played his newly gifted saxophone, and to pubs where they sampled some of the many Czech beers.
In 1993 the country was split into two separate states: the Czech Republic and Slovakia. This was known as the “Velvet Divorce”. The country is now ruled by a Parliament overseen by a Prime Minister. According to our microscopic view gathered during five days, the country appears to be prospering. Downtown Prague is filled with “high rent” shops – Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Yves St. Laurent, Marks & Spencer etc. There are also two Tommy Hilfiger shops!
St. Victorious: Michal guided us to this church to show us an example of over-the-top interior décor. It was around 2:00 PM. We were surprised to find a Mass in progress. What was more amazing was that it was in English! I would swear that the priest spoke with an American accent. It is also home to the statue, the Infant of Prague. Story has it that the church was destroyed in a fire, but the statue was discovered in the ruins virtually undamaged.
Beer: A very popular product. As a matter of fact, the average annual consumption per person is 40 gallons! That includes every man, women and child. One would think that one would see many a protruding round belly. Yes, there are a few, but not many. Pilsen is a town not far from Prague, a name which gave rise to Pilsener beer. Urquell is the only brand of Czech beer that I recognize in the U.S. Staropramen is a popular brand. Suffice to say, Czech beer tastes great! I even gave up drinking wine while I was there.
Judaism: According to Michal there were many more Jews living in Prague before WWII than after. Many were exterminated in concentration camps like Terrezin, located about an hour from Prague. We declined an offered tour. We didn’t want to be depressed. Besides we had seen an excellent play about Terrezin written by a Newburyport playwright, Anna Smulowitz. One of our tourist sites was a Jewish cemetery. What was amazing about it was how crowded it was. It rose about ten feet above the street. The gravestones were leaning against each other – all 12,000 of them. Michal explained that the bodies were buried in several layers!
Golem: a Rabbi Loew is alleged to have created the myth of this monster – a seven-foot tall creature made of clay with a hole in his forehead. The Golem comes alive when a scroll is inserted in the hole. He then will do any work commanded until the scroll is removed. Rumor has it that he is kept in an attic above a local synagogue. But no one goes there. A Jewish Frankenstein. Rabbi Leow was alleged to have created Golem out of clay to protect the Jewish ghetto.
Cuisine: Not very appealing. Consists of heavy dishes – dumplings, goulash, biscuits, et al. I’ll stick with the breakfast, and the beer.
Mucha Museum: Alfonse Mucha (1860-1939) was quite a famous artist of whom I had never heard. Known internationally as Alphonse Mucha, was Czech painter, illustrator, and graphic artist. Living in Paris during the Art Nouveau period, he was widely known for his distinctly stylized and decorative theatrical posters, particularly those of Sarah Bernhardt.[4] He produced illustrations, advertisements, decorative panels, as well as designs, which became among the best-known images of the period.[5]
In the second part of his career, at the age of 57, he returned to his homeland and devoted himself to a series of twenty monumental symbolist canvases known as The Slav Epic, depicting the history of all the Slavic peoples of the world,[3] which he painted between 1912 and 1926. In 1928, on the 10th anniversary of the independence of Czechoslovakia, he presented the series to the Czech nation. He considered it his most important work.
Anne says she has seen his work at the MFA in Boston. His art nouveau illustration of women surrounded by floral arches. He also was commissioned to do art for the Czech currency, the koruna, and postage stamps. Tiffany used some of his images. (see photos attached).
Good King Wenceslas: Famous for his Christmas Carol, he was King Wenceslas I. Not to be confused with Wenceslas IV, who commanded that St. John of Nepomuk be thrown to his death from St. Charles bridge.
Crawling Babies: A giant TV tower is located on top of the highest hill overlooking the town. Sculpturist David Cerny mounted twenty baby sculptures that appear to be crawling up and down various parts of the structure.
Choo-choo Lunch: The restaurant Vtopna offers meals and drinks served via model railroad. It’s amazing to see your lunch arrive on a train right in front of you.
The next morning we left for our 6 hour drive to Vienna and our cruise ship, stopping in Bratislava , Slovakia for lunch and some time to explore the town.
A la prochaine,
