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Praha

nl: Praag da, de, hr, sh, sv, tr: Prag ct, es, it, pl, pt, sl, sq: Praga hu: Prága lv: Prāga en, fr: Prague ga: Prig
el: Πράγα
sr: Праг be, bg, mk, ru, uk: Прага

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated on the Vltava river in central Bohemia, it is home to approximately 1.2 million people. Nicknames for Prague have included "city of a hundred spires" or "the golden city". Since 1992, the historic center of Prague (together with the Průhonice park) has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites (see also list of other UNESCO heritage sites).

The area on which Prague was founded has been settled since the Paleolithic Age. According to legend, Prague was founded by the Princess Libuše and her husband, Přemysl, founder of the dynasty with the same name. Whether this legend is true or not, Prague's first nucleus was founded in the latter part of the 9th century as a castle on a hill commanding the right bank of the Vltava: this is known as Vyšehrad ("high castle") to differentiate from the castle which was later erected on the opposite bank, the future Hradčany. Soon the city became the seat of the Kings of Bohemia. In 1257, under King Otakar II, Malá Strana ("Lesser Side") was founded in Prague in the future Hradčany area as the district of the Germans, who had the right to administer the law autonomously, referring to the Magdeburg legislation. The new district was on the opposite bank to the Staré Město ("Old Town"), which had then borough status and was defended by a line of walls on fortifications. The city flourished during the 14th century reign of Charles IV, of the new Luxembourg dynasty. He ordered the building of the New Town (Nové Město) adjacent to the Old Town. The Charles Bridge was erected to connect the new district to Malá Strana. In the following two centuries Prague strengthened its role as a merchant city. In 1526 the Kingdom of Bohemia came in possession of the House of Habsburg. The fervent Catholicism of its members was to have grevious consequences in Bohemia, and then in Prague, where Protestant ideas instead had increasing popularity. These problems were not preeminent under Emperor Rudolf II, elected King of Bohemia in 1576, who chose Prague as his home. In 1618 the famous Defenestration of Prague provoked the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). Ferdinand II moved the court to Vienna, and Prague began a steady decline. In 1689 a great fire devastated Prague, but this spurred a renovation and a rebuilding of the city. In 1784, under Joseph II, the four municipalities of Hradčany, Malá Strana, Nové Město and Staré Město were merged into a single entity. The Jewish district, Josefov, was included only in 1850.

World War I ended with the defeat of Austria-Hungary and the creation of Czechoslovakia. Prague was chosen as its capital. For most of its history Prague had been a multiethnic city with important Czech, German, and (mostly Yiddish- and/or German-speaking) Jewish populations. From 1939, when the country was occupied by Nazi Germany, and during World War II, most Jews either were forced to flee the city or were killed in the Holocaust. The German population, which had formed the majority of the city's inhabitants until the 19th century, was expelled or fled in the aftermath of the war. Prague was thenceforth the capital of a Communist Republic under the military and political control of Soviet Union, and in 1955 it entered the Warsaw Pact. It was the Prague Spring, which aimed at democratic reform of institutions. The Soviet Union and the rest of the Warsaw Pact reacted, occupying Czechoslovakia and the capital in August 1968. In 1989, after the Berlin Wall had fallen, and the Velvet Revolution crowded the streets of Prague, Czechoslovakia finally freed itself from communism and Soviet influence. In 1993, after the split of Czechoslovakia, Prague became capital city of the new Czech Republic. Together with Avignon, Bergen, Bologna, Brussels, Helsinki, Kraków, Reykjavik and Santiago de Compostela, Prague was selected as European Capital of Culture for the year 2000.

Malá Strana (Lesser Side)

1814 Praha

 

The Church of St. Nicholas (chrám sv. Mikuláše) in the Lesser Side (not to be confused with the church of the same name in the Old Town) is one of the most valuable buildings of the "Prague Baroque" period. It was built in 1704–1756 by the architects Christoph Dienzenhofer, Kilian Ignaz Dienzenhofer and Anselmo Lurago. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart played the organ here during his stay in Prague.

