"The Magical City", "The Golden City", "The City of a Hundred Towers", the "Paris of the East";
These are just some of the most common definitions adopted by tourist publications when talking about Prague, a city of around 1,300,000 inhabitants and, since 1st January 1993, capital of lite Czech Republic, as well as capital of central Bohemia.
The city offers a wealth of architectural, artistic and cultural treasures, and possesses an individual charm: buildings everywhere are of pleasing architectural and proportional harmony, with close attention to ornamental detail. It lies proudly along the banks of the River Vltava, amid the gentle surroundings of the hills which characterise this part of Bohemia. Prague has been a melting-pot of ethnic groups since ancient times, existing by combining Czech elements with Jewish and German ones, and allowing the development of religious movements, trade and commerce, and of industry, thanks to its favourable geographic position on the communication between Central and Eastern Europe, and between the North and South of the vast German and Slavonic area. A jealous keeper of its mysteries, the city is reluctant to reveal itself to the curiosity of those wanting to unearth the secrets of the alchemists of the past.
The birthplace or one time residence of many famous people, such as the astronomers Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler, the Dientzenhofers, Albert Einstein, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Antonin Dvorak, Bedrich Smetana, Jaroslav Hasek, Franz Kafka, Jan Hus, St John Nepomuk, and many other illustrious figures, the city bears witness to cultures and civilisations from all over the world. Over the centuries it has survived wars and disasters.
Only in 1968 the tanks of the Warsaw Pact were able to defeat its rebellious nature: the people's thirst for freedom was satisfied 23 years after Jan Palach had been engulfed by flames, making him the martyr of a shattered "Spring".
The first settlements on the site of the modern city date back to Neolithic time,and fortified settlements were first recorded in the 9th century. Primitive centres joined together around the fortresses of Hradcany and Vysehrad between the 9th and 10th centuries, and from that time onwards the Premyslids made this the most important castle in Bohemia. As a result it became the focal point for the activities of craftsmen and merchants, attracting mainly Jews and Germans. Having become a Bishop's See in 973. Prague obtained city status between 1232 and 1235.
Charles IV then made it the capital of the Empire, founding the University here in 1348 and preparing the ground for large scale urban development. In 1419 the followers of Zelivsky freed the Hussites held prisoner in the New Town Hall, and threw out the Catholic counsellors.
This marked the beginning of a long period of religious conflict. In fact, the ascension of the Habsburgs in 1526 marked the decline of Prague, and this became even more marked after the failure of the revolt against the Viennese sovereigns in 1547. While having suffered limitations to its autonomy and the loss of its Court,which had been transferred to Vienna, the city underwent a brief period of revival under Rudolph II who settled here between 1583-1610, and who also contributed to the Germanisation of the city.
The Czech revolt of 1618, which began with the "Second Prague Defenestration", led to the Thirty Years' War. Following its defeat in the Battle of the White Mountain (8th Nov 1620) Prague entered a period of deep decline from all points of view: the wave of middle-class emigration in the first half of the 17th century was of biblical proportions. The uprisings of 1848 failed in their attempt to gain freedom for the Slavs who opposed die centralisation policy introduced by Joseph II. 1861 marked a clear turning-point with the success of the Slavs in the municipal elections. Between the 19th and 20th centuries the economic and industrial development of Prague led to a considerable influx of the rural population, and caused a growing interest on the part of the nobility in cultural and intellectual pursuits. After the First World War Prague was proclaimed the Capital of Czechoslovakia.
The city endured the brutal domination of the Nazis from 1939 until 1945 when it was liberated by the Russians. In 1948 a Communist coup d'etat transformed Czechoslovakia into a Popular Republic, and 1960 marked the birth of the Czechoslovakian Socialist Republic.
The long ordeal seemed to be coming to an end in 1968 when the new, more liberal programme adopted by Dubcek (the so-called "Prague Spring"), appeared to open the way towards reform and civil liberties. However, the ever-present threat of the Soviet, Communist monolith was brutally felt on 20th August 1968 when tanks were sent into Prague, causing the indignant reaction of its inhabitants, and culminating in the suicides of the students Palach and Zajic.
Twenty years later a protest march was held against the Soviet occupiers to demand liberty and civil rights. Despite police repression, which was repeated a year later to oppose the demands of the "Charta 77" movement, this event later led, through the "Velvet Revolution", to the fall of the Communist Regime in Czechoslovakia and to the resignation of Gustav Husak. Vaclav Havel took his place and became President of the Republic at the end of 1989. The free elections of 1990 marked the victory of the list led by Havel and Dubcek, the latter having returned to his country from Slovakia. On 1st January 1993 the division of the Federal Republic of Czechoslovakia was ratified, giving rise to the Czech and the Slovak Republics, with Prague and Bratislava as their respective capitals.
