Travel log: Prague

Well, since Berlin I've been to Switzerland where I met up with an old friend and his family. Karl Klingler is a friend from my NYU days, a time when President Clinton and the Pope were in Manhattan at the same time, and Coast Guard gun ships were in the East River. Like they were going to heave some of those shells into Central Park if there was trouble. What? Karl worked in the lab next to mine when I was doing my research year of fellowship. He was doing a two year research fellowship and now has a very successful practice of pulmonary medicine in Zurich. His wife Armi is originally from Finland, and without meaning offense to Karl, carries the artistic flair of the family. His two kids include Timo, a college student with a cool desire to talk politics and to speak in tongues, or languages. I could only speak one and he was polite enough to oblige. Jari ("Yari"), Karl's younger son was known in the family as the athlete, everything basketball. Although Timo is athletic, he seems to be distracted by reading stuff. But Jari is very friendly and he has a great sense of humor like his Dad. Lest I paint Jari without an academic brush, he was working on a project that converts water to hydrogen gas for energy. I think the Swiss, generally, should slow down a little lest they make the rest of the world look bad. This is what my colleagues at Webb Publishing, when I worked on the book bindery line (a long time ago, Thank God!), would have said. They frequently seemed concerned about those that worked too hard, and for sure they would have been suspect of Karl and his family, and perhaps the Swiss in general. It is a place of great competence and beauty.

We trekked in the Alps, went to a Swiss hockey game, one team wasn't all that competent, sat around and ate and drank and generally had a great time. I don't think I was able to convey to them how delightful my visit was and how it was great to be able to have great conversations while traveling in Europe, since it is not hard to get too inside one's head when no one around speaks your language, not that I would expect them to.

Anyway, the rest of this will be about Prague. A city that is one of the most beautiful I have seen. Of all the cities I have visited I would put Prague in with Paris and Florence. It was exciting because I didn't know much about it's appearance or history, but now I do so I'll tell you a little about it. I like to concentrate of history since the usual description of tourist experiences doesn't turn me on as much, and I am less a creative writer than someone who likes to learn the history of a place, so writing about it let's me learn. I plan to upload some pictures of all cities to my Facebook page in the future. As a tourist, it is rather easy to travel in Prague because most service employees can speak a little English, but it certainly is not Amsterdam or Berlin. The public transport is amazing as usual, since Prague has buses, trams and an underground. It is very easy to get around. Yet, I could have walked the streets for days just wandering, since the architecture is expansive and majestic. But this leads to the issue of sore feet. Yes, I seem to always have 'em. And it was very hard to find ibuprofen, or even a pharmacy. The stoic Slavic culture seems to not believe in pain medication...nyet!

To give you some impression of how central Prague and the Czech region, Bohemia/Moravia/Silesia are to European history I tried to think of all the different peoples that have settled or generally wondered through the area through history: conquering, pillaging, governing, doing business, and generally having their way with and contributing to the culture. Although there are human artifacts from 3000 BC found in the area of Prague, it is thought the first "people" to settle in Bohemia were Celtic. The Boii tribe of the Celts are thought to have put the "Bo" in Bohemia. Then the Romans kicked them around in the 1st Century followed by a string of many conquering, trying to conquer, or generally causing trouble in Bohemia and Prague. There were the Slovs, the Avar Turks, the Ottoman Turks, the Mongols, the Tartars, the Franks, the Germans, the Austrians, the Hungarians, the Germans again, the Habsburgs (non Czech Holy Roman Empire people), the Vikings excluding the Swedes, the Swedes without the Vikings, the Poles, the French, Germans again (they wouldn't go away), German Nazis (a different breed from the usual German business people who at one time accounted for 50% of Bohemia's population), the Soviets/Russians, and the American Business Nation (post-Velvet Revolution). What a gang bang. But out of all this activity came a city with history, a sense of humor, beautiful women, and gorgeous Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architecture. Some periods of Prague's history left me vexed. The amount of struggle between Lords and serfs, the Church and Estates, Catholics against Protestants, and totalitarian governments, left my head spinning. How do I capsulize this for myself, and family and friends who read this amateurish site. Well I can't be thorough but I can tell you some of the things I've clarified for myself.

