Jan Hus Monument (Prague)

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Jan Hus Monument in the Old Town Square

The Jan Hus Memorial ( Czech : Pomník mistra Jana Husa ) on the Old Town Square in Prague is the work of the Czech sculptor Ladislav Šaloun . It is one of the most important Art Nouveau works of monumental Czech sculpture. The memorial was unveiled in 1915, on the five hundredth anniversary of the burning of Jan Hus at the stake in Constance . It has been protected as a national cultural monument since 1962 .

Building history

The idea of ​​building a memorial to the Bohemian reformer goes back to an uproar in the Bohemian state parliament on November 25, 1889. A decision was made to put 72 plaques with the names of important Czech personalities on the facade of the new Prague National Museum . A passionate and controversial discussion sparked on the person of Jan Hus. Representatives of the Young Czech party emphasized the importance of Hus and the Hussite reform movement and called for a plaque for Jan Hus. This was sharply rejected by representatives of the Catholic nobility; honoring Hus was out of the question for them. The rejection culminated in the statement by Prince Karl IV. Schwarzenberg , a member of the party of large landowners, that the Hussites were a "gang of robbers and arsonists". This statement led to fierce public and press protests. In response to this, there were calls for a large memorial to be built in the capital in honor of the reformer , and a collection was launched in November to finance him. Under increasing public pressure, the state parliament approved the installation of the memorial plaque just a month later.

The intention to build a large monument quickly won many supporters. But there was still a long way to go before it was realized. Sometimes very passionate arguments not only about the meaning of Jan Hus, but also about the appropriate location and the artistic design of the monument. In the political disputes of the following years, Jan Hus' original image changed from that of a Christian martyr and fighter for freedom of belief to that of a folk hero who fearlessly fought for truth, freedom of conscience and against the authorities. He became an important figure to identify with the anti- Habsburg movement and a symbol of an independent Czech state.

Design by Vilém Amort, which was never realized

First competition

At the beginning of 1890 the Association for the Construction of the Monument of Master Jan Hus (Spolek pro zbudování pomníku Mistra Jana Husa) was founded, Vojtěch Náprstek was elected as the first chairman . After the city administration had approved the construction on the Little Ring (Malé náměstí) in Prague's Old Town on February 13, 1891 , a public competition was announced on October 3, 1891. Of the nine suggestions received, the jury was most impressed by the design by the Czech sculptor Vilém Amort with the title “For the love of art, homeland and people”: “The Corinthian column rises from the richly designed base , its decorated head crowned by the Hussite chalice becomes. Jan Hus stands as a preacher in front of the pillar, a winged genius with a torch flies up to him to crown him with a wreath of glory. The placement of Jan Hus in front of the mighty column commemorates his martyrdom at the stake. "

The representatives of the association were not completely satisfied with any of the proposals. In addition, there were problems with the placement of the monument, because in the future a tram line should run over the Kleiner Ring . An artistic commission set up by the association suggested Wenceslas Square in Prague's New Town as the most representative place in Prague, or Bethlehem Square in the old town - this is where the Bethlehem Chapel , where Jan Hus preached for ten years , used to stand . A commission set up by the city council on February 22, 1896 proposed the Old Town Square instead , as the St. Wenceslas Monument was already planned for Wenceslas Square and there was no way of accommodating both monuments here. The Old Town Square offered much more space than the Small Ring.

This election sparked sharp protests from the Catholic Church. The 14-meter-high baroque Marian column stood on the Old Town Square , donated in 1650 as thanks for saving Prague's old town from the Protestant Swedish army. The Catholic Church called for a protest pilgrimage to the Marian Column, in which 4000 believers took part on July 5, 1898, on the eve of the commemoration day of the execution of Jan Hus. The Viennese government did not like the intention of erecting a monument to Jan Hus either. She also saw the activities of the association as a political demonstration by the anti-Habsburg, Czech national movement.

