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Writer's pictureAndre Schwager

Discovering Old Town Prague

Our plan is to explore and enjoy Prague for three days. Today’s focus was a walk through Old Town in the morning, then cross the Vltava river to the Hradčcany District, site of the Prague Castle.

Morning view of the Prague Palace from our hotel, looking across the Vltava River


Making our way to crossing the Charles Bridge – much more peaceful this morning


Walking through Old Town. Almost every building has beautiful artwork


One of the oldest hotels in the city – The place to stay during our next visit


Leaving for our walk at 9 AM, we were able to avoid the crowds and thoroughly explore the narrow streets, beautifully appointed buildings with their sculptures and frescos.  Each building has a story.  We passed through Old Town Square (we returned later in the morning), on our way to St. Agnes Convent and its medieval art collection, situated along the southern bank of the Vltava river. The convent was founded in 1231 by Agnes of Bohemia, who adhered to the teachings of Francis of Assisi, and built a hospital dedicated to the care of the poor and ill.  The building evolved over the years, including the addition of a private chapel and suite for Agnes.  The order died out after her death in 1282.  The building morphed several times into new roles, including a period as an armory and as a mint. Ownership also changed several times. One owner partitioned it into small apartments for the poor, workshops, and storage. In 1963, it came under the stewardship of the National Gallery, to house its Medieval Arts of Bohemia collection. The building is rather austere, with no effort to present the look and feel of its origin. The empty refractory remains, but provides no hint as to function during its peak period.

Pieta von Jedika (1430) in St. Agnes Convent


Returning to the main square, it was beginning fill with tourists, horse drawn carriages, street vendors, and street performers. The Tyn Church, with its twin towers that can be seen from everywhere in Prague, anchors one side of the Old Town Square.  Dating back to 1385, it continues to be an active Roman Catholic church, with scheduled services.  What I found very strange was that other buildings with apartments and shops were built directly in front of the entrance to the church, concealing the entrance.  Access to the entrance was through a narrow alley between the buildings. Why?  I speculated that perhaps the church sold the plots and allowed the construction because it was in need of funds.  No, said our guide…it was designed that way.  Again, Why?  I never could get a clear answer…so moving on.

Main square in Old Town with Ten Church in the background


Inside the Tyn Church in Prague


Opposite the church is the Square’s tower, with its astronomical clock – one of the main attractions of the city.  The 600-year old clock puts on a mechanical performance of three-foot tall Apostle figures moving in a procession on the hour, every hour. As you can imagine, it was once considered one of the wonders of the world during the Middle Ages. It is presently under repair, with just a few, limited movements.  Not wanting to stand in a crowd of people and jostling to get a photo, we spotted a café on the second floor of the building facing the clock.  We hurried up to snag a table by the open window.  A nice lunch, glass of beer, and a show…perfect! As we were warned, the ‘show’ was underwhelming, at best, since most of it is under repair.  We caught sight of a couple of figurines on two sides of the clock, each turning a little and moving an arm.  It was so subtle, that we missed it with our video camera. We decided not to wait around for an hour to see a repeat.

Old Town’s 600 year old astronomical clock


Figurines that move to create a performance every hour on the hour


After walking back to our hotel, we loaded into a mini-van, drove across the Vltava, and up to the Prague Castle.  Building of the castle complex began in 870 A.D.  The property included a palace, three churches, and a monastery.  It survived over the centuries, a victim of fires and several wars, including World War II and the Soviet occupation.  In 1939, Hitler spent a night in the castle and used the opportunity to proclaim Czechoslovakia a German protectorate, naming Reinhard Heydrich as the Reich Protector. Cruel and teeming with hubris, Heydrich placed the Bohemian crown on his head, dismissing the legend that if anyone wears the crown other than the king, that person would die within a year.  Well, Heydrich died within a year – victim of an assassination attempt. Two exiled Czech soldiers, deployed from England, shot Heydrich while he was riding to his office in his convertible car. The mission was named Operation Anthropoid. The shots did not kill him, but he was seriously wounded. The bullets also tore into the car seat filled with a toxic fiber. The fiber infected his wounds. His life could have been saved by a blood transfusion, which he refused because he would only accept blood from a pure German.  He died a week after being shot.  The 2016 movie Operation Anthropoid is a good and accurate narrative of what happened – not an easy watch.