Like who was King Wenceslas?, as in "Good King Wenceslas looked out, on the Feast of Stephen..." He was the grandson of one of the first monarchs of Bohemia and Slovenia. His grandfather Borivoj is credited for moving the seat of political power to Prague in the 9th Century and starting the structure of Prague Castle. After his natural death, i.e. he wasn't beheaded or disemboweled, his widow, Ludmila, was killed by Vikings and Wenceslas took the seat of monarch. Wenceslas (Vaclov in Czech, like Vaclov Havel) was apparently a kind and educated monarch and began building St. Vitus' Cathedral in Prague Castle. He was killed by his brother for being so kind and nice. Both Ludmila and Wenceslas are Saints in the Catholic Church. But I still don't know who wrote the lyrics to the Christmas song yet I suspect Bing Crosby, pronounced Bing in English, may deserve some credit, and he is from Spokane.

I also wanted to know what role Prague played in the Holy Roman Empire, and indeed, what was the Holy Roman Empire? The Holy Roman Empire was a rather loose consortium of states that began under Charlemagne, a Carolingian, in about 800AD. He was crowned secular leader of a reinvigorated Christian Roman Empire by the Pope. His relatives Charles the Bald of France and Charles the Fat of the Germanic states were made fun of so the Franks, or French, went their own way and the Holy Roman Empire that we know of from history has included all the German states, Switzerland, Luxembourg, the Czech and Slovakia regions, Austria and Northern Italy. Lichtenstein was included but few paid attention to it until Hanni Wensel won big in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Downhill and the Giant Slalom. By this time though the Holy Roman Empire had dissolved. Poor Liechtenstein. Anyway, the whole HRE thing was supposed to be the Empire of the Pope but there was often much wrangling between the Church, the Lords, the Estates of the Church and the Lords, and eventually of religious influence itself since the Reformation occurred within the Holy Roman Empire. Spain was included somehow in the reign of Charles V until his death. In 1806 the last Holy Roman Emperor abdicated after defeat of the Germanic States by Napoleon, nicknamed, That Little Guy With Big Feet.

Prague played a significant role in the Holy Roman Empire in the Middle Ages. There seemed to be seven elector states that voted for the Holy Roman Emperor and Bohemia was often in this electorate from the 13th Century to dissolution in 1806. Charles IV, King of Bohemia, and eventual Holy Roman Emperor, moved the center of the Empire to Prague in 1355. Matthius was also King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor from the 15th into the 16th Century.

But soon after the move to Prague the Holy Roman Empire began feeling religious tension, including within Bohemia and Prague. While the Reformation was brewing in other areas, due to the officials of the Catholic Church thinking they were God, but as we all know doctors are God. So the doctors moved to France and went on strike. With the doctors out of the way, a gentleman named Jan Hus was speaking out against the Catholic Church, stating as Luther did that there should be allowed more direct prayer, or communication with God. Hus was summoned to Constance, Germany where he felt he could convince a council of bishops to ease up a little. While in Constance he was arrested and burned at the stake. That was a no go on the idea of reform. The followers of Hus, or Hussites, were pissed though and started to revolt in Prague and Bohemia..and beyond Czech borders. They even began fighting amongst themselves leaving the Eastern Wing of Bohemian Hussites defeated and a more centrist Hussite faction negotiating with the Church Council members. By the 15-16th Century the Holy Roman Empire principalities could choose between the Hussite or Catholic religions. Eventually Lutheranism and Calvinism would also change the nature of Catholic rule in the Holy Roman Empire.

