Prague, the mother of all cities. Part VII, The first half of the 20th century
July 15th 2008 00:21
In the last third of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century were a time of great growth and prosperity for Prague. As part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire the city was transforming into a large modern European metropolis. The peaceful co-existence of Jews, Germans and Czechs contributed to an environment where both industry and culture flourished. Businesses and factories sprang up, along with grand streets, beautiful arcades and elegant hotels. The suburbs burgeoned. The Fine Arts flourished and artists like pre-Raphaelite painter Mucha, became leaders in a world-wide movement. While many of the new buildings followed the Art Nouveau style of the Parisian Belle Epoque which was colonising European cities, an original Czech Cubist architecture was emerging too.
It was an age of visionary rule. Francis Ferdinand d’Este who was a descendent of the Jagellon, Luxembourg and Premyslovic Dynasties had succeeded the Emperor Francis Josef. He was married to Czech aristocrat Sophie Von Chotek and the couple lived at Konopiste Castle near Prague. Francis Ferdinand was a proponent of the expansion of the Dual Monarchy into an Austrian-Hungarian-Czech triple Monarchy. However his plans were cut short when he and Queen Sophie were assassinated by Hungarian student, Gabriel Princeps in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. This incident was the catalyst for the commencement of World War I.
At the end of the War the Austro-Hungarian Empire was dissolved and Czechoslovakia was created, with Prague as its capital. Prague Castle became the seat of the first president of Czechoslovakia, Thomas Garrigue Masaryk. The transformation into a big, modern, industrial city continued. In 1920 the Law of Greater Prague of 1920 expanded the city and in 1922 it incorporated several neighbouring towns as well as their citizens. By 1930, the population had reached 850,000. Prague’s prosperity endured even through the Great Depression of the 1930s. The development of Czech Cubist Architecture, interrupted by the War, resumed and soon the cityscape featured the unique and impressive Functionalist buildings which were to distinguish it. Prague’s architecture had earned its place among the giants of Europe.
But Prague’s meteoric rise was to come to a catastrophic halt, when in a misguided attempt to avert World War II, the powers of Europe and Great Britain, without Czech consultation, ceded Czechoslovakia to Germany. The British Prime Minister proclaimed the move “Peace with honour” while the Czechs wryly dubbed it the decision “about us without us”. Germany, which had laid claim to the country because of its strong German cultural heritage and population, occupied Prague on March 15, 1939 and Czechoslovakia became a corridor for the advance of Nazism through Eastern Europe.
During the occupation, Czech citizens suffered severe oppression and persecution. Prime Minister Alois Elias was murdered, along with many other politicians and academics. Thousands were imprisoned or sent to concentration camps. Prague’s Jewish community was decimated. Those who had not already fled the city were sent to the infamous Theresianstadt labour camp or on to the death camps of Germany. Josefov became a ghost town, carefully preserved by the Germans as an example to posterity of how “they” had lived. When all fighting finally ceased on May 12, 1945, 270,000 Czech citizens were dead, including 77, 297 Czechoslovak Jews. Their names are inscribed on the walls of Prague’s Pinkas Synogue.
Although the German occupation had spared Prague the devastations of a blitzkrieg, the bombardments and battles during the liberation did damage or destroy parts of the city. A vast square of lawn with an oddly out of place modern sculpture on the banks of the Vlatva just near the Manesuv Bridge at the foot of Prague Castle Hill, marks the site where an American bomb landed on February 14, 1945, killing 700 people and injuring 1200. However, at the end of the war, most of Prague’s beautiful old towns, its historic landmarks and its grand turn of the century and inter-war cityscape were still in tact.
Art Nouveau building on the embankment
It was an age of visionary rule. Francis Ferdinand d’Este who was a descendent of the Jagellon, Luxembourg and Premyslovic Dynasties had succeeded the Emperor Francis Josef. He was married to Czech aristocrat Sophie Von Chotek and the couple lived at Konopiste Castle near Prague. Francis Ferdinand was a proponent of the expansion of the Dual Monarchy into an Austrian-Hungarian-Czech triple Monarchy. However his plans were cut short when he and Queen Sophie were assassinated by Hungarian student, Gabriel Princeps in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. This incident was the catalyst for the commencement of World War I.
Prague's Functionalist buildings
At the end of the War the Austro-Hungarian Empire was dissolved and Czechoslovakia was created, with Prague as its capital. Prague Castle became the seat of the first president of Czechoslovakia, Thomas Garrigue Masaryk. The transformation into a big, modern, industrial city continued. In 1920 the Law of Greater Prague of 1920 expanded the city and in 1922 it incorporated several neighbouring towns as well as their citizens. By 1930, the population had reached 850,000. Prague’s prosperity endured even through the Great Depression of the 1930s. The development of Czech Cubist Architecture, interrupted by the War, resumed and soon the cityscape featured the unique and impressive Functionalist buildings which were to distinguish it. Prague’s architecture had earned its place among the giants of Europe.
But Prague’s meteoric rise was to come to a catastrophic halt, when in a misguided attempt to avert World War II, the powers of Europe and Great Britain, without Czech consultation, ceded Czechoslovakia to Germany. The British Prime Minister proclaimed the move “Peace with honour” while the Czechs wryly dubbed it the decision “about us without us”. Germany, which had laid claim to the country because of its strong German cultural heritage and population, occupied Prague on March 15, 1939 and Czechoslovakia became a corridor for the advance of Nazism through Eastern Europe.
During the occupation, Czech citizens suffered severe oppression and persecution. Prime Minister Alois Elias was murdered, along with many other politicians and academics. Thousands were imprisoned or sent to concentration camps. Prague’s Jewish community was decimated. Those who had not already fled the city were sent to the infamous Theresianstadt labour camp or on to the death camps of Germany. Josefov became a ghost town, carefully preserved by the Germans as an example to posterity of how “they” had lived. When all fighting finally ceased on May 12, 1945, 270,000 Czech citizens were dead, including 77, 297 Czechoslovak Jews. Their names are inscribed on the walls of Prague’s Pinkas Synogue.
The Jerusalem Synagogue
Although the German occupation had spared Prague the devastations of a blitzkrieg, the bombardments and battles during the liberation did damage or destroy parts of the city. A vast square of lawn with an oddly out of place modern sculpture on the banks of the Vlatva just near the Manesuv Bridge at the foot of Prague Castle Hill, marks the site where an American bomb landed on February 14, 1945, killing 700 people and injuring 1200. However, at the end of the war, most of Prague’s beautiful old towns, its historic landmarks and its grand turn of the century and inter-war cityscape were still in tact.
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