1813 Praha 4284 Praha

 

The so-called Straka Academy (Strakova akademie) [left, no. 1813, and right, no. 4284] today is the seat of the Czech Parliament. The neo-Baroque palace on the left bank of the Vltava river was built in 1896 to finally fulfill the will of Baron Jan Petr Straka who in 1720 had left finances for a school for young Czech nobles. It was under German occupation that Straka's Academy became the seat of government. Only in 1945 did the Czech government definitively chose the former school as its offices.

Staré Město (Old Town)

238 Praha 3315 Praha

 

The Church of Our Lady Before Tyn (Týnský chrám) dominates one side of the Old Town Square (Staroměstské Náměstí) in Prague. The church was founded in 1385 during the tumultuous periodwhen the 'heretic' Hussites were opposed by the Roman Catholic Church. The Catholic Jesuits then made the church their own by recasting the bell and replacing the Hussites symbolic chalice with a ten-foot figure of the Virgin Mary.

The Column of Our Lady [foreground right] was pledged in 1648 as an expression of gratitude of the inhabitants of Prague for their success in defending the city against the Swedish troops in the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). The foundation was laid in 1650 and in the same year the column was completed. However, the official unveiling in the presence of Emperor Ferdinand III only took place in 1652. The column was demolished in 1918. In 1989 a society was founded which intends to rebuild the historic column.

3643 Praha 4342 Praha

1815 Praha 1816 Praha

 

Old Town Hall (Staroměstská radnice) which is situated on the southwest corner of the square, is actually a fusion of buildings, each with a slightly different architectural style. The earliest dates from the 14th century when King John of Luxembourg agreed to a modest dwelling for the town clerk. As Prague developed into a wealthy trading city the Town Hall gradually expanded, incorporating Gothic and Renaissance elements over later centuries. Probably the most interesting feature of the building is the astronomical clock, which was incorporated into the structure in 1490.

1311 Praha 244 Praha

 

The Powder Tower (Pražna brána, i.e. Prague Gate) [left, no. 1311, and right, no. 244] was built in the late 15th century as a part of the new bulwarks designed by Benedikt Ried. The name "Mihulka" came in use in the 19th century. Previously the structure had been successively called the New Tower, the Round Bastion, the Laboratory or the Swedish Laboratory, and the Powder Tower. The Powder Tower was the largest of the cannon towers, but its defence qualities were never put to the test. Up to the 20th century the dwelling quarters of the sacristans of St. Vitus Cathedral were situated here.

3882 Praha

3104 Praha 3731 Praha  

The Municipal House (Obecní dům) [near left, no. 3104, and right, no. 3731], right next to the Powder Tower, was built in 1905–1912 on a site that had been occupied by the royal court palace where the kings of Bohemia had lived between 1383 and 1485. The building was designed in Art Nouveau style by Osvald Polívka and Antonín Balšánek. On 28 October 1918 this was the site where the Czechoslovak Republic was proclaimed. The Municipal Hall also houses Smetana Hall, one of the celebrate concert venues of Prague.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipal_House, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obecní_dům]

3730 Praha  

Glass no. 3730 is labeled Příkopy, i.e. 'moats'. The street, today is named Na příkopě ('on the moat') and connects Wenceslas Square and Republic Square, separating the Old Town from the New Town. It is a place of representative buildings including the headquarters of the Czech National Bank, old palaces and luxurious shops. Na Příkope was laid out on the site of former 10-meter-wide and 8-meter-deep moat from 1234, which led along the medieval walls of the Old Town. Water flowed directly from the Vltava river and when the moat was filled, the Old Town formed a closed island. The moat was covered in 1760. After covering, chestnut trees were planted here and the street was named Ve starých alejích ('in the old alleys'). In 1845–1870 the street was named Kolowratská třída ('Kolowrat road') and since 1871 bears the name Na příkopě. Because it was one of the few very wide streets in Prague, it soon became a traffic artery. Since 1875, the first line of the Prague horse-drawn tram has been lead here, which has been electrified since 1899 (an electric tram is depicted in the picture on glass no. 3730).
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Na_příkopě]