So what is defenestration? This seems to be a behavior unique to Bohemia, i.e. if you wanted to rid yourself of enemies in Bohemia throw them out a window. Prior to the Hussite revolution in 1419 Hussite Revolutionaries hurled hated Prague Council members out a window. Later, in 1618 a collection of Bohemian National regents burst into Prague Castle and threw two Habsburg (Austrian/Holy Roman Empire) representatives out a window as well. But these two guys lived as they fell into a pile of cow dung (this is the truth!); they walked away but had few friends until they got a shower (this may not be the truth!). The Catholic Church considered their survival a miracle and this was the event that precipitated the Thirty Years War.

Which begs another question, what was the Thirty Year's War all about? I don't think anyone really knows what precipitated the Thirty Years War from 1618-1648. Much was due to deterioration of trust between Protestant and Catholic factions over time since the Peace of Augsburg was struck between Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and German Lutherans in 1555. But European politics also played a role. Although the war was waged within the confines of the Holy Roman Empire other nations were involved. Spain was connected to the Holy Roman Empire through religion and political marrying amongst royal families. The French were surrounded by the Holy Roman Empire, so they, a Catholic nation, paradoxically fought with the Protestant side. Sweden was involved with Gustavus Adolphus being the headline act from Scandinavia, he was defeated in the last battle of the war. And the Ottoman Turks became involved. The conflict sounds a bit like WWI where one spark set the whole powder keg off, yet instead of a wild Serb shooting the Archduke, some wild Hussites threw Catholic bureaucrats out a window. Similarly to the post-WWI period, Europe was devastated after the Thirty Years War. As the Treaty of Westphalia was signed European nations had suffered from the death of soldiers and civilians from wounds, famine and disease such as dysentery, typhus and bubonic plague. Economies collapsed since there was no one to buy stuff or to pay taxes. In Bohemia, 50% of the population died as a consequence of the Thirty Years War.

So what about the architecture of Prague? It starts with Prague Castle with the Romanesque architecture of St. Vitus' first Cathedral forms and the walls of the structure. The Judith Bridge was also built about this time. In the 13th Century the rotunda of St. Vitus' Cathedral burned to the ground. But it was Charles IV, Prague's first Holy Roman Emperor (1355-1378) who moved the seat of the HRE to Prague and spiffed up the city considerably. He rebuilt St. Vitus' Cathedral, expanded Prague Castle, and built the Charles Bridge where the pre-existing bridge stood; apparently because Judith just didn't sound like a reasonable name for a bridge, more like the name for one's piano teacher, or a dam, or lighthouse, but not a bridge. The Charles Bridge is now only for foot travel. Charles IV was born enlightened in Paris before he moved to Prague and also started the first university in Prague, named...not Judith University...yes...Charles University. It has also been noted that he ate with the Charles Mouth and made babies with the Charles Private Parts.

The Habsburg ruler of Prague until 1611, Rudolf II, developed Renaissance architecture in the city and he brought status to Prague as an intellectual center by luring scientists such as Johanne Kepler and Tyco de Brah to the University. Through the Baroque period that followed Prague prospered and grew with both religious architecture and secular architecture. Later the neo-Renaissance period developed in the 19th Century. The National Theatre stood as its greatest example and......... ya know, I like looking at architecture, but it seems to be rather difficult, and out of my style range, to enumerate its history. Prague has a lot of different kinds of old buildings and its a beautiful place to walk.

Through the 19th Century Prague and the regions of Bohemia and Slovakia developed industry and commerce including iron and silver smelting, beer brewing, coal mining, glass works, and machine and tool production. By 1918, the end of WWI, the Austria-Hungarian Empire was crumbling and separate principalities, referred to as the successor states, were developed under the Treaty of Versailles. Czechoslovakia was born at this time. But authority by a central state was questioned, especially by Germans who now lived in the border regions of the new Czechoslovakia. Some areas were 50% German. The area most populated with Germans bordered Germany and later became popularly known as Sudetenland. Land reform, language laws and military excursions in areas of Czechoslovakia generally pissed everyone off, especially the Germans. Political parties were developed with names like the German National Socialist Workers Party, the German National Party, the German Agrarian Party, the German Social Democrat Party and eventually, you could probably see this coming, the National Socialist Party. Industry was huge in Western Czechoslovakia and included the shoe manufacturer Zlin, European Ford, and the Skoda Works which was the largest arms manufacturer in the world. Skoda now makes cars.

