1.
Czech language
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Czech, historically also Bohemian, is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group. It is spoken by over 10 million people and is the language of the Czech Republic. Czech is closely related to Slovak, to the point of being intelligible to a very high degree. In the later 18th to mid-19th century, the written standard was codified in the context of the Czech National Revival. The main vernacular, known as Common Czech, is based on the vernacular of Prague, the Moravian dialects spoken in the eastern part of the country are mostly also counted as Czech, although some of their eastern variants are closer to Slovak. The Czech phoneme inventory is moderate in size, comprising five vowels, words may contain uncommon consonant clusters, including one consonant represented by the grapheme ř, or lack vowels altogether. Czech orthography is simple, and has used as a model by phonologists. Czech is classified as a member of the West Slavic sub-branch of the Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family and this branch includes Polish, Kashubian, Upper and Lower Sorbian and Slovak. Slovak is by far the closest genetic neighbor of Czech, the West Slavic languages are spoken in an area classified as part of Central Europe. Around the 7th century, the Slavic expansion reached Central Europe, the West Slavic polity of Great Moravia formed by the 9th century. The Christianization of Bohemia took place during the 9th and 10th centuries, the Bohemian language is first recorded in writing in glosses and short notes during the 12th to 13th centuries. Literary works written in Czech appear in the early 14th century, the first complete Bible translation also dates to this period. Old Czech texts, including poetry and cookbooks, were produced outside the university as well, literary activity becomes widespread in the early 15th century in the context of the Bohemian Reformation. There was no standardization distinguishing between Czech and Slovak prior to the 15th century, the publication of the Kralice Bible between 1579 and 1593 became very important for standardization of the Czech language in the following centuries. In 1615, the Bohemian diet tried to declare Czech to be the official language of the kingdom. After the Bohemian Revolt which was defeated by the Habsburgs in 1620 and this emigration together with other consequences of the Thirty Years War had a negative impact on the further use of the Czech language. In 1627, Czech and German became official languages of the Kingdom of Bohemia and in the 18th century German became dominant in Bohemia and Moravia, the modern standard Czech language originates in standardization efforts of the 18th century. Changes include the shift of í to ej and é to í and the merging of í
2.
German language
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German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol, the German-speaking Community of Belgium and it is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg. Major languages which are most similar to German include other members of the West Germanic language branch, such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, Luxembourgish and it is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English. One of the languages of the world, German is the first language of about 95 million people worldwide. The German speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of publication of new books. German derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, a portion of German words are derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer are borrowed from French and English. With slightly different standardized variants, German is a pluricentric language, like English, German is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects, with many unique varieties existing in Europe and also other parts of the world. The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, when Martin Luther translated the Bible, he based his translation primarily on the standard bureaucratic language used in Saxony, also known as Meißner Deutsch. Copies of Luthers Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region that translated words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics initially rejected Luthers translation, and tried to create their own Catholic standard of the German language – the difference in relation to Protestant German was minimal. It was not until the middle of the 18th century that a widely accepted standard was created, until about 1800, standard German was mainly a written language, in urban northern Germany, the local Low German dialects were spoken. Standard German, which was different, was often learned as a foreign language with uncertain pronunciation. Northern German pronunciation was considered the standard in prescriptive pronunciation guides though, however, German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire and its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Some cities, such as Prague and Budapest, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain, others, such as Pozsony, were originally settled during the Habsburg period, and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest and Bratislava as well as cities like Zagreb, the most comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of the German language is found within the Deutsches Wörterbuch. This dictionary was created by the Brothers Grimm and is composed of 16 parts which were issued between 1852 and 1860, in 1872, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, the 2nd Orthographical Conference ended with a standardization of the German language in its written form
3.
Districts of Prague
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Prague has a local-government structure of two or three tiers, depending on the area of town. Since 1990, the city has been divided into 56 self-governing municipal districts, another important activity of the municipal districts is the ownership, maintenance and, sometimes, sale of public property, especially public housing. Since 2001, the 57 municipal districts have been grouped into 22 numbered administrative districts, one municipal district in each administrative district has responsibility for providing certain services for the entire administrative district. Those services include providing business licenses, identity cards and passports, the municipal district with such responsibility shares a name with the administrative district it serves. For example, the district of Prague 19 provides those services to the municipal districts of Prague 19, Prague-Čakovice, Prague-Satalice. Residents of Satalice can get dog tags in their neighborhood but must go to Kbely, home of the Prague 19 government, both the citywide government and the municipal districts have elected councils and mayors. The mayor of the Capital City of Prague is known as the primátor, from 1960 to 1990, Prague was divided into 10 districts. Those 10 districts are used for addressing and transportation purposes and, for example. Street signs additionally add the name of the area, which usually reflects the name of an old municipality before its assimilation into the city of Prague. Thus, a sign in Kbely will say Praha 9-Kbely, not Praha 19, Prague residents are much more likely to use the name of a cadastral area or a 1960 municipal district than the name of a post-1990 district in everyday communication. Notes, In 2001, the Czech government ordered all municipal districts serving entire administrative districts should have the same name as the administrative district. Thus, the districts of Radotín, Řepy, Letňany, Kbely, Horní Počernice, Újezd nad Lesy and Uhříněves are now Prague 16 through 22. The old names persist as names of cadastral areas, all named districts officially begin with Prague-, or, in Czech, Praha-. Thus, the name of Kunratice is Prague-Kunratice or Praha-Kunratice. Města a městečka v Čechách, na Moravě a ve Slezsku Par-Pra, beyond these 112 cadastral areas, many other Prague settlements, quarters and housing estates are perceived as districts although they dont constitute their own cadastral areas. The biggest panelák complexes are Jižní Město, Severní Město a Jihozápadní Město, most of Pragues panel housing estates from 1960s to 1980s have names including the Czech word sídliště, which refers to a post-World War 2 eastern bloc housing estate. Many local names originate from names of villages in todays Prague area
4.
Prague
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Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. It is the 14th largest city in the European Union and it is also the historical capital of Bohemia. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city has a temperate climate, with warm summers and chilly winters. Prague has been a political, cultural, and economic centre of central Europe with waxing and waning fortunes during its history and it was an important city to the Habsburg Monarchy and its Austro-Hungarian Empire. Prague is home to a number of cultural attractions, many of which survived the violence. Main attractions include the Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, Old Town Square with the Prague astronomical clock, since 1992, the extensive historic centre of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. The city has more than ten major museums, along with theatres, galleries, cinemas. An extensive modern public transportation system connects the city, also, it is home to a wide range of public and private schools, including Charles University in Prague, the oldest university in Central Europe. Prague is classified as an Alpha- global city according to GaWC studies, Prague ranked sixth in the Tripadvisor world list of best destinations in 2016. Its rich history makes it a popular tourist destination, and the city more than 6.4 million international visitors annually. Prague is the fifth most visited European city after London, Paris, Istanbul, the region was settled as early as the Paleolithic age. In the last century BC, the Celts were slowly driven away by Germanic tribes, around the area where present-day Prague stands, the 2nd century map of Ptolemaios mentioned a Germanic city called Casurgis. In the following century, the Czech tribes built several fortified settlements in the area, most notably in Levý Hradec, Butovice and in the Šárka valley. The construction of what came to be known as the Prague Castle began near the end of the 9th century, the first masonry under Prague Castle dates from the year 885 at the latest. The other prominent Prague fort, the Přemyslid fort Vyšehrad, was founded in the 10th century, Prague Castle is dominated by the cathedral, which was founded in 1344, but completed in the 20th century. The legendary origins of Prague attribute its foundation to the 8th century Czech duchess and prophetess Libuše and her husband, Přemysl, legend says that Libuše came out on a rocky cliff high above the Vltava and prophesied, I see a great city whose glory will touch the stars. She ordered a castle and a town called Praha to be built on the site, a 17th century Jewish chronicler David Solomon Ganz, citing Cyriacus Spangenberg, claimed that the city was founded as Boihaem in c.1306 BC by an ancient king, Boyya. The region became the seat of the dukes, and later kings of Bohemia, under Roman Emperor Otto II the area became a bishopric in 973
5.
Czech Republic
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The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is a nation state in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west, Austria to the south, Slovakia to the east and Poland to the northeast. The Czech Republic covers an area of 78,866 square kilometres with mostly temperate continental climate and it is a unitary parliamentary republic, has 10.5 million inhabitants and the capital and largest city is Prague, with over 1.2 million residents. The Czech Republic includes the territories of Bohemia, Moravia. The Czech state was formed in the late 9th century as the Duchy of Bohemia under the Great Moravian Empire, after the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre of power transferred from Moravia to Bohemia under the Přemyslid dynasty. In 1002, the duchy was formally recognized as part of the Holy Roman Empire, becoming the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198 and reaching its greatest territorial extent in the 14th century. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the whole Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy alongside the Archduchy of Austria, the Protestant Bohemian Revolt against the Catholic Habsburgs led to the Thirty Years War. After the Battle of the White Mountain, the Habsburgs consolidated their rule, reimposed Roman Catholicism, the Czech part of Czechoslovakia was occupied by Germany in World War II, and was liberated in 1945 by the armies of the Soviet Union and the United States. The Czech country lost the majority of its German-speaking inhabitants after they were expelled following the war, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia won the 1946 elections. Following the 1948 coup détat, Czechoslovakia became a one-party communist state under Soviet influence, in 1968, increasing dissatisfaction with the regime culminated in a reform movement known as the Prague Spring, which ended in a Soviet-led invasion. Czechoslovakia remained occupied until the 1989 Velvet Revolution, when the communist regime collapsed, on 6 March 1990, the Czech Socialistic Republic was renamed to the Czech Republic. On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved, with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004, it is a member of the United Nations, the OECD, the OSCE, and it is a developed country with an advanced, high income economy and high living standards. The UNDP ranks the country 14th in inequality-adjusted human development, the Czech Republic also ranks as the 6th most peaceful country, while achieving strong performance in democratic governance. It has the lowest unemployment rate in the European Union, the traditional English name Bohemia derives from Latin Boiohaemum, which means home of the Boii. The current name comes from the endonym Čech, spelled Cžech until the reform in 1842. The name comes from the Slavic tribe and, according to legend, their leader Čech, the etymology of the word Čech can be traced back to the Proto-Slavic root *čel-, meaning member of the people, kinsman, thus making it cognate to the Czech word člověk. The country has traditionally divided into three lands, namely Bohemia in the west, Moravia in the southeast, and Czech Silesia in the northeast. Following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992, the Czech part of the former nation found itself without a common single-word geographical name in English, the name Czechia /ˈtʃɛkiə/ was recommended by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs
6.