Basilica of St. Vitus in the Prague Palace complex


Basilica of St. Vitus


Today Prague Palace serves as the official residence of the President of the Czech Republic. Since it is an active government facility, we had to enter via a security check point with a ticket in hand.  We toured one of the three churches, Basilica of St. Vitus, with its beautiful stained glass windows.  We will be returning to the castle complex for our final celebratory dinner tonight, in the Lobkowicz Palace.

Leaving the castle in our mini-van, our final stop for the afternoon was the Strahov Monastery and Library.  The original Strahov Monastery was built in 1140. Like most places we’ve visited, it was rebuilt several times following fires, wars, and plunders.  One of the earlier versions was built in the Gothic style, while the recent reconstruction, which took place in the seventeenth and eighteen centuries, followed the Baroque style. The Theological Hall houses the 200,000 theological-book collection.  It is absolutely the most beautiful library I have ever visited…stunning to say the least. The ceilings are covered with frescoes. The Hall also displays several 17th century geographical and astronomical globes. I spotted a three-foot wide, wheel-like wooden cabinet work with a set of planks mounted to the wheel, similar to a Ferris or water wheel, each capable of accommodating several open books. A researcher would check out several related volumes. Only a librarian/monk may touch the books. After receiving a request, the librarian would get the books and place them on the planks of the wheel, allowing the researcher to move between books without touching them. Somehow, Tauck arranged for our special access to the library (probably a sizeable contribution) not available to the general public, which allowed us to get an up-close look at the details of the room….no touching however.  I could spend hours in this library.

Strahov Monastery Library


Book viewing/research desk


Theological Hall Library – 200,000 books


Returning to our hotel by mini-van, our guide drove by the street corner where Heydrich was shot in 1942. The Operation Anthropoid assassins picked this corner because Heyrich would have to slow down to take the corner, giving them a better chance of striking him.

Our final event was the Farewell Dinner at the Lobkowicz Palace, the only private facility within the Prague Palace complex.  Upon entering the Lobkowicz palace we were guided to a meeting room to listen to a short talk by William Lobkowicz, the current family spokesperson.  The palace was originally built during the 16th century and came into the Lobkowicz name via marriage. While the palace has a long and complex history, William focused primarily on the period of the last three generations, during which the family accumulated most of the art work.  So much was invested in art that the family almost went under, financially.  In the late 1930’s, all the property and contents were seized by the Nazi’s and later held by the communists. William’s family fled to the United States prior to the Nazi takeover. William looks to be in his early 50’s, married with young children. He was educated in the USA, graduated from Harvard, and speaks with a distinct Boston accent.

Continuing his story – following the fall of communism and the Velvet Revolution in 1989, which divided the country into Slovakia and the Czech Republic, the government passed several laws to enable restitution of confiscated property.  William’s father, who then lived in New York, enlisted William and provided money to hire lawyers to begin the reclamation of their property.  After 12 years, ownership was returned to the Lobkowicz family in 2002.  Following restoration, the palace was opened to the public in 2007.  No family members live in the palace.  They established a non-profit foundation, American Friends for the Preservation of Czech Culture, which owns the palace and all the assets and continues to invest in cataloging, restoring thousands of items, and managing access to the public. As you would expect, the occasion also afforded an opportunity for the him to nudge the audience towards membership and contributions to the Foundation.

The formal dinner was in one of the original, large ball rooms. It was a culinary delight.  Guests were invited to visit other parts of the palace to see the artwork and some unique items including several pages of Beethoven sheet music with his handwritten notes on the sides.  Unfortunately, none of us could muster enough energy to spend another hour going through a museum – we passed, hoping that another opportunity would come our way in the future.

View of Old and New Prague from the Prague Palace complex


The walk down the hill from the palace gave us a spectacular view of Prague, as the sun was setting. Just another fantastic day!

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