Prague history and civilization
The history of Prague spans over thousands of years, during which time the city grew from the Vyšehrad Castle to the multicultural capital of a modern European state, the Czech Republic.
Prehistory
- The land where Prague came to be built has been settled since the Paleolithic Age.
- From around 500 BC the Celtic tribe known as the Boii, were the first inhabitants of this region known by name. The Boii named the region Bohemia and the river Vltava.
- The Czech Slavic tribe came to Bohemia at the beginning of 7th century and Forefather Czech became the founder of the Czech nation.
Medieval
- From around 900 until 1306, Czech Přemyslid dynasty rulers had most of Bohemia under their control.
- In 973, a bishopric was founded in Bohemia with the bishop’s palace located on the Prague castle grounds. The first Czech bishop was Adalbert who became a Czech, Polish and Hungarian patron saint after he was canonized in 999.
- In 1212, Bohemia became a kingdom when Prince Přemysl Otakar I rose to the title of King by inheritance from Frederick II.
- The settlement below Prague Castle became the New Town of Prague in 1257 under King Otakar II, and it was later renamed Little Quarter of Prague.
Renaissance
- The city flourished during the 14th century during the reign of Charles IV, of the Luxembourg dynasty.
- Monuments by Charles include the Saint Vitus Cathedral, the oldest gothic cathedral in central Europe, which is actually inside the Castle, and the Charles University.
- In 1355, Charles was crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in Rome. Prague became the capital of the Holy Roman Empire.
- Under King Wenceslas IV (1378-1419) Jan Hus, a theologian and lector at the University, held his preachers and sermons in Prague.
- Having become too dangerous for the political and religious establishment, Hus was burned in Konstanz in 1415. His death had spurred the so-called Hussite Wars.
17th century to present
- The 17th century is considered the Golden Age of Jewish Prague.
- In 1689 a great fire devastated Prague, but this spurred a renovation and a rebuilding of the city.
- The expulsion of Jews from Prague by Maria Theresa of Austria in 1745 based on their alleged collaboration with the Prussian army was a severe blow to the flourishing Jewish community. The Queen allowed the Jews to return to the city in 1748.
- In 1784, under Joseph II, the four municipalities of Malá Strana, Nové Město, Staré Město and Hradčany were merged into a single entity. The Jewish district, called Josefov, was included only in 1850.
- The Industrial Revolution had a strong effect in Prague, as factories could take advantage of the coal mines and ironworks of the nearby region.
- The revolutions that shocked all of Europe around 1848 touched Prague too, but they were fiercely suppressed.
- In 1867, Emperor Francis Joseph I established the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy of the Austrian Empire and Kingdom of Hungary.
- At the beginning of the 20th century Czech lands were the most productive part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and some Czech politics began with attempts to separate it from the Habsburg Empire.
- World War I ended with the defeat of the Austrian Empire and the creation of Czechoslovakia. Prague was chosen as its capital and Prague Castle as the presidential seat.
- Hitler ordered Germany’s army to enter Prague on 10 March 1939 and from Prague Castle proclaimed Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate.
- After World War II, Prague again became the capital of Czechoslovakia. Soviet troops left Czechoslovakia a couple of months after the war but the country remained under strong Soviet political influence. In February 1948, Prague became the centre of a communist coup.
- 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, and Prague benefited deeply from the new mood.
- In 1993, after the split of Czechoslovakia, Prague became the capital city of the new Czech Republic.