Middle Ages
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In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or Medieval Period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance, the Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history, classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is subdivided into the Early, High. Population decline, counterurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, the large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the seventh century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire—came under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate, although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, the break with classical antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable Byzantine Empire survived in the east and remained a major power, the empires law code, the Corpus Juris Civilis or Code of Justinian, was rediscovered in Northern Italy in 1070 and became widely admired later in the Middle Ages. In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions, monasteries were founded as campaigns to Christianise pagan Europe continued. The Franks, under the Carolingian dynasty, briefly established the Carolingian Empire during the later 8th, the Crusades, first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states, reducing crime and violence, intellectual life was marked by scholasticism, a philosophy that emphasised joining faith to reason, and by the founding of universities. Controversy, heresy, and the Western Schism within the Catholic Church paralleled the conflict, civil strife. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding the Late Middle Ages, the Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history, classical civilisation, or Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Period. Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the Six Ages or the Four Empires, when referring to their own times, they spoke of them as being modern. In the 1330s, the humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua, leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People. Bruni and later argued that Italy had recovered since Petrarchs time. The Middle Ages first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or middle season, in early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum, or middle age, first recorded in 1604, and media saecula, or middle ages, first recorded in 1625. The alternative term medieval derives from medium aevum, tripartite periodisation became standard after the German 17th-century historian Christoph Cellarius divided history into three periods, Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is 476, for Europe as a whole,1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages, but there is no universally agreed upon end date. English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period
7.
Germans
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Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe, who share a common German ancestry, culture and history. German is the mother tongue of a substantial majority of ethnic Germans. The English term Germans has historically referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages, before the collapse of communism and the reunification of Germany in 1990, Germans constituted the largest divided nation in Europe by far. Ever since the outbreak of the Protestant Reformation within the Holy Roman Empire, of approximately 100 million native speakers of German in the world, roughly 80 million consider themselves Germans. Thus, the number of Germans lies somewhere between 100 and more than 150 million, depending on the criteria applied. Today, people from countries with German-speaking majorities most often subscribe to their own national identities, the German term Deutsche originates from the Old High German word diutisc, referring to the Germanic language of the people. It is not clear how commonly, if at all, the word was used as an ethnonym in Old High German, used as a noun, ein diutscher in the sense of a German emerges in Middle High German, attested from the second half of the 12th century. The Old French term alemans is taken from the name of the Alamanni and it was loaned into Middle English as almains in the early 14th century. The word Dutch is attested in English from the 14th century, denoting continental West Germanic dialects, while in most Romance languages the Germans have been named from the Alamanni, the Old Norse, Finnish and Estonian names for the Germans were taken from that of the Saxons. In Slavic languages, the Germans were given the name of němьci, originally with a meaning foreigner, the English term Germans is only attested from the mid-16th century, based on the classical Latin term Germani used by Julius Caesar and later Tacitus. It gradually replaced Dutch and Almains, the latter becoming mostly obsolete by the early 18th century, the Germans are a Germanic people, who as an ethnicity emerged during the Middle Ages. Originally part of the Holy Roman Empire, around 300 independent German states emerged during its decline after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 ending the Thirty Years War and these states eventually formed into modern Germany in the 19th century. The concept of a German ethnicity is linked to Germanic tribes of antiquity in central Europe, the early Germans originated on the North German Plain as well as southern Scandinavia. By the 2nd century BC, the number of Germans was significantly increasing and they began expanding into eastern Europe, during antiquity these Germanic tribes remained separate from each other and did not have writing systems at that time. In the European Iron Age the area that is now Germany was divided into the La Tène horizon in Southern Germany and the Jastorf culture in Northern Germany. By 55 BC, the Germans had reached the Danube river and had either assimilated or otherwise driven out the Celts who had lived there, and had spread west into what is now Belgium and France. Conflict between the Germanic tribes and the forces of Rome under Julius Caesar forced major Germanic tribes to retreat to the east bank of the Rhine, in Roman-held territories with Germanic populations, the Germanic and Roman peoples intermarried, and Roman, Germanic, and Christian traditions intermingled. The adoption of Christianity would later become an influence in the development of a common German identity
8.
Italians
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Italians are a nation and ethnic group native to Italy who share a common culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a native tongue. The majority of Italian nationals are speakers of Standard Italian. Italians have greatly influenced and contributed to the arts and music, science, technology, cuisine, sports, fashion, jurisprudence, banking, Italian people are generally known for their localism and their attention to clothing and family values. The term Italian is at least 3,000 years old and has a history that goes back to pre-Roman Italy. According to one of the common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The Etruscan civilization reached its peak about the 7th century BC, but by 509 BC, when the Romans overthrew their Etruscan monarchs, its control in Italy was on the wane. By 350 BC, after a series of wars between Greeks and Etruscans, the Latins, with Rome as their capital, gained the ascendancy by 272 BC, and they managed to unite the entire Italian peninsula. This period of unification was followed by one of conquest in the Mediterranean, in the course of the century-long struggle against Carthage, the Romans conquered Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica. Finally, in 146 BC, at the conclusion of the Third Punic War, with Carthage completely destroyed and its inhabitants enslaved, octavian, the final victor, was accorded the title of Augustus by the Senate and thereby became the first Roman emperor. After two centuries of rule, in the 3rd century AD, Rome was threatened by internal discord and menaced by Germanic and Asian invaders. Emperor Diocletians administrative division of the empire into two parts in 285 provided only temporary relief, it became permanent in 395, in 313, Emperor Constantine accepted Christianity, and churches thereafter rose throughout the empire. However, he moved his capital from Rome to Constantinople. The last Western emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed in 476 by a Germanic foederati general in Italy and his defeat marked the end of the western part of the Roman Empire. During most of the period from the fall of Rome until the Kingdom of Italy was established in 1861, Odoacer ruled well for 13 years after gaining control of Italy in 476. Then he was attacked and defeated by Theodoric, the king of another Germanic tribe, Theodoric and Odoacer ruled jointly until 493, when Theodoric murdered Odoacer. Theodoric continued to rule Italy with an army of Ostrogoths and a government that was mostly Italian, after the death of Theodoric in 526, the kingdom began to grow weak
9.
Czechs
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Ethnic Czechs were called Bohemians in English until the early 20th century, referring to the late Iron Age tribe of Celtic Boii and the land Bohemia. The Czech diaspora is found in numbers in the United States, Canada, Israel, Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Switzerland, Italy. The Czech ethnic group is part of the West Slavic subgroup of the larger Slavic ethno-linguistical group, the West Slavs have origin in early Slavic tribes which settled in Central Europe after East Germanic tribes had left this area during the migration period. The West Slavic tribe of Bohemians settled in the area of Bohemia during the migration period and they formed an independent principality in the 9th century, the Duchy of Bohemia, under the Přemyslid dynasty. According to mythology, the father of the Czech people were Forefather Čech. The Czech are closely related to the neighbouring Slovaks, the Czech–Slovak languages form a dialect continuum rather than being two clearly distinct languages. Czech cultural influence in Slovak culture is noted as having much higher than the other way around. Czech people have a history of coexistence with Germanic people. The Czech National Revival took place in the 18th and 19th centuries aiming to revive Czech language, culture, the Czech were the initiators of Pan-Slavism. The Czech ethnonym was the name of a Slavic tribe in central Bohemia that subdued the tribes in the late 9th century. The origin of the name of the tribe itself is unknown, according to legend, it comes from their leader Čech, who brought them to Bohemia. Research regards Čech as a derivative of the root čel-, the Czech ethnonym was adopted by the Moravians in the 19th century. The name Bohemia is Germanic, English used that name until after the establishment of Czechoslovakia, the population of the Czech lands has been influenced by different human migrations that wide-crossed Europe over time. In their Y-DNA haplogroups, which are inherited along the male line,34. 2% of Czech males belong to R1a, which is particularly common in a large region extending from South Asia and Southern Siberia to Central Europe and Scandinavia. The population of the Czech Republic descends from diverse peoples of Slavic, Celtic and Germanic origin, presence of West Slavs in the 6th century during the Migration Period has been documented on the Czech territory. Slavs settled in Bohemia, Moravia and Austria sometime during the 6th or 7th centuries, according to a popular myth, the Slavs came with Forefather Čech who settled at the Říp Mountain. The Duchy of Bohemia emerged in the late 9th century, in 880, Prague Castle was constructed by Prince Bořivoj, founder of the Přemyslid dynasty and the city of Prague was established. Vratislav II was the first Czech king in 1085 and the duchy was raised to a kingdom under Ottokar I in 1198
10.
