Old town ring
| Old Town Square Staroměstské náměstí |
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 Old Town Square with Jan Hus monument and Tyn Church, view from the tower of the Old Town Hall. |
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| Basic data | |
| place | Prague |
| District | Old town |
| Created | 11th century |
| Buildings | Old Town Hall with astronomical clock , Teyn Church , Nikolauskirche , Goltz-Kinsky Palais , Jan Hus monument , Marian column |
| use | |
| User groups | Foot traffic |
| Technical specifications | |
| Square area | 9000 m² |
The Old Town Square (Czech: ) is a square in the center of Prague's Old Town . The oldest and most important square in Prague is surrounded by historical buildings of different architectural styles, such as the Old Town Hall with the world-famous astronomical clock, the Gothic Tyn Church , the Baroque St. Nicholas Church and the Rococo Golz-Kinsky Palace . In the middle rises the monumental monument of the Bohemian reformer Jan Hus . The Königsweg , the historical coronation route of the Bohemian kings , leads across the Old Town Square .
history
The first commercial branches on the right bank of the Vltava , in the area of today's Prague Old Town, were established by German and Jewish merchants and local craftsmen in the 10th and 11th centuries. A major reason for this was the favorable location at the crossroads of important trade routes and the existence of a ford through which the river could be crossed. The ford was located near today's Charles Bridge . The settlements developed under the protection of the two castles - Vyšehrad on the right and Prague Castle on the left bank of the Vltava. The Arab-Jewish merchant Ibrahim Ibn Jakob wrote a travel report from the year 965 in which Prague is described as a city where you can buy poultry and grain cheaply and also take care of your pack animals. The city is said to be built of stone and lime and is the largest trading center in the Slavic countries. Furs, saddles, bridles, shields, but also slaves, gold, silver and horses are for sale here.
The Bohemian historian Cosmas mentioned the existence of a market place in 1100. This was already at the end of the 11th century in the area of today's Old Town Square. In the 11th century, the princely Zollhof ( Ungelt ) was also established here , where foreign merchants, under the protection of the Bohemian ruler, found good accommodation and rest after their long wandering and had to set up customs for their imported goods. A hospital and a church (the forerunner of the Teyn Church) were built adjacent to the Zollhof in the 12th century .
The settlement experienced its first heyday in the 12th and 13th centuries. The new stone Judith Bridge improved the connection between the two banks of the Vltava and in 1230, under King Wenceslaus I, the construction of a city wall began. In the same year Wenceslas I elevated the old town to a free royal city , it is the oldest of the four independent Prague cities. The Prague lower castle (podhradí ) developed into a prosperous medieval city. Their population grew and the brisk trade led to a growing wealth of the residents and increased construction activity. The new development was concentrated around the large market square and the area between the market square and the Vltava bridge.
The Romanesque and early Gothic houses were two to three meters below the level of today's streets in an area that was constantly threatened by flooding. As early as the end of the 13th century, artificial embankments began and the street level was gradually raised. The Romanesque ground floor was transformed into the basement of Gothic town houses. Remains of the oldest architectural monuments can therefore be found today in the cellars of the later houses.
In 1338, the citizens of the old town obtained the right from King John of Luxembourg to build their own town hall. It was built on the Old Town Square instead of several older town houses and was later expanded by buying additional neighboring houses. The city's self-government was strengthened and the Old Town Square developed into the political, economic and cultural center of the old town. The importance of the old town grew under Emperor Charles IV when Prague became the capital of the Holy Roman Empire . This is reminiscent of the inscription praga caput regni (Prague, capital of the kingdom) above the Renaissance window of the Kříž house , which has been part of the town hall since the 14th century.
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After the four independent Prague cities merged into one administrative unit in 1784, the Prague city administration was concentrated in the Old Town Hall. The Old Town Square thus became the center of the whole city. The radical modernization of the city (called pražská asanace ) at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries had a major impact . The historic houses in the northern part of the square were demolished and replaced by modern houses, and the new Pařížská street was built with a direct view of the Letná hill on the opposite side of the Vltava river.