Palác Koruna ('Koruna palce'), also known as automat Koruna ('Koruna machine') [left, no. 3730: right] is a late Art Nouveau building located at the corner of Na príkopě street and Wenceslas Square. It was built in 1911–1912 and was one of the first constructions using reinforced concrete. The owner of the building was the First Czech Joint Stock Company for Life Insurance, which later was renamed Koruna. The building was designed by architects Antonín Pfeiffer and Matěj Blecha.

409 Praha 3670 Praha 1020 Praha

 

The Charles Bridge (Karlův most) connects the Old Town with the Lesser Side (Malá Strana). The construction of the bridge began in 1354 under Charles IV and was finished at the beginning of the 15th century. As the only means of crossing the river in Prague, the Charles Bridge used to be the most important connection between the Old Town, Prague Castle and adjacent areas till 1841. The bridge was originally called the Stone Bridge (Kamenný most) or the Prague Bridge (Pražský most) but has been the "Charles Bridge" since 1870. The bridge is 516 meters long and nearly 10 m wide, resting on 16 arches shielded by ice guards, and is decorated by a continuous alley of 30 statues and statuaries, erected around 1700.

1989 Praha

 

2127 Praha

 

The bridge is protected by three bridge towers, two of them on the Lesser Side side and the third one on the Old Town side. The Old Town bridge tower (Staroměstská mostecká vez) [near left, no. 244] is often considered to be one of the most astonishing civil gothic-style buildings in the world.

4605 Praha

 

The Church of St. Francis of Assisi (kostel svatého Františka z Assisi) or St. Francis Seraphinus Church (kostel sv. Františka Serafínského) [near left, no. 4605: left] is located on the right bank of the river Vltava, right next to the Old Town Bridge Tower. The church dates back to St. Agnes of Bohemia. In 1252 she founded the Order of the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star, also known as the Military Order of the Crusaders of the Red Star, for which she had a hospital with a Holy Spirit Church built at the bridge gate of what was then the Judith Bridge. Her brother, King Wenceslaus&I of Bohemia, entrusted the guarding and maintenance of the bridge to the Knights in 1253 in return for the right to collect bridge and road tolls. These duties and privileges ceased in the 14th century with the construction of the Charles Bridge. Today's church, standing on the foundation of the original Gothic church, was built in Baroque style between 1679 and 1688. The design was provided by the architect Jean Baptiste Mathey, and the construction management was carried out by the master builder Domenico Canevale.

The Church of St. Salvator (kostel svatého Salvátora) [near left, no. 4605: background centre] was built on the foundations of the Gothic Church of St. Clement, which was affiliated to the Dominican Order. The foundations of the building were laid in 1578–1581 by the Jesuits. In 1581, the primate of the neighboring Jewish ghetto donated 100 thalers to build the church, which testifies to a completely unprecedented tolerant atmosphere and the peaceful coexistence of different religions within Rudolfinian Prague. At the beginning of the 17th century, a nave and a western marble portal with a portico were built. The church received built-in emporiums and stucco decoration. This construction was managed by the Italian architect Carlo Lurago. At the end of the 1740s, a dome was constructed above the sanctuary. In 1654–1659, according to Lurago's design, a new representative façade was built with three arched arcades reminiscent of Roman triumphal arches. The church towers were modified and raised in 1714.