Vltava
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It is commonly referred to as the Czech national river. The Vltava river is 430 kilometres long and drains an area about 28,090 square kilometres in size, over half of Bohemia, as it runs through Prague, the river is crossed by 18 bridges and covers 31 kilometres within the city. The water from the river was used for drinking until 1912 and it is, however, the source of drinking water in case of failures/repairs to the water supply from the Želivka and Kárané sources. The Podolí water processing plant is on standby for such cases with the section of the river upstream of the Podolí plant under the stricter. Several dams were built on it in the 1950s, the Orlík Dam supports the largest reservoir on the Vltava by volume, while the Lipno Dam in the Bohemian Forest retains the largest reservoir by area. North of Prague the Štěchovice Reservoir has been built over the site of the St Johns Rapids. The river also features numerous locks and weirs that help mitigate its flow from 1,172 metres in elevation at its source near the German border to 155 metres at its mouth in Mělník. The height difference from source to mouth is about 1,016 metres, the Vltava itself originates by a confluence of two streams, the Warm Vltava, which is longer, and the Cold Vltava, sourcing in Bavaria. Along its course, Vltava receives many tributaries, the biggest being Otava and Berounka from the left and Lužnice and its section around Český Krumlov is a very popular destination of water tourism. Both the Czech name Vltava and the German name Moldau are believed to originate from the old Germanic words wilt ahwa, in Annales Fuldenses it is called Fuldaha, from 1113 AD it is attested as Wultha. In Chronica Boemorum it is attested for the first time in its Bohemian form as Wlitaua, on the other side there is a river Ltava in Ukraine with no traces of Germanic origins. The name of a settlement on this river was mentioned in the Hypatian Chronicle in 1174, traditionally connected to the name of the city of Poltava, there are many theories describing etymology of Ltava. The Vltava basin has flooded multiple times throughout recorded history, markers have been created along the banks denoting the water line for notable floods in 1784,1845,1890,1940, and the highest of all in 2002. It left the oldest bridge in Prague, Charles Bridge, seriously weakened, Prague was again flooded in 2013. Nine hydroelectric dams have been built on the Vltava to regulate the water flow, beginning at the headwaters, these are, Lipno, Lipno II, Hněvkovice, Kořensko, Orlík, Kamýk, Slapy, Štěchovice and Vrané. One of the works of classical music by a Czech composer is Bedřich Smetanas Vltava. It is from the Romantic era of music and is a musical depiction of the rivers course through Bohemia. A minor planet 2123 Vltava discovered in 1973 by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh is named after the river, Smetanas symphonic poem also inspired a song of the same name by Bertolt Brecht
11.
Prague Castle
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Prague Castle is a castle complex in Prague, Czech Republic, dating from the 9th century. It is the residence of the President of the Czech Republic. The castle was a seat of power for kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman emperors, the Bohemian Crown Jewels are kept within a hidden room inside it. The castle is among the most visited tourist attractions in Prague attracting over 1.8 million visitors annually, the history of the castle began in 870 when its first walled building, the Church of the Virgin Mary, was built. The Basilica of Saint George and the Basilica of St. Vitus were founded under the reign of Vratislaus I, Duke of Bohemia, the first convent in Bohemia was founded in the castle, next to the church of St. George. A Romanesque palace was erected here during the 12th century, King Ottokar II of Bohemia improved fortifications and rebuilt the royal palace for the purposes of representation and housing. In the 14th century, under the reign of Charles IV the royal palace was rebuilt in Gothic style, in place of rotunda and basilica of St. Vitus began building of a vast Gothic church, that were completed almost six centuries later. During the Hussite Wars and the decades, the castle was not inhabited. In 1485, King Ladislaus II Jagello began to rebuild the castle, the massive Vladislav Hall was added to the Royal Palace. New defence towers were built on the north side of the castle. A large fire in 1541 destroyed large parts of the castle, under the Habsburgs, some new buildings in Renaissance style were added. Ferdinand I built the Belvedere as a palace for his wife Anne. Rudolph II used Prague Castle as his main residence and he founded the northern wing of the palace, with the Spanish Hall, where his precious art collections were exhibited. The Second Prague defenestration in 1618 began the Bohemian Revolt, during the subsequent wars, the Castle was damaged and dilapidated. Many works from the collection of Rudolph II were looted by Swedes in 1648, the last major rebuilding of the castle was carried out by Empress Maria Theresa in the second half of the 18th century. Following his abdication in 1848, and the succession of his nephew, Franz Joseph, to the throne, in 1918, the castle became the seat of the president of the new Czechoslovak Republic, T. G. The New Royal Palace and the gardens were renovated by Slovenian architect Jože Plečnik, in this period the St Vitus Cathedral was finished. Renovations continued in 1936 under Plečniks successor Pavel Janák, during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia in World War II, Prague Castle became the headquarters of Reinhard Heydrich, the Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia
12.
Charles Bridge
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The Charles Bridge is an historic bridge that crosses the Vltava river in Prague, Czech Republic. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV, the bridge replaced the old Judith Bridge built 1158–1172 that had been badly damaged by a flood in 1342. This new bridge was called the Stone Bridge or the Prague Bridge but has been the Charles Bridge since 1870. As the only means of crossing the river Vltava until 1841 and this solid-land connection made Prague important as a trade route between Eastern and Western Europe. The bridge is 621 metres long and nearly 10 metres wide, following the example of the Stone Bridge in Regensburg and it is protected by three bridge towers, two of them on the Lesser Quarter side and the third one on the Old Town side. The Old Town Bridge Tower is often considered to be one of the most astonishing civil gothic-style buildings in the world, the bridge is decorated by a continuous alley of 30 statues and statuaries, most of them baroque-style, originally erected around 1700 but now all replaced by replicas. Throughout its history, the Charles Bridge suffered several disasters and witnessed many historic events, Czech legend has it that construction began on Charles Bridge at 5, 31am on 9 July 1357 with the first stone being laid by Charles IV himself. Given the bridges long life perhaps the Emperors belief holds some weight, a flood in 1432 damaged three pillars. In 1496 the third arch broke down after one of the pillars lowered, being undermined by the water. During the end of the Thirty Years War in 1648, the Swedes occupied the west bank of the Vltava, during the fighting, they severely damaged one side of the Old Town bridge tower and the remnants of almost all gothic decorations had to be removed from it afterward. During the late 17th century and early 18th century the bridge gained its typical appearance when an alley of baroque statues was installed on the pillars. During a great flood in 1784, five pillars were severely damaged and although the arches did not break down, the original stairway to Kampa Island was replaced by a new one in 1844. The next year, another great flood threatened the bridge, in 1848, during the revolutionary days, the bridge escaped unharmed from the cannonade, but some of the statues were damaged. In 1866, pseudo-gothic gas lights were erected on the balustrade, in the 1870s, the first regular public-transport line went over the bridge (officially called Charles Bridge after 1873 later replaced by a horse tram. The bridge towers underwent a reconstruction between 1874 and 1883. On 2–5 September 1890, another flood struck Prague and severely damaged the Charles Bridge. Thousands of rafts, logs and other floating materials that escaped from places upstream gradually formed a huge barrier leaning against the bridge, three arches were torn down by the great pressure and two pillars collapsed from being undermined by the water, while others were partly damaged. With the fifth pillar, two statues – St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Xavier, both by Ferdinand Brokoff – also fell into the river
13.
New Town, Prague
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The New Town is a quarter in the city of Prague in the Czech Republic. New Town is the youngest and largest of the five independent towns that comprise the historic center of modern Prague. New Town was founded in 1348 by Charles IV just outside the city walls to the east and south of the Old Town and encompassed an area of 7.5 km², about three times the size of the Old Town. The population of Prague in 1378 was well over 40,000, perhaps as much as twice that, making it the 4th most populated city north of the Alps and, by area, the 3rd largest city in Europe. Although New Town can trace its current layout to its construction in the 14th century, only few churches, there are many secular and educational buildings in New Town, but also especially magnificent gothic and baroque churches. These nevertheless are not the main drawing points for tourists, New Towns most famous landmark is Wenceslas Square, which was originally built as a horsemarket and now functions as a center of commerce and tourism. In the 15th century, the Novoměstská radnice, or New Town Hall, was the site of the first of the three defenestrations of Prague. No doubt in connection with his coronation as king under the Holy Roman Empire in 1346, in addition, the housing problem within the city walls of Prague that had already been apparent under Charles IVs father John of Luxembourg was crying out for a solution. Many people, mostly poorer Czechs, had settled in suburbs situated at the base of the city walls, together with the establishment of the New Town, the king made further efforts to increase the significance of the town. To that end a shift of Central European traffic routes and the creation of new routes was planned, as well as making the Vltava navigable, and the plans had been carried out to some extent. The construction of the New Town was probably complete as early as 1367. The new city covered an area of about 250 hectares and was more than double the size of the Old Town. It was about 5 kilometres long from North to South, and 0.8 to 1.2 km wide from East to West, the planned area was subdivided into several plots, according to the suitability of the land for the arrangement of the new town. Along the Vltava, from Vyšehrad towards the Old Town, several settlements of tanners and fishermen, with their own churches as well as a Jewish cemetery, already existed. To the West of the Old Town, on the Vltava, an east-facing terrace of land was clearly separated by a pronounced gully,6 to 8 meters deep, from the plain on the bank of the river. The upper plateau was dominated by two ridges projecting far to the west, which were intended later to be occupied by planned constructions, here likewise already existed some smaller settlements such as Na Rybníčku or Rybníček with a Romanesque rotunda, which was probably originally dedicated to St Stephen. The building of the New Town commenced on 26 March 1348 with the laying of the first stone of the New Town wall by Charles IV. The wall not only provided security for the new town
14.