Since the 1960s there have been no trams or bus routes across the square. The entire area has been protected as a national cultural monument since 1962 . The Old Town Square is now a pedestrian zone and a major attraction for tourists. In recent years the tradition of Christmas and Easter markets has been revived.
Historical events
The Old Town Square has been the scene of significant events in Czech history since the Middle Ages:
- In the 14th century, the Bohemian reform preachers and forerunners of the Hussites Jan Milíč z Kroměříže , Konrad von Waldhausen and Matthias von Janov worked in the Nikolauskirche on the Old Town Square .
- In the 15th century the old town was a center of the Hussite movement in Prague. Important deliberations of the Hussite estates took place in the Old Town Hall. The Tyn Church was the main church of the Bohemian Utraquists . The Prague Hussite Archbishop Jan Rokycana worked here .
- On March 9, 1422, Jan Želivský , leader of the radical Hussites, was executed in the Old Town Square. He led the storming of the New Town Hall , which ended with the first lintel in Prague .
- On February 27, 1458, the Hussite King George of Podebrady was elected in the Old Town Hall .
- On June 21, 1621, 27 leaders of the Bohemian uprising against the Habsburgs were publicly executed in front of the Old Town Hall. A memorial with 27 crosses embedded in the ground reminds of this.
- In October 1918 demonstrations for an independent Czechoslovakia took place here.
- In May 1945, the Old Town Square was the center of the Prague uprising against the German occupation . The town hall was badly damaged in the fighting.
Significant buildings
Old town hall with astronomical clock
At the southwest corner of the Old Town Square is the Old Town Hall ( Staroměstská radnice ) with its 70 meter high tower. In addition to the astronomical clock ( Staroměstský orloj ) from 1410, which is one of Prague's biggest tourist attractions, there is also the Gothic oriel chapel. The neo-Gothic extension on the north side had to be demolished after the Second World War due to severe fire damage . In its place there is now a small park with a memorial for those who fell in the Prague uprising of 1945.
From the viewing gallery in the town hall tower you have a wonderful view over the roofs of the old town.
House at the minute
The house Zur Minute ( Dům U Minuty ) is to the left of the Old Town Hall. The sgraffito decorations on the facade from the 17th century are striking . They show biblical episodes, motifs from ancient mythology and scenes from life during the Renaissance .
House to the white unicorn
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On the south side, at the confluence of Celetná Street , there is the House of the White Unicorn ( U Bílého jednorožce ), formerly also called House of the Stone Lamb ( U Kamenného beránka ), house no. 17/551. It is said to be one of Prague's oldest houses; in the basement you can still find wall remains of the original Romanesque building and a Gothic vault. In the 19th century, this was the location of the Zum Weißen Einhorn pharmacy , which got its name from the house sign from the 16th century - lamb with a horn.
In the early 20th century the house belonged to the married couple Berta and Max Fanta . The pharmacist Max Fanta invented the Fanta bowl named after him here . Wife Berta ran a literary salon on the first floor, where many well-known Prague intellectuals met for discussions. Among the visitors were Franz Kafka , Samuel Hugo Bergmann , Franz Werfel and Max Brod . A visit by Rudolf Steiner , the founder of anthroposophy , is also documented. One of the guests was Albert Einstein , who taught theoretical physics at Prague University in 1911 and 1912 . A bust next to the house entrance reminds of him.
Tyn Church
The Gothic church of the Virgin Mary in front of the Týn ( Kostel Panny Marie před Týnem ) was built together with the Teynhof (Ungelt) as a hospital church for foreign merchants. With its two 80 meter high towers, it is one of the capital's landmarks. The west portal to the Old Town Square is surrounded by houses in front and is accessible through the Teynschule building. In the 15th century, Tyn Church was a main Hussite church, where the Hussite Archbishop Jan Rokycana preached . Today it belongs to the Catholic Church .
