Bohemian Section at the Austrian Exhibition, Earl's Court London 1906

Front matter

CONTENTS:

PART. I.

PART II. GUIDE TO THE BOHEMIAN SECTION:

Front matter

BOHEMIAN SECTION

AT THE AUSTRIAN EXHIBITION, EARL'S COURT, LONDON S. W. 1906.

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Position of the Bohemian Nation in Austria

PART I.

POSITION OF THE BOHEMIAN NATION IN AUSTRIA.

Of the extensive and manifold realms ruled by the house of Habsburg no part is perhaps less known in England than the ancient kingdom of Bohemia It is indeed only quite recently that it has been possible for Englishmen to acquire any knowledge of Bohemia from other than German sources; and as racial warfare between the Slav and the Teuton is the keynote of Bohemian history, information dérived from hostile sources would be—as was recently wittly written— as useful as a biography of the great duke Wellington written by a Frenchman!

Modern research has proved that at least part of Bohemia has had a Slavic population almost from the earliest historical period. This as is known is equally true of a large, adjacent part of Northern Germany, whose ancient Slavic population has long been Germanised.

That similar frequent attempts have in Bohemia been unsuccessful is no doubt largelly due to the geographical position of my country. As no less a man than Göthe wrote: Bohemia is a continent within the European continent. If the word may be used geographically, Bohemia has an inviduality of its own. I have written much on the history and literature of my country and wish here to limit myself to a few brief remarks.

Bohemia is not only geographically but historically also a country, that cannot be considered as a dependency of any other, and we must be grateful to the skill and energy of Dr. L. Jeřábek, to whom it is due, that at least a considerable part of our exhibits appear in a special, Bohemian section.

Of the earlier times of Bohemia’s history the bestknown part is the period of the Hussite wars. This is the period of Bohemia’s greatness and it is also the period, when the links between Bohemia and England are frequent and strong. Wycliffe’s importance was indeed greater in Bohemia than even in his own country.

Though Bohemia was for two centuries a mainly Hussite—I had almost written protestant—country, only one of its sovereigns was of the predominant religion of the land over which he ruled. This was the great George of Poděbrad, one of Bohemia’s greatest kings and one, whose memory is still cherished by the Bohemian people. The earlier part of his reign was the more prosperous one. Towards the end of his life and after king George had been excommunicated by pope Paul II, the Romanist Bohemian nobles, some of whom had already risen in arms against him, proclamed Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary, as king of Bohemia. Warfare between the rival sovereigns continued up to the death of King George in 1471. The successors of king George were the Polish prince Wladislaus and then his son Louis. After the death of the latter at the battle of Moháč in Hungary in 1526, the Bohemian crown again became vacant, for it was only after the year 1620. that the Bohemian crown became hereditary. The Estates of Bohemia—this was the name given to the Nobles and knights and to the representatives of the Bohemian towns, who jointly elected the king—chose as their ruler the archduke Ferdinand of Austria. The year 1526 marks the beginnings of the rule of the house of Austria over Bohemia but that event was by no means considered as denoting a change in the constitution of the country.

The most important year for Bohemia during Ferdinand’s reign is the year 1547. In the previous year hostilities have broken out in Germany between the emperor Charles V and the German protestants. Ferdinand of Bohemia called on his subjects to raise a force in aid of his brother. The Bohemian Estates, among whom the members of the so-called „Unity of the Bohemian Brethren“ were then very powerful, were unwilling to do this. In 1547. the attitude of the Bohemians became more decidedly opposed to Ferdinand and they raised a force, which was, though not openly, favourable to the cause of the German protestants. The defeat of the protestants at Mühlberg (April 14th 1547) put the Bohemians in a very difficult position and they submitted unconditionally to the king, whom they had offended. Ferdinand pardoned the nobles and knights, but he largely curtailed the formerly very extensive autonomy of the Bohemian cities. This largely contributed to the downfall of Bohemia, particularly as the formerly free peasantry of Bohemia—from whose ranks sprang most of the heroes of Hussite wars—had previously, in 1487, already become subject to bondage.

I do not attempt to sketch here the fascinating and touching history of Bohemia. I have already attempted to do so elsewhere. I wish howerer briefly to refer to the events of 1618. to 1620., which entirely changed the status of country There had been for some time in Bohemia complaints of the partiality of the Romanist officials of king Matthias then the ruler of Bohemia. During an interview, which took place at the Hradčany castle between the Austrian officials and the prominent Bohemian nobles on May 23d 1618, three of the officials were by the Bohemians thrown from the windows of the castle—an event known in history as the defenestration of Prague. War—as was inevitable—immediately broke out; and continued after the death of Matthias. The Bohemians, who had chosen Frederick elector Palatine, husband of the English princess Elisabeth, daughter of James I, as their king, were decisively defeated at the battle of the „White Mountain“ (Bílá Hora) on November 8th 1620.

This defeat and the executions of the Bohemian leaders which took place in the following year, mark an epoch in the history of Bohemia. The ancient constitution of the country which was in many respects not unlike that of England at the same period, was suppressed; almost the whole of the landed property in the country was confiscated and foreign owners, Germans, Spaniards and Italians, took the places of the ancient Bohemian nobles. As these men were mostly ignorant of the national language, the use of German became wide-spread, for a time almost general, in Bohemia.