Ottokar II of Bohemia
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Ottokar II, the Iron and Golden King, was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty who reigned as King of Bohemia from 1253 until 1278. He also held the titles of a Margrave of Moravia from 1247, Duke of Austria from 1251, Duke of Styria from 1260, as well as Duke of Carinthia, with Ottokars rule, the Přemyslids reached the peak of their power in the Holy Roman Empire. His expectations of imperial crown, however, were never fulfilled, Ottokar was the second son of King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia. He was possibly educated by the Bohemian chancellor Philip of Spanheim, when his brother Vladislaus died in 1247, Ottokar suddenly became the heir to the Bohemian throne. According to popular tradition, he was profoundly shocked by his brothers death and did not involve himself in politics. As new heir, his father appointed him Margrave of Moravia and Ottokar took his residence in Brno, in 1248 he was enticed by discontented nobles to lead a rebellion against his father King Wenceslaus. During this rebellion he was elected the younger King on 31 July 1248, Přemysl Ottokar II held the title of King of Bohemia until November 1249. However, he was excommunicated by Pope Innocent IV, whereafter Wenceslaus finally managed to defeat the rebels, King Wenceslaus had initially attempted to acquire Austria by marrying his heir, Vladislav, to the last dukes niece Gertrude of Babenberg. That match had been cut short by Vladislavs death and Gertrudes remarriage to the Zähringen margrave Herman VI of Baden, the latter was rejected by the Austrian nobility and could not establish his rule. Wenceslaus used this as pretext to invade Austria when Herman died in 1250 — according to some sources, Wenceslaus released Přemysl Ottokar very soon and in 1251 again made him Margrave of Moravia and installed him, with the approval of the Austrian nobles, as governor of Austria. The same year Ottokar entered Austria, where the estates acclaimed him as Duke, to legitimize his position, Přemysl Ottokar married the late Duke Frederick IIs sister Margaret of Babenberg, who was his senior by 30 years and the widow of the Hohenstaufen king Henry of Germany. Their marriage took place on 11 February 1252 at Hainburg, in 1253, King Wenceslaus died and Přemysl Ottokar succeeded his father as King of Bohemia. After the death of the German King Konrad IV in 1254 while his son Conradin was still a minor, however, his election bid was unsuccessful and Count William II of Holland, the German anti-king since 1247, was generally recognised. Feeling threatened by Ottokars growing regional power beyond the Leitha River, the conflict was quelled through papal mediation, it was agreed that Ottokar was to yield large parts of Styria to Béla in exchange for recognition of his right to the remainder of Austria. During the following peace phase, King Ottokar II led two expeditions against the pagan Old Prussians. Königsberg, founded in 1255 by the Teutonic Order, was named in his honour, however, after a few years the conflict resumed and Ottokar defeated the Hungarians in July 1260 at the Battle of Kressenbrunn, ending years of disputes over Styria with Béla IV. Béla now ceded Styria back to Ottokar, and his claim to those territories was formally recognized by Richard of Cornwall, then king of Germany and this peace agreement was also sealed by a royal marriage. Ottokar ended his marriage to Margaret and married Bélas young granddaughter Kunigunda of Halych, the youngest of them became his only legitimate son, Wenceslaus II
15.
Holy Roman Emperor
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The Holy Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. From an autocracy in Carolingian times the title evolved into an elected monarchy chosen by the Prince-electors, until the Reformation the Emperor elect was required to be crowned by the Pope before assuming the imperial title. The title was held in conjunction with the rule of the Kingdom of Germany, in theory, the Holy Roman Emperor was primus inter pares among the other Catholic monarchs, in practice, a Holy Roman Emperor was only as strong as his army and alliances made him. Various royal houses of Europe, at different times, effectively became hereditary holders of the title, after the Reformation many of the subject states and most of those in Germany were Protestant while the Emperor continued to be Catholic. The Holy Roman Empire was dissolved by the last Emperor as a result of the collapse of the polity during the Napoleonic wars, from the time of Constantine I the Roman emperors had, with very few exceptions, taken on a role as promoters and defenders of Christianity. In the west, the title of Emperor was revived in 800, as the power of the papacy grew during the Middle Ages, popes and emperors came into conflict over church administration. The best-known and most bitter conflict was known as the Investiture Controversy. After Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III, no pope appointed an emperor again until the coronation of Otto the Great in 962. Under Otto and his successors, much of the former Carolingian kingdom of Eastern Francia fell within the boundaries of the Holy Roman Empire, the various German princes elected one of their peers as King of the Germans, after which he would be crowned as emperor by the Pope. After Charles Vs coronation, all succeeding emperors were called elected Emperor due to the lack of papal coronation, the term sacrum in connection with the medieval Roman Empire was first used in 1157 under Frederick I Barbarossa. Charles V was the last Holy Roman Emperor to be crowned by the Pope, the final Holy Roman Emperor-elect, Francis II, abdicated in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars that saw the Empires final dissolution. The standard designation of the Holy Roman Emperor was August Emperor of the Romans, the word Holy had never been used as part of that title in official documents. In German-language historiography, the term Römisch-deutscher Kaiser is used to distinguish the title from that of Roman Emperor on one hand, the English term Holy Roman Emperor is a modern shorthand for emperor of the Holy Roman Empire not corresponding to the historical style or title. Successions to the kingship were controlled by a variety of complicated factors, elections meant the kingship of Germany was only partially hereditary, unlike the kingship of France, although sovereignty frequently remained in a dynasty until there were no more male successors. The Electoral council was set at seven princes by the Golden Bull of 1356, another elector was added in 1690, and the whole college was reshuffled in 1803, a mere three years before the dissolution of the Empire. After 1438, the Kings remained in the house of Habsburg and Habsburg-Lorraine, with the exception of Charles VII. Maximilian I and his successors no longer travelled to Rome to be crowned as Emperor by the Pope, Maximilian therefore named himself Elected Roman Emperor in 1508 with papal approval. This title was in use by all his uncrowned successors, of his successors only Charles V, the immediate one, received a papal coronation
16.
Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor
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Charles IV, born Wenceslaus, was a King of Bohemia and the first King of Bohemia to also become Holy Roman Emperor. He was a member of the House of Luxembourg from his fathers side and the House of Přemyslid from his mothers side and he was the eldest son and heir of King John of Bohemia, who died at the Battle of Crécy on 26 August 1346. Charles inherited the County of Luxembourg from his father and was elected king of the Kingdom of Bohemia, on 2 September 1347, Charles was crowned King of Bohemia. On 11 July 1346, the prince-electors chose him as King of the Romans in opposition to Emperor Louis IV, Charles was crowned on 26 November 1346 in Bonn. After his opponent died, he was re-elected in 1349 and crowned King of the Romans, in 1355 he was crowned King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor. With his coronation as King of Burgundy in 1365, he became the ruler of all the kingdoms of the Holy Roman Empire. Charles IV was born to King John of the Luxembourg dynasty and he was originally named Wenceslaus, the name of his maternal grandfather, King Wenceslaus II. He chose the name Charles at his confirmation in honor of his uncle, King Charles IV of France and he received French education and was literate and fluent in five languages, Latin, Czech, German, French, and Italian. In 1331 he gained experience of warfare in Italy with his father. At the beginning of 1333, Charles went to Lucca to consolidate his rule there, in an effort to defend the city, Charles founded the nearby fortress and the town of Montecarlo. From 1333 he administered the lands of the Bohemian Crown due to his fathers frequent absence, in 1334, Charles was named Margrave of Moravia, the traditional title for heirs to the throne. Two years later, he assumed the government of Tyrol on behalf of his brother, John Henry, as he had previously promised to be subservient to Clement, he made extensive concessions to the pope in 1347. Confirming the papacy in the possession of vast territories, he promised to annul the acts of Louis against Clement, to no part in Italian affairs. Charles IV was in a weak position in Germany. Owing to the terms of his election, he was referred to as a Priests King. Many bishops and nearly all of the Imperial cities remained loyal to Louis the Bavarian, civil war in Germany was prevented, however, when Louis IV died on 11 October 1347, after suffering a stroke during a bear hunt. Thereafter, Charles faced no direct threat to his claim to the Imperial throne, Charles initially worked to secure his power base. Bohemia had remained untouched by the plague, Prague became his capital, and he rebuilt the city on the model of Paris, establishing the New Town
17.
Hunger Wall
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The Hunger Wall is a medieval defensive wall of the Lesser Town of Prague, todays Czech Republic. It was built on Petřín Hill between 1360 and 1362 by order of Charles IV, marl from quarries on Petřín Hill was used as construction material. The purpose of the construction was to strengthen the fortifications of Prague Castle, originally the wall was 4 to 4.5 metres high and 1.8 metres wide and was equipped with battlements and eight bastions. The wall was repaired in 1624, further strengthened in the middle of 18th century, one of preserved bastions serves as a base for the dome of Štefánik Observatory. A well preserved part of the wall may also be found in the yard of the 19th-century house in Plaská Street No.8. The wall was originally called Zubatá or Chlebová, the adjective Hladová appeared after a 1361 famine, when the construction works on the wall provided livelihood for the citys poor. According to myth, the purpose of the wall was not strategic but to employ, another myth, recorded in writings of Václav Hájek z Libočan or Bohuslav Balbín, is that the Emperor Charles IV himself worked on the wall several hours every day to help his beloved people. The term hladová zeď has become a Czech euphemism for useless public works
18.
Hussites
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This predominantly religious movement was propelled by social issues and strengthened Czech national awareness. Among present-day Christians, Hussite traditions are represented in the Moravian Church, Unity of the Brethren, the arrest of Hus in 1414 caused considerable resentment in Czech lands. The authorities of both countries appealed urgently and repeatedly to King Sigismund to release Jan Hus, when news of his death at the Council of Constance in 1415 arrived, disturbances broke out, directed primarily against the clergy and especially against the monks. Even the Archbishop narrowly escaped from the effects of popular anger. The treatment of Hus was felt to be a disgrace inflicted upon the whole country, King Wenceslaus, prompted by his grudge against Sigismund, at first gave free vent to his indignation at the course of events in Constance. His wife openly favoured the friends of Hus, avowed Hussites stood at the head of the government. The university would arbitrate any disputed points, the entire Hussite nobility joined the league. Other than verbal protest of the treatment of Hus, there was little evidence of any actions taken by the nobility until 1417. The chalice of wine became the central identifying symbol of the Hussite movement, the prospect of a civil war began to emerge. Pope Martin V as Cardinal Otto of Colonna had attacked Hus with relentless severity and he energetically resumed the battle against Huss teaching after the enactments of the Council of Constance. He wished to completely the doctrine of Hus, for which purpose the co-operation of King Wenceslaus had to be obtained. In 1418, Sigismund succeeded in winning his brother over to the standpoint of the council by pointing out the inevitability of a war if the heretics in Bohemia found further protection. Hussite statesmen and army leaders had to leave the country and Roman Catholic priests were reinstated and these measures caused a general commotion which hastened the death of King Wenceslaus by a paralytic stroke in 1419. Hussism organised itself during the years 1415–1419, the moderate party, who followed Hus more closely, sought to conduct reform while leaving the whole hierarchical and liturgical order of the Church untouched. This required the removal of the hierarchy and the secularisation of ecclesiastical possessions. The radicals preached the sufficientia legis Christi—the divine law is the rule and canon for human society, not only in the church. But above all they clung to Wycliffes doctrine of the Lords Supper, denying transubstantiation, the radicals had their gathering-places all around the country. Their first armed assault fell on the town of Ústí, on the river Lužnice
19.