Teynschule
The building of the former Týnská škola stands in front of the main portal of the Týn Church. The originally Gothic building from the 14th century was rebuilt in the 16th century in the Venetian Renaissance style. The front of the building is decorated with a baroque fresco with the motif of the Assumption of Mary . A Latin school was housed here until the 19th century , in which the Bohemian master builder Matthias Rejsek also worked as a rector and teacher.
Goltz-Kinsky Palace
The Rococo Golz-Kinsky Palace ( Palác Goltz-Kinských or Palác Kinských ) on the east side of the square was planned by Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer and built by Anselmo Lurago in 1755–1765 . In the 19th century there was a grammar school with German as the language of instruction, which Franz Kafka and Max Brod , among others, attended. Today the house belongs to the Prague National Gallery ( Národní galerie v Praze ), which uses it for art exhibitions. It also houses the valuable restored Kinsky Library and the administration of the National Gallery.
House to the stone bell
To the right of the Golz-Kinsky Palace is the House of the Stone Bell ( Dům U kamenného zvonu ). It was built in the 14th century as a magnificent urban residence. It probably served as a temporary seat of the Bohemian royal couple of Eliška Přemyslovna and John of Luxembourg , the parents of the future emperor Charles IV , who may have been born here. The originally Gothic house was completely redesigned in Baroque style in the 17th century. In the course of an extensive reconstruction in the years 1975–1988, its original Gothic shape was largely restored. Today the house is one of Prague's most valuable Gothic monuments. Since 1988 it has belonged to the Prague National Gallery, which hosts art exhibitions and concerts here.
Former Paulan monastery
From the former Paulan monastery ( Klášter paulánů ) next to the Church of St. Salvator, only one house is left on the northeast corner of the Old Town Square, on Dlouhá street , house number 930/7. The remaining buildings were demolished as part of a radical modernization of the city at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The St. Salvator Church, built by the German Lutherans , was confiscated after the Protestant defeat in the Battle of White Mountain and handed over to the Paulans in 1626 . They also bought neighboring houses and built a large monastery building next to the church with a facade facing the square. The attic of the house, which is still preserved today, is adorned with statues by the sculptor Mathias Wenzel Jäckel from 1696. At the top of the attic is the statue of Salvator, underneath in a niche is a statue of the Italian founder Franz von Paola .
As part of the Josephine church reforms, the church and monastery were secularized in 1784 and given to the city. Today the St. Salvator Church belongs to the Evangelical Church of the Bohemian Brethren .
St. Nicholas Church
The baroque St. Nicholas Church ( Kostel svatého Mikuláše ) on the Old Town Square is not as important in terms of art history as the church of the same name on the Lesser Town . But it is one of the structural dominants of the old town. In its eventful history it has changed owner and destination several times. It was the parish church of the old town, a center of the Hussite Reformation, Lutheran church, Benedictine monastery church , served at times as a warehouse and concert hall, and was used by the Russian Orthodox Church before the First World War . Today it belongs to the Czechoslovak Hussite Church .
Monuments
Jan Hus memorial
The bronze monument of the Bohemian reformer Jan Hus ( Pomník mistra Jana Husa ) stands in the middle of the square. It was unveiled in 1915, on the five hundredth anniversary of the burning of Jan Hus at the stake in Constance . The work of Ladislav Šaloun is one of the most important Art Nouveau works of monumental Czech sculpture.
Marian column
Until 1918 there was a 14 meter high Marian column ( Mariánský sloup ) in front of the Tyn Church . It was ordered by Emperor Ferdinand III. Erected shortly after the end of the Thirty Years' War as a thank you for saving Prague's old town from the Swedish Protestant troops. On November 3, 1918, a few days after the proclamation of independent Czechoslovakia , it was torn down by demonstrators as a symbol of the defeat on the White Mountain and the Habsburg supremacy. On January 23, 2020, the Prague magistrate voted to rebuild the Marian Column. In June 2020, the reconstruction of the Marian column returned to the Old Town Square.