3300 Praha
Mánes Bridge (Mánesův most) [left, no. 3300: left] spans the Vltava between the Aleš Embankment and the Rudolfinum (see below) on the Old Town (Staré Město) side with the Lesser Town (Malá Strana). Replacing the previous Rudolf footbridge (built in 1869), the new bridge was constructed in 1914–1916, built of concrete and supported on four segmental arches. Originally named Archduke Franz Ferdinand Bridge, it was renamed Mánes Bridge in 1920, in honour of the Czech painter Josef Mánes.

2839 Praha 4133 Praha
The Rudolfinum [near left, no. 2839, and right, no. 4133: far right, abreöy visible] was designed by architect Josef Zítek and his student Josef Schulz, and was opened 8 February 1885. It is named in honour of Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, who presided over the opening. The Rudolfinum's Dvořák Hall is one of the oldest concert halls in Europe and is noted for its excellent acoustics. On 4 January 1896 Antonín Dvořák himself conducted the Czech Philharmonic in the hall in its first ever concert. After the founding of Czechoslovakia in 1918, the building was referred to as Dům umělců ('House of Artists'). The building was modified several times, in the interwar period even for the needs of the Czechoslovak National Assembly (glass no. 4133 [right] is thus labeled Sněmovna, i.e. 'House' or 'Chamber'). The Rudolfinum has been the home of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra since 1946 and is one of the main venues of the Prague Spring International Music Festival held each year in May and June. The building also contains the Galerie Rudolfinum, an art gallery that focuses mainly on contemporary art.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolfinum, https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolfinum]

4404 Praha 4404 Praha
Štefánikův most (Štefánik's Bridge) [near left, no. 4404] connects Revoluční třída, which forms the border between the Old and New Towns on the right bank of the Vltava, with the Letenský tunnel, Edvard Beneš embankment and Kapitán Jaroš embankment on the left bank (Holešovice). The original bridge was built in 1865–1868 and was named most císaře Františka Josefa I for Emperor Franz Joseph I. Reconstruction works were carried out in 1898. In 1919 it was renamed Štefánik's Bridge. Between 1940 and 1945 it was named most Leoše Janáčka for composer Leoš Janácek. The old bridge was dismantled in 1946–1947 and a new bridge was constructed in 1949–1951. This new bridge was named Švermův most for the journalist and politician Jan Šverma. Since 1997 it again is named Štefánikův most for the Slovak politician, soldier, aviator, general of the French army, astronomer and meteorologist Milan Rastislav Štefánik.
[https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%A0tef%C3%A1nik%C5%AFv_most]

The glass stein is labeled on the side V UPOMÍNKU KOLEGOVI PŘEDSEDOVI KROUŽEK „NÁLADA“. 19 17./ 4. 31 (' In memory of colleague president of the circle “Mood”(?). 17. 4. 1931').

Nové Město (New Town)

2122 Praha

 

Wenceslas Square (Václavské náměstí) is one of the main city squares and the centre of the business and cultural communities in the New Town of Prague. Wenceslas Square has a shape of a very long (750 m, total area 45,000 m²) rectangle, in a northwest–southeast direction. In 1348, Charles IV founded the New Town of Prague. The plan included several open areas for markets, of which the second largest was the Koňský trh, or Horse Market, which we know today as Wenceslas Square.

4259 Praha 242 Praha

 

The National Museum (Národní muzeum) was founded 1818. It was not until the end of the century that a truly distinguished and appropriate home for the museum collections was constructed at the upper end of Wenceslas Square. Following the design of prominent Czech neo-Rennaisance architect Josef Schulz, the new museum was built on the foundation of the Czech parliament from 1885–1891 at a cost of approximately two million gold crowns. The beautiful palace became the dominant structure on Wenceslas Square and one of the largest and prominent buildings in Prague. At present the National Museum shelters almost 14 million of items from the area of natural history, history, arts, music and librarianship, located in tens of buildings.