Renaissance architecture
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Stylistically, Renaissance architecture followed Gothic architecture and was succeeded by Baroque architecture. Developed first in Florence, with Filippo Brunelleschi as one of its innovators, the style was carried to France, Germany, England, Russia and other parts of Europe at different dates and with varying degrees of impact. Italy of the 15th century, and the city of Florence in particular, was home to the Renaissance, the scholarly approach to the architecture of the ancient coincided with the general revival of learning. A number of factors were influential in bringing this about, Italian architects had always preferred forms that were clearly defined and structural members that expressed their purpose. Many Tuscan Romanesque buildings demonstrate these characteristics, as seen in the Florence Baptistery, Italy had never fully adopted the Gothic style of architecture. In the 15th century, Florence, Venice and Naples extended their power through much of the area that surrounded them and this enabled Florence to have significant artistic influence in Milan, and through Milan, France. Successive Popes, especially Julius II, 1503–13, sought to extend the Pope’s temporal power throughout Italy, in the early Renaissance, Venice controlled sea trade over goods from the East. Trade brought wool from England to Florence, ideally located on the river for the production of fine cloth, by dominating Pisa, Florence gained a seaport, and also maintained dominance of Genoa. In this commercial climate, one family in particular turned their attention from trade to the business of money-lending. The Medici became the chief bankers to the princes of Europe, becoming virtually princes themselves as they did so, along the trade routes, and thus offered some protection by commercial interest, moved not only goods but also artists, scientists and philosophers. This commenced in the mid 15th century and gained momentum in the 16th century, the construction of the Sistine Chapel with its uniquely important decorations and the entire rebuilding of St Peters, one of Christendoms most significant churches, were part of this process. In wealthy republican Florence, the impetus for church-building was more civic than spiritual, the unfinished state of the enormous cathedral dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary did no honour to the city under her patronage. The dome inspired further religious works in Florence, through Humanism, civic pride and the promotion of civil peace and order were seen as the marks of citizenship. Some major ecclesiastical building works were commissioned, not by the church. During the Renaissance, architecture became not only a question of practice, printing played a large role in the dissemination of ideas. The first treatise on architecture was De re aedificatoria by Leon Battista Alberti in 1450 and it was to some degree dependent on Vitruviuss De architectura, a manuscript of which was discovered in 1414 in a library in Switzerland. De re aedificatoria in 1485 became the first printed book on architecture, Sebastiano Serlio produced the next important text, the first volume of which appeared in Venice in 1537, it was entitled Regole generali darchitettura. It is known as Serlios Fourth Book since it was the fourth in Serlios original plan of a treatise in seven books, in all, five books were published
20.
Baroque
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The style began around 1600 in Rome and Italy, and spread to most of Europe. The aristocracy viewed the dramatic style of Baroque art and architecture as a means of impressing visitors by projecting triumph, power, Baroque palaces are built around an entrance of courts, grand staircases, and reception rooms of sequentially increasing opulence. However, baroque has a resonance and application that extend beyond a reduction to either a style or period. It is also yields the Italian barocco and modern Spanish barroco, German Barock, Dutch Barok, others derive it from the mnemonic term Baroco, a supposedly laboured form of syllogism in logical Scholastica. The Latin root can be found in bis-roca, in informal usage, the word baroque can simply mean that something is elaborate, with many details, without reference to the Baroque styles of the 17th and 18th centuries. The word Baroque, like most periodic or stylistic designations, was invented by later critics rather than practitioners of the arts in the 17th, the term Baroque was initially used in a derogatory sense, to underline the excesses of its emphasis. In particular, the term was used to describe its eccentric redundancy and noisy abundance of details, although it was long thought that the word as a critical term was first applied to architecture, in fact it appears earlier in reference to music. Another hypothesis says that the word comes from precursors of the style, Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and he did not make the distinctions between Mannerism and Baroque that modern writers do, and he ignored the later phase, the academic Baroque that lasted into the 18th century. Long despised, Baroque art and architecture became fashionable between the two World Wars, and has remained in critical favour. In painting the gradual rise in popular esteem of Caravaggio has been the best barometer of modern taste, William Watson describes a late phase of Shang-dynasty Chinese ritual bronzes of the 11th century BC as baroque. The term Baroque may still be used, usually pejoratively, describing works of art, craft, the appeal of Baroque style turned consciously from the witty, intellectual qualities of 16th-century Mannerist art to a visceral appeal aimed at the senses. It employed an iconography that was direct, simple, obvious, germinal ideas of the Baroque can also be found in the work of Michelangelo. Even more generalised parallels perceived by some experts in philosophy, prose style, see the Neapolitan palace of Caserta, a Baroque palace whose construction began in 1752. In paintings Baroque gestures are broader than Mannerist gestures, less ambiguous, less arcane and mysterious, more like the stage gestures of opera, Baroque poses depend on contrapposto, the tension within the figures that move the planes of shoulders and hips in counterdirections. Baroque is a style of unity imposed upon rich, heavy detail, Baroque style featured exaggerated lighting, intense emotions, release from restraint, and even a kind of artistic sensationalism. There were highly diverse strands of Italian baroque painting, from Caravaggio to Cortona, the most prominent Spanish painter of the Baroque was Diego Velázquez. The later Baroque style gradually gave way to a more decorative Rococo, while the Baroque nature of Rembrandts art is clear, the label is less often used for Vermeer and many other Dutch artists. Flemish Baroque painting shared a part in this trend, while continuing to produce the traditional categories
21.
Wallenstein Palace
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Wallenstein Palace is a Baroque palace in Malá Strana, Prague, currently the home of the Czech Senate. Emperor Ferdinand II feared Albrecht von Wallenstein’s calculating mind and had him assassinated in 1634 in the town of Eger and he lived in the palace for only a year before his death. His widow sold it to his nephew and it remained in the Wallenstein family until 1945, after the Second World War, the palace became Czechoslovak state property and was renovated to house government offices. Today, the Senate of the Czech Republic operates out of the palace buildings. The Riding School is used as a branch of the National Gallery in Prague, the challenging restoration of the main building began in mid-1999. The most valuable parts of building in historical and artistic terms are the Main Hall, the Knights Hall, the Antechamber, the Audience Hall. The Florentine Giovanni de Galliano Pieroni, engineer and army colonel, pieronis father Alessandro had been an architect for the Medici. Pieroni studied the design of the new part to Wallenstein’s Castle in Jičín and the church of St. Jacob there, and the garden, Sala Terrena, Pieroni also influences the astrological and astronomical decoration of the Mythological Corridor and other interiors. The total value of interior furnishings after his death was 70000 gold pieces, while another 134000 gold pieces was invested in jewels, to make space for this palace, Wallenstein razed 26 houses, six gardens, and two brickworks at the site. Wallenstein Palace was built to rival Prague Castle, Four courtyards are created by the palace layout. Its complex includes period gardens, the Avenue of Sculptures, stables, the monumental conception of the loggia with three arcades on doubled columns recalls the Baroque style. The Italian style garden includes an aviary, a grotto, after years of neglect after the war, the gardens have been reconstructed. Wallenstein would have dined in the sala terrena that looks out over fountain. The sala terenna and its rich stucco decoration were modeled after the portico of a Livornese church, today, these are copies of the Netherlander sculptor Adriaen de Vries’ works. The originals were looted by the Swedish army in 1648, immortal Beloved, a 1994 film about the life of Beethoven was filmed in the gardens. The main wing of Wallenstein palace was largely a reconstruction of the Trcka residence that runs 60 meters along Valdstejnske namesti, the façade has three rows of identical windows which stream light into the Main Hall. It incorporates both late renaissance and Nordic mannerism which is expressed in the portals and Netherlandish dormer-windows, initially, in keeping with the architectural style, the Main Hall was decorated with tapestries and furniture ordered from Italy and the Netherlands. Much of the furnishings were looted either in 1648 by the Swedes or 1742 by the French
22.
