Verstehen · Kapitel 8
By the HolidayGenie editorial team ·
From the legendary founding by Princess Libuše, through Charles IV, the Hussites, the Habsburgs, and the Defenestration of Prague, to the Velvet Revolution — Prague's history is a breathless ride through 1,000 years of European power politics, reformation, and revolution.
From the Founding to Charles IV
Legend has it that Princess Libuše stood on Vyšehrad, gazed over the Vltava, and prophesied: "I see a great city whose fame will touch the stars." She commanded a castle to be built at that spot — Prague (from práh = threshold). Historically, the founding of Prague Castle in the 9th century by the Přemyslid dynasty is documented.
The Golden Era: Charles IV (1346–1378)
Charles IV was the most significant Bohemian ruler — and as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, the most powerful man in Europe. He made Prague his residence and transformed the city into a European metropolis:
- 1348: Founding of Charles University — the first university in Central Europe (older than Vienna, Heidelberg, Krakow).
- 1348: Founding of the New Town (Nové Město) — a planned city expansion that doubled Prague's area.
- 1357: Construction of the Charles Bridge — the stone bridge over the Vltava, which for 600 years was the only connection between the Old Town and Lesser Town.
- 1344: Beginning of St. Vitus Cathedral — the Gothic cathedral, completed only in 1929.
Under Charles IV, Prague had 40,000 inhabitants — one of the largest cities in Europe, larger than London or Paris at that time. The city was a center of culture, science, and trade.
Hussites, Habsburgs & Defenestration
Jan Hus and the Hussite Wars (1415–1436)
The Prague preacher and reformer Jan Hus criticized the corruption of the church — 100 years before Martin Luther. In 1415, he was burned as a heretic in Constance. His followers, the Hussites, rose in a fierce religious war that shook Bohemia and all of Central Europe. The Hussite Wars shaped Czech identity as a land of resistance against authoritarian power — a theme that runs through the centuries.
The Defenestration of Prague (1618)
On May 23, 1618, Protestant Bohemian nobles threw two imperial governors and their secretary out of a window of Prague Castle — 17 meters down. The victims survived (they landed on a dung heap, say the Protestants; angels saved them, say the Catholics). This Second Defenestration of Prague triggered the Thirty Years' War — the most devastating conflict in Europe until World War I.
The Habsburg Rule
After the lost Battle of White Mountain (1620), the Habsburgs subjugated Bohemia for 300 years. The Protestant elite was expelled or executed (27 leaders were beheaded in the Old Town Square — even today, 27 crosses in the pavement mark the spot). Czech was banned as an official language, and the Counter-Reformation was enforced. The baroque churches and palaces of Prague — beautiful as they are — are also monuments to Habsburg oppression.
From Independence to the Velvet Revolution
First Republic (1918–1938)
After World War I, Czechoslovakia was founded — with Prague as its capital and Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk as its first president. The First Republic was the most democratic and economically successful state in Central Europe — until Hitler came.
Nazi Occupation and Communism
1939–1945: Nazi Germany annexed the Sudetenland (Munich Agreement 1938) and established the "Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia". The Jewish population was systematically deported and murdered — of 118,000 Czech and Moravian Jews, only 26,000 survived.
1948–1989: After a communist coup, Czechoslovakia became a satellite state of the Soviet Union. The Prague Spring of 1968 — the attempt to create "socialism with a human face" — was brutally crushed by Soviet tanks. Jan Palach set himself on fire in 1969 in Wenceslas Square in protest.
The Velvet Revolution (November 17, 1989)
On November 17, 1989, students demonstrated on Národní třída (National Avenue) — the police responded brutally. Outrage grew, and within days, 500,000 people gathered in Wenceslas Square. They jingled keys — the symbol for "unlocking freedom". The playwright Václav Havel led the opposition and was elected president in December 1989. On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia — the "Velvet Divorce".
EU Membership and Present Day
2004 saw the Czech Republic join the EU (but not the Euro — the crown remains). Since then, Prague has developed into one of Europe's most popular city travel destinations — with all the advantages and disadvantages of mass tourism. The city struggles with rising rents, Airbnb pressure, and balancing tourism with quality of life.
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