3881 Praha

 

The street-like Wenceslas Square is dominated by the monument of St. Wenceslas [left, no. 3881, and below, no. 3757: left], made by Josef Václav Myslbek in 1887–1924 and located in front of the National Museum. The equestrian statue of St. Wenceslas (Duke Wenceslaus I of Bohemia) is accompanied by other Czech patron saints carved into the ornate statue base: Saint Ludmila, Saint Agnes of Bohemia, Saint Prokop, and Saint Adalbert of Prague.

3757 Praha

Glass no. 3757 [near left] is labeled Pozdrav z Československé Prahy 28. / 10. 1918 ('greetings from Czechoslovak Prague'), commemorating the proclamation of the First Czechoslovak Republik on 28 October 1918.

1417 Praha 231 Praha

 

The National Theatre (Národní divadlo) belongs to the most important Czech cultural institutions with a rich artistic tradition. Collections of money among the broad masses of the people facilitated its construction and so the ceremonious laying of the foundation stone on May 16, 1868 was tantamount to an all-state political demonstration. Architect Josef Zítek came out on top in an open competition and in 1867 construction work began. In 1875 the new building reached the full height and in 1877 the theatre was roofed over. The National Theatre was opened for the first time on June 11, 1881 to honour the visit of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria. Another eleven performances were presented after that. Then the theatre was closed down to enable the completion of the finishing touches. While this work was under way a fire broke out on August 12, 1881 which destroyed the copper dome, the auditorium and stage of the theatre. The fire was seen as a national catastrophe and met with a mighty wave of determination to set up a new collection: within 47 days a million guldens were collected. The building of the National Theatre was then inaugurated on November 18, 1883 with a performance of Smetana's festive opera Libuše composed for this occasion.

Vyšehrad

Vyšehrad and the area around it became part of the capital city, Prague, in 1883. The area is one of the cadastral districts of the city.

The Battle of Vyšehrad was a series of engagements at the start of the Hussite War between Hussite forces and Catholic crusaders sent by Emperor Sigismund. The battle took place at the castle of Vyšehrad from August 16, 1419, to c. November 1, 1420.

702 Praha
The basilica of St. Peter and Paul (kostel svatého Petra a Pavla) was originally built in Romanesque style in 1079. After a large fire the church was rebuilt in 1249 in Gothic style. Further changes followed in the 14th century. However, in 1420 the church was destroyed during the HUssites wars. After that it was restored and rebuilt in Baroque style in the 1720s. The present neo-Gothic appearance of the church was largely formed by a remodeling from 1920 onwards. The church obtained the Papal status of a Basilica minor in 2003.

Vyšehrad cemetery behind the church was established in 1869. It is the final resting place of many famous Czechs, including the playwright Karel Čapek (1890–1938), the composers Bedřich Smetana (1824–1884) and Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904), the poets Karel Hynek Mácha (1810–1836) and Jan Nepomuk Neruda (1834–1891), the painter Alfons Mucha (1860–1939), and the conductor Rafael Kubelik (1914–1996).

(see also list of other basilicae minores depicted on glasses of this collection)

[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilika_St._Peter_und_Paul_(Prag); https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vy%C5%A1ehrad]

Žižkov

Žižkov is a cadastral district of Prague, Czech Republic. Most of it lies in the municipal and administrative district of Prague 3. Žižkov used to be an independent city until 1922. The district is named after Hussite leader Jan Žižka.

453 Praha

 

The church of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church community was founded in 1920 by former Czech catholic priest Karel Farský. The Czechoslovak Hussite Church (Církev československá husitská CCH) is a Christian Church which separated from Roman Catholic Church after World War I in former Czechoslovakia. It traces its tradition back to the Hussite reformers and acknowledges Jan Hus (see Husinec) as its predecessor. Membership is estimated at between 100,000 and 180,000 adherents, mostly in the Czech Republic and some in Slovakia. There are 307 congregations divided into five dioceses situated in Prague, Plzeň, Hradec Králové, Brno, and Olomouc.