Albrecht von Wallenstein
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He became the supreme commander of the armies of the Habsburg Monarchy and a major figure of the Thirty Years War. Several Protestant victories over Catholic armies induced Ferdinand to recall Wallenstein, dissatisfied with the Emperors treatment of him, Wallenstein considered allying with the Protestants. However, he was assassinated at Eger/Cheb in Bohemia by one of the officials, Walter Devereux. His mother Margaretha died in 1593, his father Wilhelm in 1595 and they had raised him bilingually – the father spoke German while his mother preferred Czech – yet Wallenstein in his childhood had a better command of Czech than of German. The religious affiliation of both his parents was Lutheranism and Utraquism, after their deaths, Albrecht for two years lived with his maternal uncle Heinrich Slavata of Chlum and Košumberk, a member of the Unity of the Brethren, and adopted his uncles religious affiliation. His uncle sent him to the school at Košumberk Castle in Eastern Bohemia. In 1597, Albrecht was sent to the Protestant Latin school at Goldberg in Silesia, while German became Wallensteins everyday language, he is said to have continued to curse in Czech. In February 1600, Albrecht left Altdorf and travelled around the Holy Roman Empire, France and Italy, by this time, Wallenstein was fluent in German, Czech, Latin and Italian, was able to understand Spanish, and spoke some French. Wallenstein then joined the army of the Emperor Rudolf II in Hungary, in 1604, his sister Kateřina Anna married the leader of the Moravian Protestants, Karel the Older of Zierotin. He then studied at the University of Olomouc and his contact with the Olomouc Jesuits was partly responsible for his conversion to Catholicism in the same year. Wallenstein was later made a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece, in 1609, Wallenstein married Czech Lucretia of Víckov, née Nekšová, of Landek, rich widow of Arkleb of Víckov who owned the towns of Vsetín, Lukov, Rymice and Všetuly/Holešov. She was three years older than Wallenstein, and he inherited her estates after her death in 1614 and he later endowed a monastery in his dead wifes name and had her reburied there. In 1623, Wallenstein married Isabella Katharina, daughter of Count Harrach and she bore him two children, a son who died in infancy and a surviving daughter. Examples of the couples correspondence survive, the two marriages made him one of the wealthiest men in the Bohemian Crown. The Thirty Years War began in 1618 when the estates of Bohemia rebelled against Ferdinand of Styria and elected Frederick V, Elector Palatine, Wallenstein associated himself with the cause of the Catholics and the Habsburg dynasty. Sympathizing with the Bohemians, he used his position as commander of the troops of the Moravian estates to escape with the Moravian treasure-chest to Vienna. There, however, the authorities told him that the money would go back to the Moravians — but he had shown his loyalty to Ferdinand, the future Emperor. Wallenstein recovered his lands and after the Battle of White Mountain he secured the estates belonging to his mothers family and he grouped his new possessions into a territory called Friedland in northern Bohemia
23.
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
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Ferdinand II, a member of the House of Habsburg, was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, and King of Hungary. His acts started the Thirty Years War, Ferdinands aim, as a zealous Catholic, was to restore Catholicism as the only religion in the Empire and to suppress Protestantism. He was born at Graz, the son of Charles II, Archduke of Austria and he was educated by the Jesuits and later attended the University of Ingolstadt. After completing his studies in 1595, he acceded to his lands and made a pilgrimage to Loreto. Shortly afterwards, he began the suppression of Protestantism in his territories, with the Oñate treaty, Ferdinand obtained the support of the Spanish Habsburgs in the succession of his childless cousin Matthias, in exchange for concessions in Alsace and Italy. In 1617, he was elected King of Bohemia by the Bohemian diet, in 1618, King of Hungary by the Hungarian estates and his devout Catholicism and negative regard of Protestantism caused immediate turmoil in his non-Catholic subjects, especially in Bohemia. Additionally, Ferdinand was an absolutist monarch and infringed several historical privileges of the nobles, given the relatively great number of Protestants in the kingdom, including some of the nobles, the kings unpopularity soon caused the Bohemian Revolt. The Second Defenestration of Prague of 22 May 1618 is considered the first step of the Thirty Years War, in the following events he remained one of the staunchest backers of the Anti-Protestant Counter Reformation efforts as one of the heads of the German Catholic League. Ferdinand succeeded Matthias as Holy Roman Emperor in 1619, supported by the Catholic League and the Kings of Spain and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Ferdinand decided to reclaim his possession in Bohemia and to quench the rebels. On 8 November 1620 his troops, led by the Flemish general Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, smashed the rebels of Frederick V, in 1625, despite the subsidies received from Spain and the Pope, Ferdinand was in a bad financial situation. Wallenstein was able to recruit some 30,000 men, with whom he was able to defeat the Protestants in Silesia, Anhalt and his military success caused the tottering Protestants to call in Gustavus II Adolphus, King of Sweden. Soon, some of Ferdinands allies began to complain about the power exercised by Wallenstein. Ferdinand replied by firing the Bohemian general in 1630, the leadership of the war thenceforth passed to Tilly, who was however unable to stop the Swedish march from northern Germany towards Austria. Tilly died in battle in 1632, Wallenstein was recalled, being able to muster an army in only a week, and expelled the Swedes from Bohemia. However, in November 1632 the Catholics were defeated in the Battle of Lützen, a period of minor operations followed, perhaps because of Wallensteins ambiguous conduct, which ended with his assassination in 1634. Despite Wallensteins fall, the imperial forces recaptured Regensburg and were victorious in the Battle of Nördlingen, in 1635 Ferdinand signed his last important act, the Peace of Prague, yet this did not end the war. Ferdinand died in 1637, leaving to his son Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II was buried in his Mausoleum in Graz. His heart was interred in the Herzgruft of the Augustinian Church, in 1600, Ferdinand married Maria Anna of Bavaria, daughter of Duke William V of Bavaria
24.
Christoph Dientzenhofer
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Christoph Dientzenhofer was a prominent Bavarian architect of South-German, Austrian and Bohemian Baroque. He was a member of the famous Dientzenhofer family of architects, among his works are the Church of St. Nicholas and the Brevnov Monastery in Prague, church of St. Klara in Eger. Some of his works are difficult to identify, due to the lack of documentation, Baroque architecture in Central Europe Czech Baroque architecture Christoph Dientzenhofer at the archINFORM database. Pension Dientzenhofer Home of Christoph, birthplace of Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer
25.
Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer
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Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer was a Bohemian architect of the Baroque era. As an architect he co-operated with his father and with Jan Santini Aichel, among Dientzenhofers buildings are the Church of St. John of Nepomuk, the St. Nicholas Church, and the Vila Amerika and Kinský Palace in Prague. He also built churches and secular buildings in other towns of Bohemia. Many of his projects were realized by his pupil and son-in-law Anselmo Martino Lurago. Vila Amerika, Nové Město, nowadays Antonín Dvořák museum Convent of Benedictine Monastery in Břevnov St. John Nepomuk church in Hradčany, loreto in Hradčany Baroque redesign of church st. Thomas in Malá Strana Villa Portheimka in Smíchov, Štefánikova str, house By Two Turtle Doves, Nosticova 5 Church of st. St. Bartholomew church in the Old Town St. Nicholas church on Old Town Square Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius, clement in Odolena Voda St. Vaclav monastery in Broumov Many churches around Broumov Cistercian monastery Plasy Milada Vilimkova, Johannes Brucker, Dientzenhofer. Eine bayerische Baumeisterfamilie in der Barockzeit, rosenheimer Verlagshaus, ISBN 3-475-52610-7 Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, Bd. 3, S. 650-51 Biographisches Lexikon zur Geschichte der böhmischen Länder, Band I. S. 247-248, ISBN 3-486-44051-9 Hans Zimmer, ein bayerisches Baumeistergeschlecht in der Zeit des Barock. Rosenheim 1976 Joachim Bahlcke u. a, münchen 1996, ISBN 3-88073-519-0 Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer at the archINFORM database. Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer in the German National Library catalogue Prague Information Service ADB entry
26.
