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Today again whats new about Prague...
The capital city of the Czech Republic, Prague is situated in the very heart of Europe, on a place that has been an intersection of continental merchant routes since time immemorial. It was the seat of Czech princes and kings from the tenth century A.D. In the mid-14th century, Prague was the centre of the Holy Roman Empire and Europe’s third largest city in terms of population. As part of the Hapsburg monarchy, Prague remained the capital of Czech lands, which became the strongest part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in terms of economy during the 19th century. Prague was developing as an important centre where Czech, German and Jewish cultures met and mingled. Following the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918, Prague became the metropolis of the new country. It experienced a growth of its territory and a great building boom. Currently, Prague is a large city of more than one million people, spreading over almost 500 square kilometres. Following the social and economic changes in 1989, Prague enhanced its historically strong ties with other cities in Central Europe, and has gradually been gaining a continuously improving position within the continental structure of big cities. Prague therefore deserves its recognition as being a high quality city.
Centuries of construction gave rise to an exceptional integrated architectural complex, unique in the world as regards its size and concentration of cultural heritage. Different architectural styles mingle and intertwine here, and their symbiosis creates the city’s unique atmosphere. The most valuable part of the city’s centre was declared the Prague Heritage Reserve in 1981, which was included in UNESCO’s world cultural heritage list in 1992.
Prague is the seat of the top-level legislative, administrative and political bodies of the country - the parliament, government, and president; and the most important social, cultural and educational institutions reside here. The city is the entrance gate to the Czech Republic.
History of Prague in Dates
880–890
Prague Castle was founded on a steep hill overlooking the river Vltava.
965–966
Arab-Jewish merchant Ibrahim ibn Ya’qub left the first written record of the Prague settlement.
973
The bishopric of Prague was established. (It was raised to an archbishopric in 1344).
1348
King Charles IV founded the New Town of Prague.
1419
The first”defenestration” of Prague (the throwing of conservative city councillors out of the windows of the New Town Hall) and popular uprisings followed the news of the death of King Wenceslas IV.
1541
A great fire destroyed 197 of Prague’s buildings.
16th October 1583
Prague became the residential seat of Emperor Rudolph II.
1618
The second ”defenestration” took place, this time of the imperial governors from the windows of Prague Castle – marking the beginning of the revolt of the Bohemian Estates against the Habsburgs.
8th November 1620
The Battle of the White Mountain. The decisive defeat of the Estates, it precipitated the Thirty Years’ War.
21st June 1621 Twenty-seven Protestant noblemen (leaders of the Bohemian revolt) were executed.
1689
Another great fire destroyed 749 buildings in Prague’s Old and New Towns.
1713–1714
A major outbreak of plague hit Prague one last time.
1784 A royal decree merged the four historical Prague Towns into the unified City of Prague managed by one city hall.
1787
W. A. Mozart conducted the world premiere of his opera Don Giovanni at the Nostic Theatre.
1845
Prague received its first railway.
1848
A Slavonic convention took place at Prague’s Žofín (the river island of Slovanský ostrov), calling for the emancipation of the Czech nation and culture. Supported by the National Homeguards from the rural parts of the country, an uprising broke out in June. The barricade fighters were squashed by the imperial riot forces.
1875
The first horse-drawn tram line was introduced.
1881
The National Theatre opened with a production of the opera Libuše by Bedřich Smetana. The theatre burnt down on 12th August of the same year and was only reopened in 1883.
1891
Regular service started on the first electric tram line in the city. The Petřín Tower, reminiscent of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, opened for the public.
1907
The first permanent cinema in the country opened in Karlova street.
28th October 1918
The independent Czechoslovak Republic was established. Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk was elected the first president of the republic on 14th November.
1920
A law was passed on the establishment of the Greater Prague. Following this legal provision almost 40 previously autonomous neighbouring towns and villages became part of the Greater Prague in 1922.
1938
Under the Munich Agreement, Czechoslovakia had to surrender its border zones to Germany. Migration of the Czech population away from the border zones resulted in a fast increase in Prague’s population. The number exceeded one million for the first time in the history of the city.
15th March 1939
Nazi German armies occupied Czechoslovakia. Hitler made his entrance at Prague Castle.
5th May 1945
The anti-Fascist movement in Prague culminated in an armed uprising.
9th May 1945
The Red Army reached Prague.
25th February 1948
Communists led by Klement Gottwald and supported by the Soviet regime in Moscow carried out a coup d’etat in Prague.
1950
The statue of the Hussite commander Jan Žižka of Trocnov by B. Kafka, the world’s biggest equestrian statue, was unveiled on the top of Vítkov hill.
1968
The so called Prague Spring movement began, an attempt by Alexander Dubček and his fellow reform-oriented communists to regenerate the communist party.
21st August 1968
The armed forces of the member states of the Warsaw Pact occupied Prague.
1974
Another 30 neighbouring villages were incorporated into the Greater Prague.
17th November 1989
A student demonstration on Prague’s Národní street was brutally stifled by the communist riot police. The so called Velvet Revolution began which in a matter of weeks led to the world-known peaceful fall of the communist regime.
1st January 1993
After the split of the Czechoslovak Republic, Prague became the capital of the Czech Republic.
As You see, we have very interesting Historie and you can moch from thats see by your visit in Prague.
You are wellcome!
Prague Bonus Card.
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