Bubeneč

3968 Praha The Jubilee Exhibition of the Commerce and Trade Chamber took place in 1891 in the fair grounds of tBubeneč near Prague (since 1922 part of Prague), marking the 100th anniversary of the first Prague industry exhibition of 1791, which had been the first on the European continent. Another Jubilee exhibition took place here in 1908, marking the 60th anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph I as a monarch. After the end of the exhibition most of the buildings were dismantled.

3857 Praha 3154 Praha The Palace of Industry (Průmyslový palác) [far left, no. 3968, and near left, no. 3857: background left] was created in Baroque revival style with elements of early Art Nouveau style by the architect Bedřich Münzberger. Its most prominent features were a steal arch construction with a length of 238 metres and a tower with a height of 51 metres. The building still stands today, just the entire left wing was destroyed by a fire in October 2008.

The building shown in the right background was the machine hall (strojovna), the construction of which began in 1890.

Glass no. 3154 [right] shows a view of the Pavilion of the Commerce and Trade Chamber in Prague (pavilon obchodní a živnostenské komory v Praze), one of the buildings created for the 1908 exhibition. The architect was Richard Klenka von Vlastimil (Klenka z Vlastimilu, Klenka of Vlastimil).

4630 Praha

Holešovice

4055 Praha Glass no. 4055 [left] is a souvenir from the 6th meeting (slet) of the Sokol movement, held in Prague in 1912. The Sokol movement as an all-age gymnastics organisation was founded in Prague in 1862 by Miroslav Tyrš and Jindřich Fügner. The movement also spread across all the regions populated by Slavic cultures, most of them part of either Austria-Hungary or the Russian Empire. Though officially an institution "above politics", the Sokol played an important part in the development of Czech nationalism and patriotism, which found expression in articles published in the Sokol journal, lectures held in the Sokol libraries, and theatrical performances at the gymnastic mass festivals called 'slets'. The 6th slet was the first that was named "All-Slavic" with over 30,000 Sokols attending and was held in a largely military atmosphere. A 14-hectare complex with grandstands for 100,000 spectators was arranged on the Letná Plain. The whole program was scheduled for five weeks.
The labeling on the glass reads VI. VŠESOKOLSKÝ SLET v PRAŽE / ČESKÁ OBEC SOKOLSKÁ 1912 (6th All-Sokol Meeting in Prague / Czech Sokol Village 1912).

4102 Praha Glass no. 4102 [near left] is a souvenir from the 8th meeting (slet) of the Sokol movement, held in Prague in 1926. For this meeting the main training area was moved from Letná to Strahov for the first time, where a 60-hectare complex with grandstands for 130,000 spectators was built. The exercise area could accommodate over 14,000 exercisers. 35,000 people could fit in the locker rooms. The large stadium was later to become the Masaryk state stadium. For this All-Sokol gathering, Leoš Janáček composed his orchestral work, Sinfonietta.
The labeling on the glass reads VIII. SLET VŠESOKOLSKÝ 1926 V PRAŽE (8th All-Sokol Meeting 1926 in Prague).

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bridge, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wenceslas_Square, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_(Prague), http://www.nm.cz/English/index.php, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Theatre_(Prague), http://www.prague-info.cz/en/prague/monuments/st_nicholas_church_lesser_town, http://pubweb.northwestern.edu/~aro918/dictionary.htm, http://www.to-prague.com/prague_city_guide/monuments, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Žižkov, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vyšehrad, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vyšehrad_cemetery, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czechoslovak_Hussite_Church; http://www.sberatel-ksk.cz/clanek-prazska-jubilejni-vystava-1908-2008050004; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mánes_Bridge; https://is.cuni.cz/webapps/zzp/download/120304731&usg=AOvVaw1t96KvG_sH-ZgWpEByE0CD, https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Klenka; https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prager_Jubil%C3%A4umsausstellung_1891; https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C5%A1esokolsk%C3%BD_slet, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokol; https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kreuzherrenkirche_(Prag); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Salvator_Church]


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