Saint Nicholas
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Saint Nicholas, also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century Christian saint and Greek Bishop of Myra, in Asia Minor. Because of the miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker. The historical Saint Nicholas is commemorated and revered among Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran, in addition, some Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and other Reformed churches have been named in honor of Saint Nicholas. Saint Nicholas is the saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers. The historical Saint Nicholas, as known from history, He was born at Patara. In his youth he made a pilgrimage to Egypt and the Palestine area, shortly after his return he became Bishop of Myra and was later cast into prison during the persecution of Diocletian. He was released after the accession of Constantine and was present at the Council of Nicaea, in 1087, Italian merchants took his body from Myra, bringing it to Bari in Italy. Nicholas was born in Asia Minor in the Roman Empire, to a Greek family during the century in the city of Patara. He lived in Myra, Lycia, at a time when the region was Greek in its heritage, culture and he was the only son of wealthy Christian parents named Epiphanius and Johanna according to some accounts and Theophanes and Nonna according to others. He was very religious from an age and according to legend. His wealthy parents died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young and he tonsured the young Nicholas as a reader and later ordained him a presbyter. In the year AD305, several monks from Anatolia in Asia Minor came to the Holy Land to Beit Jala, Judea and this was before St. Sava’s Monastery was founded in the desert east of Bethlehem on the Kidron Gorge near the Dead Sea. These monks lived on the mountain overlooking Bethlehem in a few caves, in the years 312–315, St. Nicholas lived there and came as a pilgrim to visit the Holy Sepulchre, Golgotha, Bethlehem, and many other sites in the Holy Land. The Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church is located on the site of his cave in Beit Jala where today there are stories about Nicholas still handed down from generation to generation. A text written in his own hand is still in the care of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, in 317 he returned to Asia Minor and was soon thereafter consecrated bishop in Myra. In 325, he was one of many bishops to answer the request of Constantine and appear at the First Council of Nicaea, there, Nicholas was a staunch anti-Arian, defender of the Orthodox Christian position, and one of the bishops who signed the Nicene Creed. Tradition has it that he became so angry with the heretic Arius during the Council that he struck him in the face. The modern city of Demre, Turkey is built near the ruins of the home town of ancient Myra
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Infant Jesus of Prague
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Pious legends state that the statue once belonged to Saint Teresa of Avila. The statues clothes are changed by the Carmelite sisters of the church. It is especially venerated during the Christmas season and on May 27 every year on a day of feast, Pope Leo XIII approved the devotion to the Infant Jesus of Prague statue in 1896, and instituted a sodality in its favor. On 30 March 1913, Pope Saint Pius X further organised the Confraternity of the Infant Jesus of Prague, Pope Pius XI granted its first Canonical Coronation on 27 September 1924. Pope Benedict XVI crowned the image for the time during his Apostolic visit to the Czech Republic on 26 September 2009. Over its history, copies of the Infant of Prague statue have attracted Catholic devotional worship in numerous countries. Outside of the Czech Republic, the statue is popular in Portugal, Spain, Ireland, Poland, Philippines and Latin American countries that were previously colonies of Portugal. Many other Infant Jesus sculptures were carved by famous masters throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. Often found in medieval work, the significance of the bird symbolizes either a soul or the Holy Spirit. The sculptures of the Holy Child were dressed in imperial regalia reflecting the fashion of that period. One legend says that a monk in a monastery somewhere between Cordoba and Sevilla had a vision of a little boy, telling him to pray. The monk had spent several hours praying and then he made a figure of the child, the House of Habsburg began ruling the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1526, the kingdom developed close ties with Spain. The statue first appeared in 1556, when María Manriquez de Lara y Mendoza brought the image to Bohemia upon her marriage to Czech nobleman Vratislav of Pernstyn. An old legend in the Lobkowicz family reports that Marías mother, María received the family heirloom as a wedding present. It later became the property of her daughter, Polyxena, 1st Princess Lobkowicz, in 1628, Princess Polyxena von Lobkowicz donated the statue to the Discalced Carmelite friars. Upon presenting it, the pious Princess Polyxena is said to have uttered a prophetic statement to the religious, Venerable Fathers, honour this image and you shall never want. The statue was placed in the oratory of the monastery of Our Lady of Victory, Prague, the Carmelite novices professed their vow of poverty in the presence of the Divine Infant. Upon hearing of the Carmelites devotions and needs, the Emperor Ferdinand II of the House of Habsburg sent along 2,000 florins, in 1630, the Carmelite novitiate was transferred to Munich
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Church of Our Lady Victorious
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The statue, a 16th-century depiction of infant Jesus holding a globus cruciger, was donated to the Carmelite friars in 1628 by Polyxena, 1st Princess Lobkowicz. A chapel dedicated to the Holy Trinity was built on site in 1584. With the Battle of White Mountain,8 November 1620, the Counter-Reformation signalled the re-Catholicism of Prague, the church was given to the direction of the Carmelites in September 1624. The triumphalist altarpiece of Our Lady of Victory was sent from Rome by Pope Gregory XV, the Carmelites were ordered to hand over the church to Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor,3 June 1784. At the request of the Archbishop of Prague Miloslav Vlk, the Discalced Carmelites returned to the church two hundred years of absence on 2 July 1993. The Carmelite Sisters of the Child Jesus help the Carmelites with the care of the gracious statue, the pilgrimage church is under the parish administration of the Church of St. Thomas in Mala Strana. On 26 September 2009 Pope Benedict XVI declared the church and the Infant Jesus the first station on the Apostolic Road in the Czech Republic. The Pontiff also donated a gold crown, decorated with eight shells, pearls, and garnet gemstones to the Infant Jesus of Prague, Church of Our Lady Victorious - official website Church of Our Lady Victorious on Prague-wiki
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Embassy of Germany, Prague
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The Embassy of Germany in Prague is located on Vlašská street, in the Malá Strana district of Prague, Czech Republic. Since the establishment of relations between West Germany and Czechoslovakia in 1973, it has occupied the large Palais Lobkowicz. The Baroque palace with a garden was finished in 1707. It was acquired by the noble House of Lobkowicz in 1753, in the eve of the Revolutions of 1989, the palais became the resort of numerous East German refugees who had reached Prague, climbed over the fence and camped out in the grounds. While there were small groups hiding there occasionally since the embassy was opened in 1974, behind the scenes the West German government negotiated with East German authorities and the Soviet Union how to solve these worsening conditions. This event marked an emotional and significant moment in German history, thus, they broke their part of the Iron Curtain, the Czechoslovak border fortifications during the Cold War. On 9 November 1989 the Berlin Wall fell, and the Czechs would succeed in the Velvet Revolution and these events are commemorated by a golden statue of a Trabant car on four legs in the garden of the embassy. Media related to German Embassy, Prague at Wikimedia Commons Official website Video, Genscher at the German Embassy in Prague 1989
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West Germany
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West Germany is the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation on 23 May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990. During this Cold War era, NATO-aligned West Germany and Warsaw Pact-aligned East Germany were divided by the Inner German border, after 1961 West Berlin was physically separated from East Berlin as well as from East Germany by the Berlin Wall. This situation ended when East Germany was dissolved and its five states joined the ten states of the Federal Republic of Germany along with the reunified city-state of Berlin. With the reunification of West and East Germany, the Federal Republic of Germany, enlarged now to sixteen states and this period is referred to as the Bonn Republic by historians, alluding to the interwar Weimar Republic and the post-reunification Berlin Republic. The Federal Republic of Germany was established from eleven states formed in the three Allied Zones of occupation held by the United States, the United Kingdom and France, US and British forces remained in the country throughout the Cold War. Its population grew from roughly 51 million in 1950 to more than 63 million in 1990, the city of Bonn was its de facto capital city. The fourth Allied occupation zone was held by the Soviet Union, as a result, West Germany had a territory about half the size of the interbellum democratic Weimar Republic. At the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided among the Western and Eastern blocs, Germany was de facto divided into two countries and two special territories, the Saarland and divided Berlin. The Federal Republic of Germany claimed a mandate for all of Germany. It took the line that the GDR was an illegally constituted puppet state, though the GDR did hold regular elections, these were not free and fair. For all practical purposes the GDR was a Soviet puppet state, from the West German perspective the GDR was therefore illegitimate. Three southwestern states of West Germany merged to form Baden-Württemberg in 1952, in addition to the resulting ten states, West Berlin was considered an unofficial de facto 11th state. It recognised the GDR as a de facto government within a single German nation that in turn was represented de jure by the West German state alone. From 1973 onward, East Germany recognised the existence of two German countries de jure, and the West as both de facto and de jure foreign country, the Federal Republic and the GDR agreed that neither of them could speak in the name of the other. The first chancellor Konrad Adenauer, who remained in office until 1963, had worked for an alignment with NATO rather than neutrality. He not only secured a membership in NATO but was also a proponent of agreements that developed into the present-day European Union, when the G6 was established in 1975, there was no question whether the Federal Republic of Germany would be a member as well. With the collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, symbolised by the opening of the Berlin Wall, East Germany voted to dissolve itself and accede to the Federal Republic in 1990. Its five post-war states were reconstituted along with the reunited Berlin and they formally joined the Federal Republic on 3 October 1990, raising the number of states from 10 to 16, ending the division of Germany
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East Germany
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East Germany, formally the German Democratic Republic, was an Eastern Bloc state during the Cold War period. The Soviet zone surrounded West Berlin, but did not include it, as a result, the German Democratic Republic was established in the Soviet Zone, while the Federal Republic was established in the three western zones. East Germany, which lies culturally in Central Germany, was a state of the Soviet Union. Soviet occupation authorities began transferring administrative responsibility to German communist leaders in 1948, Soviet forces, however, remained in the country throughout the Cold War. Until 1989, the GDR was governed by the Socialist Unity Party, though other parties participated in its alliance organisation. The economy was centrally planned, and increasingly state-owned, prices of basic goods and services were set by central government planners, rather than rising and falling through supply and demand. Although the GDR had to pay war reparations to the USSR. Nonetheless it did not match the growth of West Germany. Emigration to the West was a significant problem—as many of the emigrants were well-educated young people, the government fortified its western borders and, in 1961, built the Berlin Wall. Many people attempting to flee were killed by guards or booby traps. In 1989, numerous social and political forces in the GDR and abroad led to the fall of the Berlin Wall, the following year open elections were held, and international negotiations led to the signing of the Final Settlement treaty on the status and borders of Germany. The GDR was dissolved and Germany was unified on 3 October 1990, internally, the GDR also bordered the Soviet sector of Allied-occupied Berlin known as East Berlin which was also administered as the states de facto capital. It also bordered the three sectors occupied by the United States, United Kingdom and France known collectively as West Berlin. The three sectors occupied by the Western nations were sealed off from the rest of the GDR by the Berlin Wall from its construction in 1961 until it was brought down in 1989, the official name was Deutsche Demokratische Republik, usually abbreviated to DDR. West Germans, the media and statesmen purposely avoided the official name and its abbreviation, instead using terms like Ostzone, Sowjetische Besatzungszone. The centre of power in East Berlin was referred to as Pankow. Over time, however, the abbreviation DDR was also used colloquially by West Germans. However, this use was not always consistent, for example, before World War II, Ostdeutschland was used to describe all the territories east of the Elbe, as reflected in the works of sociologist Max Weber and political theorist Carl Schmitt