Though, as in Germany, the economy of the 1930s in Czechoslovakia was in shambles. This brought the work of communists and nationalists to the for. Hitler took power in Germany in 1933 and Czechoslovakia, like most of Europe got scared. They saw France building the Maginot Line and generally fortifying against German invasion. Czechoslovakia's foreign policy experts knew that they could be toast if alone diplomatically so they lobbied other nations for their safety through the League of Nations. They hammered out a treaty with the Russians and French stating that these nations would come to Czechoslovakia's aid if it was invaded. As we all know this was a toothless treaty since the larger nations of Europe generally didn't give a damn about Czechoslovakia. Perhaps rightfully so since they saw their own arses in slings when the Germans went mobile, but in retrospect, had the nations of Europe acted early, in unison, against German WWII may have been averted. But the reparations placed on Germany under the terms of Versailles were too great and the will to fight another war too slight in these nations. In March 1938 Nazi Germany annexed Austria, Hitlers birthplace. He became a German citizen in 1932. Czechoslovakia was nearly surrounded by Nazi Germany and now was abandoned by France and England. These nations put pressure on the Czech government to strike a compromise with Germany and in fact, through diplomats, were pressured to give up Western Czechoslovakia, where the largest number of Germans lived, as the Sudetenland. The Munich Treaty was struck and declared "Peace in our time" by Prime Minister Chamberlain. This was nonsense and WWII eventually came to full force and eventually all of Czechoslovakia was annexed by Nazi Germany. As the history books state Czechoslovakia felt abandoned and shamed over releasing their country to the Nazis without a fight. This later affected Czech politics when the war ended and the Iron Curtain came down. Czech Universities were closed by the Nazis, and Czechoslovakia was declared a Protectorate with some independence, but very little. The Nazis played a delicate game with the Czech people since Nazi Germany needed the industrial strength of Czech to build stuff for war effectively and efficiently. 75,000 Jews were deported and presumed killed between 1939 and 1945, along with political and religious dissidents.

By 1943 it was becoming clear that Nazi Germany would eventually lose the war so Czechoslovakia turned to the Soviets, and not the Western Allies, to make a treaty as they anticipated the end of the war. By my reading of history, including the weak behavior of France and England prior to the war, and the lack of will in the Czech and Slovak people to partake in democracy again, I better understand Czechoslovakia's intent for turning to the Communists rather than the Allies. By May of 1945 the Americans under Patton reached Bohemia but they were not allowed to liberate Prague by decision of the Allied command. Patton must have been P-I-S-S-E-D.

After the war, Czechoslovakia was restored to its pre-War borders and some flimsy government was started in Prague under the thumb of the Soviet Union. When the Soviets didn't like the cut of their jib it took over completely in 1949. In "Prague Spring" 1968 the government wanted to put a more "human" face on government so they gave a trial of easing up on social issues, Milan Kundera and Vaclav Havel were prolific during this time, but with this new freedom came criticism of the Soviet government, so Warsaw Pact troops were sent into Prague to show some muscle. This is when the protests in Wenceslas Square happened, and they were widely written about. The Soviets showed up with tanks. They thought the National Art Gallery was the Parliament Building so they shelled it, showing Picasso who's boss. Maybe this is what happens when troops drink jet fuel. In the 1980s Soviet rule crumbled and the "Velvet Revolution", or social and political change without violence, occurred allowing Prague and Czechoslovakia to get back to its former self, whatever that was as their history seems to be one of continuous flux. Vaclev Havel was the first head of state. Eventually the Czech Republic and Slovakia were formed as separate states in 1993.

Prague is a beautiful gem in the middle of a piece of real estate that seems be an epicenter for political and social chaos, and now, since 1990 the Americans seem to be joining the frey. There are reported to be about 20,000 American ex-patriots living here.