Prague meridian
The Prague Meridian ( pražský poledník ) is a marker set into the ground at the coordinates 14 ° 25′17 ″ east of Greenwich on the Old Town Square, near the Jan Hus monument. The meridian has been used since 1652 to reliably indicate when the sun is at its zenith , i.e. when it is noon . It was sufficient to observe when the meridian coincides with the shadow of the Marian column. A comparison of the Prague meridian with the more precise sundials used later in the Prague Clementinum showed a deviation of only 1 second.
To mark the course of the meridian, a brass rail with Latin and Czech inscriptions and a strip of stone leading away was inserted into the pavement in the 1990s. The inscription reads: "POLEDNÍK, PODLE NĚHOŽ BYL V MINULOSTI ŘÍZEN PRAŽSKÝ ČAS / MERIDIANUS QUO OLIM TEMPUS PRAGENSE DIRIGEBATUR".
Memorial to the executions of 1621
In the ground in front of the Old Town Hall are 27 crosses, plus symbols of crossed swords with a crown of thorns and the date 21. VI. Used in stone pavement in 1621. This memorial commemorates the place where 27 leaders of the Bohemian Estates uprising against the Habsburgs were publicly executed that day. A bronze plaque on the town hall wall next to it bears the names of the victims. The executions served to deter the population. They took place in front of thousands of spectators and lasted 4 hours. On the orders of the Habsburg King Ferdinand II , twelve of the severed heads were then hung on the Old Town Bridge Tower , some of the bodies of the executed were dismembered and publicly exhibited in various places in Prague as a deterrent.
literature
- Historic Prague . V Ráji, Prague 1991, ISBN 80-900875-0-7 , p. 17-29 .
- Helmut Zeller, Eva Gruberová: CityTrip-plus Prague . Reise Know-How, Bielefeld 2016, ISBN 978-3-8317-2633-2 , p. 94-101 .
- František Ruth: Kronika královské Prahy a obcí sousedních (= chronicle of the royal city of Prague and the neighboring towns ). Pavel Körber, Prague 1904, Staroměstské náměstí, p. 982-1019 (Czech, 1246 pages, online [accessed November 11, 2019]).
- Jan Herain, Josef Teige: Staroměstský rynk v Praze . Společnost přátel starožitností českých, Praha 1908 (Czech, 430 pages, online [accessed November 11, 2019]).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Friedrich Wigger: Report by Ibrahîm ibn Jakûb on the Slavs from the year 973. Retrieved on November 15, 2019.
- ↑ Staroměstské náměstí , Národní památkový ústav, accessed on November 11, 2019.
- ↑ Jan Herben: Poprava českých pánů na Staroměstském náměstí v Praze 21. června 1621 . Mladé proudy, Praha 1921 (Czech, online ). Retrieved November 11, 2019.
- ↑ Pražské povstání 5. – 9. května 1945 , archives St. města Prahy (Czech), accessed November 15, 2019.
- ^ The Salon of Berta Fanta , Portal Franz Kafka & Prague, accessed on November 15, 2019.
- ↑ a b c altstadter-ring-staromestske-namesti , Prague tourist portal , accessed on November 15, 2019.
- ↑ tyn-school , kralovskacesta.cz (English), accessed on November 15, 2019.
- ↑ at-the-stone-bell , kralovskacesta.cz (English), accessed on November 15, 2019.
- ↑ gallery-of-the-capital-prague-house-to-stone-bell , tourism portal of the city of Prague, accessed on November 15, 2019
- ↑ radio.cz
- ^ Copy of the Marian Column erected in Prague
- ↑ old-town-square , PragueCityLine.com (English), accessed on November 15, 2019.
- ↑ astronomisches-prag , Prague tourism portal , accessed on November 15, 2019.
- ↑ execution-place-from-1621 kralovskacesta.cz (English), accessed on November 15, 2019.
Web links
- altstadter-ring-staromestske-namesti , Prague tourist portal , accessed on November 15, 2019.
- old-town-square kralovskacesta.cz, accessed November 15, 2019.
Coordinates: 50 ° 5 '14.3 " N , 14 ° 25' 16.5" E