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Jan Neruda
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Jan Nepomuk Neruda was a Czech journalist, writer and poet, one of the most prominent representatives of Czech Realism and a member of the May school. Jan Neruda was born in Prague, Bohemia, son of a grocer who lived in the Malá Strana district of Prague. After studying philosophy and philology, he worked as a teacher until 1860, in his work Neruda promoted the idea of rebirth of Czech patriotism. He participated in all the cultural and political struggles of his generation. Neruda became, with Vítězslav Hálek, the most prominent representative of the new literary trends, Neruda was known for his satirical depiction of the petty bourgeois of Prague. His most popular work is Povídky malostranské, a collection of short stories. Nerudas stories take the reader to the Lesser Quarter, to its streets and yards, shops, churches, houses and he died in 1891 and was interred in the Vyšehrad cemetery in Prague. After his death, one of the streets in Lesser Quarter, Neruda never married but had a close relationship to the writer Karolína Světlá. The Chilean poet Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1971, andrew J. Feustel took a copy of Cosmic Songs with him on space shuttle mission STS-125. Jan Neruda Grammar School is named for him, Nerudova, the colorful street where Neruda once lived, was renamed in his honor. Archived from the original on 4 July 2013, Works by or about Jan Neruda at Internet Archive Works by Jan Neruda at LibriVox
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International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
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Cadastre
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A cadastre, using a cadastral survey or cadastral map, is a comprehensive register of the real estate or real propertys metes-and-bounds of a country. In most countries, legal systems have developed around the administrative systems and use the cadastre to define the dimensions. The cadastre is a source of data in disputes and lawsuits between landowners. In the United States, Cadastral Survey within the Bureau of Land Management maintains records of all public lands, such surveys often require detailed investigation of the history of land use, legal accounts, and other documents. A cadastre commonly includes details of the ownership, the tenure, the location, the dimensions, the cultivations if rural. Cadastres are used by nations around the world, some in conjunction with other records. The International Federation of Surveyors defines cadastre as follows, A Cadastre is normally a parcel based, the word forms the adjective cadastral, used in public administration, primarily for ownership and taxation purposes. The terminology for cadastral divisions may include counties, parishes, ridings, hundreds, sections, lots, blocks, other languages have kept the original t sound in the second syllable. In modern Greek, though, it has replaced by κτηματολόγιο /ktimatologio/. Some of the earliest cadasters were ordered by Roman Emperors to recover state owned lands that had appropriated by private individuals. In this way Vespasian was able to reimpose taxation formerly uncollected on these lands, with the fall of Rome the use of cadastral maps effectively discontinued. Medieval practice used written descriptions of the extent of land rather than using more precise surveys, only in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries did the use of cadastral maps resume, beginning in the Netherlands. With the emergence of capitalism in Renaissance Europe the need for cadastral maps reemerged as a tool to determine and this took place first privately in land disputes and later spread to governmental practice as a means of more precise tax assessment. Cadastral surveys document the boundaries of land ownership, by the production of documents, diagrams, sketches, plans, charts and they were originally used to ensure reliable facts for land valuation and taxation. An example from early England is the Domesday Book in 1086, napoleon established a comprehensive cadastral system for France that is regarded as the forerunner of most modern versions. The Public Lands Survey System is a survey of the United States originating in legislation from 1785. The Dominion Land Survey is a cadastral survey conducted in Western Canada begun in 1871 after the creation of the Dominion of Canada in 1867. Both cadastral surveys are made relative to principal meridian and baselines and these cadastral surveys divided the surveyed areas into townships, square land areas of approximately 36 square miles
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Prague 1
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Prague 1, formally the Prague 1 Municipal District, is a second-tier municipality in Prague. It is co-extensive with the administrative district of the same name. Prague 1 includes most of the heart of the city. All of Staré Město and Josefov are in the district, as are most of Malá Strana, Hradčany, tiny parts of Holešovice and Vinohrady round out the district. The district has remained intact since its creation in 1960, most of Prague 1 is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Almost all of Pragues major tourist sites, including Prague Castle, Old Town Square, the Charles Bridge, the Parliament of the Czech Republic and the offices of the government are in Malá Strana, while the main building of Charles University is in Staré Město. As of the end of 2004,32,552 people lived in 18,821 homes in the district, a Prague 1 address is considered quite prestigious, and real estate here is the most expensive in the city. Filip Dvořák of the Civic Democratic Party is the current mayor of Prague 1 and he was elected in 2009 to replace former mayor Petr Hejma. The Rail Safety Inspection Office has its office in Prague 1
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Prague 2
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Prague 2, formally the Prague 2 Municipal District, is a second-tier municipality in Prague. It is co-extensive with the administrative district of the same name. As of the end of 2004,48,918 people lived in 34,689 homes in the district, at 4.19 km², Prague 2 is the smallest administrative district in the country. The district includes all of Vyšehrad and parts of Vinohrady, New Town, the district has remained intact since its creation in 1960. Vyšehrad contains the Czech national cemetery and the ruins of a medieval fortress and it is considered the area of the historic establishment of the Czech rulers. The historical center of Vinohrady, with its expensive apartment buildings from the late 19th and early 20th century, and it is one of Pragues main epicentres of nightlife, also for gays and lesbians. Important sights, The Žižkov television tower and the Rieger Gardens - one of the most famous Prague parks, the grand central plaza of Vinohrady is Namesti Miru with the Vinohrady Theatre, the National House of Vinohrady and the main Prague 2 municipal building. New Town is less a residential but an area and known for the Pavlak - I. P. Pavlova station which connects Karlovo náměstí – and thus also New Town – with Náměstí Míru in Vinohrady. Tramlines cross here with Metro line C, as well as night buses, the centre of Nusle is Náměstí bratři Synků, where trams connect I. P. Pavlova and Charles Square
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Prague 3
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Prague 3, is a second-tier municipality in Prague. It is identical to the administrative district of the same name. The district includes most of the area of Žižkov and parts of Vinohrady, Vysočany. The district area has remained intact since its creation in 1960, like many districts of the city, Prague 3 is socioeconomically diverse. The western part of Žižkov is known for its concentration of brothels, strip clubs. Yet only a distance away are nice apartments and a new shopping mall with expensive stores. Two of Pragues most-visible landmarks are in Prague 3, the National Monument, with its giant equestrian statue of Jan Žižka, the very large Olšany Cemeteries take up much of the district. A Jewish cemetery nearby, one of two historic Jewish burial places in the district, contains the grave of Czech-German writer Franz Kafka, as of the end of 2004,70,936 people lived in the 6.50 km² district. Prague 3 official site Prague 3 flag and coat of arms from Flags of the World Census statistics for Czech municipalities
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Prague 4
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Prague 4, formally the Prague 4 Municipal District, is a second-tier municipality in Prague. The administrative district of the name consists of municipal districts Prague 4. Prague 4 is located just south of Prague 2 and is the biggest municipality in Prague, most of this district consists of large estates of panelaks. The district is well connected to the motorway to Brno. The Prison Service of the Czech Republic is headquartered in this district, the Prague British School Kamýk campus is in Prague 4. Prague 4 official site Census statistics for Czech municipalities
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Prague 5
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Prague 5, formally the Prague Municipal District, is a second-tier municipality in Prague. The administrative district of the name consists of municipal districts Prague 5. Prague 5 is one of the largest districts of Prague located at the west side of the Vltava river. It comprises Smíchov, Radlice, Košíře, Barrandov, Zlíchov, Zličín, Jinonice, Hlubočepy, Motol, Slivenec, Butovice, Chuchle, the district was the first one in Prague that offered free wireless internet connection to its citizens. Prague 5 is growing more important since the reconstruction of Anděl on Smíchov, now, Anděl is the heart of Prague 5, with thousands of offices and one big shopping mall. Also, the garages in Anděl are the biggest in Prague. Prague 5 is very accessible by public transport, Metro line B. Barrandov originated as a film producing borough, the film studios, which are active even today, were soon surrounded by many beautiful villas of the First Republic and consequently a small garden town developed. This part of Barrandov is till today considered to be an address in Prague. Most important landmarks besides the Barrandov Film Studios are the Barrandov Terraces, new Barrandov is noted for its unique tram stations. The Hlubočepy-Sídliště Barrandov route was opened in 2003 and is without a doubt the most interesting in Prague, architect, Patrik Kotas, designed the ultra-modern stations that create a unique feature from the boring, grey walls. Textile factories, breweries, railway carriages – the industrial history of Prague was written in Smíchov, today, the industrial era is recalled only by the sizeable area of the Staropramen Brewery. Smíchov has undergone a change during the past few years. This workers’ district has transformed into a district of ultra-modern offices, shopping centres. The central point is the crossroads called Anděl and the Metro station of the same name, how did this place get its name. There once used to be a building with a brewery, adorned by a painted fresco of an angel which. Also in the neighbourhoods, The Anděl Media Centre, which is the site of the offices of Mladá Fronta Dnes, Lidové Noviny
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Prague 6
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Prague 6, formally the municipal district Prague 6, is the largest Prague district. It is located in the north-west of Prague and it covers 41.54 km² and has 100,600 inhabitants. The administrative district of the same name comprises Prague 6 and municipal districts Lysolaje, Nebušice, Přední Kopanina, Prague 6 includes cadastral areas Ruzyně, Liboc, Veleslavín, Vokovice, Dejvice, Střešovice and parts of cadastral areas Břevnov, Sedlec, Bubeneč and Hradčany. The district contains several sites and cultural institutions (Semafor, Divadlo Spejbla a Hurvínka, the Baba district, also the biggest airport in Czech Republic, the Ruzyně International Airport is located in this District. Ondřej Kolář from TOP09 is the Mayor of the municipal district Prague 6 since 2014, strahov is characterised by an aging sports stadium and constant construction works and is especially popular amongst students. Home of the students and the Kajetánka University Residence. However, it is considered a “good address in Prague. For this reason, the current Czech President resides here, as have all his predecessors, also Jaroslav Seifert, the poet and Literature Nobel Laureate, lived in Břevnov. Home to many technically oriented faculties of Charles University, such as those of Engineering, Civil Engineering, popular residential area better amongst better” Prague families and foreigners, especially Americans. Important sights, National Technical Library, Vítězné náměstí - the central square of Dejvice -, one of Pragues most expensive places in terms of rental prices. Many rich and ancient houses from the Functionalist period, important sights, Villa Mueller or Baba - a completely protected area, full of Functionalist villas, which were built in 1937. Czech Airlines has its office on the grounds of Prague Ruzyně Airport in Ruzyně. Travel Service Airlines and its low cost subsidiary Smart Wings have their office on the airport property. cz
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Prague 7
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Prague 7 is a municipal district in Prague, Czech Republic. The administrative district of the name consists of the quarters Letná, Holešovice, Bubny, Bubeneč. Its one of the smallest Prague districts and stretches along the bank of the Vltava. In the Northern part is located Troja with the world-famous Prague Zoo and its linked to the city centre by metro line C. Other attractions in Prague 7 include the stadium of famous Czech football club AC Sparta, cultural centre DOX and its parks Stromovka and Letná rank among the biggest in the capital. More information about Prague 7 and life there may be found in the correspondent article on the Prague Website Citypilot. cz Prague 7 - Official homepage
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