Second competition

On January 16, 1899, the city council finally approved the installation on the Old Town Square. Thereupon the association announced a second competition in 1900, in which 32 artists participated, among others Stanislav Sucharda , Jan Kotěra and Ladislav Šaloun. The young Czech sculptor Ladislav Šaloun and the architect Antonín Pfeifer received the first prize. A solemn laying of the foundation stone took place on July 6, 1903, even if there was no agreement on the final design of the monument at that time and the association only gave Ladislav Šaloun the official order two years later. Accompanied by many public discussions, Šaloun had to change his draft several times; in 1907 and 1911 he set up models in their original size on the Old Town Square. The final design was only approved in 1911 and the company Srpek from Brandeis on the Elbe was commissioned with the casting. The monument was completed in June 1915.

The unveiling and a large celebration with international participation were originally planned for July 6, 1915, the 500th anniversary of the burning of Jan Hus. But the big celebration had to be canceled because of the outbreak of war . The representatives of the association could only meet for a small celebration “behind a closed door” in the old town hall. The great solemn unveiling no longer took place in the Czechoslovak Republic.

The Marian column did not survive long next to the Hus memorial. A few days after the proclamation of the independent Czechoslovak Republic , on November 3, 1918, a group of angry demonstrators tore down the Marian Column after a large meeting under the motto "reparation for the White Mountain ". Over 100 years later, in 2020, the Marian Column was rebuilt.

description

Detail of the monument: statue of Jan Hus

The bronze monument in Art Nouveau style is placed on a massive granite base of roughly elliptical shape. It is dominated by the figure of Jan Hus, who rises above the burned pyre. Hus looks to the Teyn Church , which was the main Hussite church in the 15th century. The placement of the people surrounding the martyr is symbolic. The victorious Hussite fighters with the shield and the chalice are facing the Tyn Church. On the other hand, facing the former execution site in front of the Old Town Hall, stands a group of conquered, humiliated people who had to leave their homes after the Protestant defeat on the White Mountain. (In 1621 the leaders of the Bohemian uprising were executed in front of the Old Town Hall .) On the back of the monument is a family with a nursing mother, symbolizing the hope for a spiritual rebirth of the Czech people.

Ladislav Šaloun explained the leitmotifs of his monument as follows:

“ From the flames of the pyre in Constance, the fearless Magister rose more powerful than he had ever been. His body was burned, but his spirit lives, his fame has become the spirit and life of Czech history. [...] Through his martyrdom, Hus bought mankind freedom of conscience and the path to truth. […] The Hussite uprising was the first great revolution in which mankind shook off the unbearable yoke of medieval religious despotism. It was a tremendous and victorious struggle of a small people for ideal spiritual goods, the first energetic step on the way to the new life to which the West owes all its modern progress. The fact that the small Czech people dared to take this step alone is the root of the cause of their later decline. It exhausted its strength in the struggles against the immense superiority of medieval Catholic Europe and after two centuries, wrapped in the intrigues of the enemy, it succumbed to their last attack in 1620. "

- Ladislav Šaloun, quoted from

“ The figure of Jan Hus dominates the monument, but Hus is not alone. He is surrounded by people who embody the long historical period that bears his name. […] The group to the left of Hus shows the admirable Hussite popular movement. […] The last Hussite epoch, on the other hand, is represented by the small group of depressed expellees on his right. With them, the epoch of Hus was apparently ended forever. But it just looked like it. The people of Jan Hus lived in humiliation and pain - they suffered, but they lived […]. Slowly the wounds healed and new generations suckled with their breast milk the desire for freedom, for freedom of conscience and freedom of life. And they did not hope in vain. [...] The long night of two hundred years was only a transition to the dawn of a new age. The large groups at the rear embody this transition. "

- Ladislav Šaloun, quoted from
Detail of the monument: group of Hussite fighters

Inscriptions

The following inscriptions are engraved on the perimeter of the granite base:

  • On the front: "Milujte se, pravdy každému přejte" ("Love one another, grant everyone the truth"). Jan Hus in his letter from Constance, entitled "To the dear ones of Prague" (1415)
  • On the left: “Živ buď, národe posvěcený Bohu, neumírej” (“You shall live, my people, consecrated in God, you shall not die”). Blessing from Johann Amos Comenius from the last chapter of his book: Legacy of the Dying Mother, the Brethren , Chapter 20 (1650)
  • On the right: “Věřím, že po přejití bouří hněvu vláda věcí Tvých k Tobě se zase navrátí, ó lide český” (“I believe that after the storms of anger, the rule of your affairs will return to you, O Czech people. "). Johann Amos Comenius: Legacy of the Dying Mother, the Brotherhood, Chapter 19 (1650)
  • In the back: “Kdož jsú boží bojovníci a zákona jeho” (“ You who are God's fighters and his law”). Beginning of the Hussite chant (1420)

The inscriptions were only added after the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic.

In 1926, fire bowls and a railing were added.

In the years 2007 to 2009 the monument was extensively restored.

literature

  • Jan Galandauer: July 6, 1915 - Pomník Mistra Jana Husa . Havran, Brno 2008, ISBN 978-80-86515-81-6 (Czech, 186 pages, online ).
  • Zuzana Patiová: Okolnosti vzniku Husova pomníku v Praze. Bakalářská práce (= circumstances of the creation of Jan Hus memorial in Prague, bachelor thesis ) . Filozofická fakulta Masarykovy univerzity , Brno 2008 (Czech, 58 pages, online ).
  • Tereza Zemanová: Sochařské pomníky Jana Husa: umění a politika v Čechách v roce 1915. Bakalářská práce (= Monuments of Jan Hus: Art and Politics in the Czech Republic in 1915, Bachelor thesis) . Universita Karlova v Praze, Faculty humanitních studií, Praha 2015 (Czech, 125 pages, online ).

Web links

Commons : Jan Hus Monument (Old Town Square)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Monument.npu.cz online , accessed on April 22, 2018
  2. ↑ Tereza Zemanová: Sochařské pomníky Jana Husa: umění a politika v Čechách v roce 1915. Bakalářská práce . Universita Karlova v Praze, Faculty humanitních studií, Praha 2015, p. 21-28 (Czech, 125 pp., Online ).
  3. ↑ Zuzana Patiová: Okolnosti vzniku Husova pomníku v Praze. Bakalářská práce . Filozofická fakulta Masarykovy univerzity, Brno 2008, p. 25 (Czech, 58 pp., Online ).
  4. ↑ a b Tereza Zemanová: Sochařské pomníky Jana Husa: umění a politika v Čechách v roce 1915. Bakalářská práce . Universita Karlova v Praze, Faculty humanitních studií, Praha 2015, p. 45-49 (Czech, 125 pp., Online ).
  5. ↑ a b c d Jan Galandauer: Velká česká slavnost se nekonala . In: Dějiny a součastnost (= past and present) , 2007 online , accessed on April 22, 2018 (Czech)
  6. ↑ Zuzana Patiová: Okolnosti vzniku Husova pomníku v Praze. Bakalářská práce . Filozofická fakulta Masarykovy univerzity, Brno 2008, p. 39, 43 (Czech, 58 pp., Online ).
  7. ↑ Tereza Zemanová: Sochařské pomníky Jana Husa: umění a politika v Čechách v roce 1915. Bakalářská práce . Universita Karlova v Praze, Faculty humanitních studií, Praha 2015, p. 38-39 (Czech, 125 pp., Online ).
  8. ↑ Jiří Otter: Five tours through Prague on the trail of the Bohemian Reformation . Kalich, Prague 2000, p. 27-28 (157 pp.).
  9. ↑ Pomník mistra Jana Husa on Hrady.cz, accessed on April 22, 2018 (Czech)

Coordinates: 50 ° 5 ′ 16 ″  N , 14 ° 25 ′ 16 ″  E