The history of the country has henceforth but little interest up to a comparatively recent time. Bohemia continued in a lethargic state up to the beginning of the nineteenth century, but after the restoration of European peace in 1815. a movement in favour of a national revival began. This movement was at first merely literary, as was indeed impossible to be otherwise under the absolutist government of prince Metternich. In 1845 however the Estates of Bohemia, who continued to meet, though their legislative powers were very limited, assumed an attitude, that was strongly opposed to the government of Vienna. They maintained the right of voting the taxes of the country—a right of which they had never been formally deprived even after the year 1620. To obtain the support of the wider classes of the population, the nobles determined in 1847 that they would at the meeting of the Estates, that was to take place in the following year, demand, that the representation of the Bohemian towns should be largely increased and that the Estates should in future have a more efficient control over the taxation of the country. They also demanded, that the Bohemian language should be introduced into all the higher schools of the country. The revolutionary outbreak of 1848 prevented the meeting of the Estates in that year. When the news of the Paris revolution of February reached Prague, the excitement there was very great. On March 11th a vast public meeting voted a petition to the government of Vienna, which demanded, that the Bohemian language should be granted equal rights as the German one in all the government offices in Bohemia, that a general diet consisting of representatives of all the Bohemian lands should be summoned, and that numerous liberal reforms should be introduced.

The deputation, which presented these demands in Vienna, received a somewhat equivocal answer. In reply, however, to a second deputation the emperor Ferdinand of Austria declared on April 8th, that equal rights would be granted to the two nationalities in Bohemia, that the question of the reunion of Moravia and Silesia with Bohemia should be left to a general meeting of representatives of all parts of the Austrian empire. It was further stated in the imperial message, that a new meeting of the Estates of Bohemia, which would include representatives of the principal towns, would shortly be summoned. This assembly, which was to have full powers to elaborate a new constitution, never met, though the election of its members took place on May 17th. In consequence of the universal national movement, so characteristic of the year 1848. it was decided to hold at Prague a Slavic congress, to which Slavs from all parts of the Austrian empire, as well as many belonging to other countries were invited. The deliberations were interrupted by serious riots, that broke out in the streets of Prague. They were repressed after prolonged fighting and considerable bloodshed. The Austrian commander prince Windischgrätz bombarded Prague and the city finally capitulated unconditionally.

The nationalist and liberal movement in Bohemia thus came to a sudden end, though the Bohemians took part in the Austrian constituant assembly, that met at Vienna and was afterwards transferred to Kroměříž (in German: Kremsier). By the end of the year 1849. all constitutional government had ceased in Bohemia as in al the other parts of the Habsburg empire. The reaction that now ensued was felt more heavily in Bohemia than in many other parts of the empire; not only were al attempts to obtain liberty and selfgovernment ruthlessly suppressed, but a determined attempt was made to exterminate the national language. The German language was again exclusively used in the schools and government-offices; all Bohemian newspapers were suppressed, and even the society of the Bohemian museum—a society of Bohemian noblemen and scholars—was for a time only allowed to hold its meetings under the supervision of the police.

The Italian compaign of 1859 rendered impossible the continuation of absolutist government in the Austrian empire. The authorities now attempted to establish a constitutional system, which, while maintaining to a certain extent the unity of the empire, would yet recognise the ancient constitutional rights of some of the countries united under the rule of the house of Habsburg. A decree published on October 20th 1860 established diets with limited powers. The composition of these parliamentary assemblies was to a considerable extent modelled on that of the ancient diets of Bohemia and other parts of the empire.

This decree was favorably received in Bohemia but the hopes, which it raised in the country fell, when a new imperial decree was published on February 26th 1861. This new decree established a central parliament at Vienna, to which were given very extensive powers and which was based on an electoral system, that was in every way partial to the German minority of the population of Bohemia. The Bohemians indeed consented to send their representatives to Vienna, but they left the parliament in 1863 stating that that assembly had encroached on the power, which constitutionally belonged to the diet of Prague.

Two years later the central parliament of Vienna was suspended and on the following year—1866—the Austro-Prussian war produced a complete change in the constitutional position of Bohemia. The congress of Vienna had in 1815 declared that Bohemia formed part of the Germanic federation which was now established; this was done without consulting the estates of the country, as had been customary even after the battle of the White Mountain on the occasion of important constitutional changes. The treaty with Prussia concluded at Prague on August 23th, excluded from Germany all the lands ruled by the house of Habsburg. As a natural result German influence has since that period declined in Austria, and in Bohemia in particular. While Hungary now obtained almost complete independance, the new constitution of 1867, which applied only to the German and Slavic parts of the Habsburg empire, was based on a system of centralism and its purpose was to maintain the waning German predominance. The Bohemians energetically opposed the new constitution and declined to send their representatives to Vienna. In 1871. it seemed probable for a moment, that the wishes of the Bohemians—who desire, that their ancient constitution should be reestablished in a modernised, form would be realised. The new Austrian prime-minister Count Charles Hohenwart took office with the firm intention of effecting an agreement between Bohemia and the other parts of the Habsburg empire. Prolonged negotiations ensued to establish a constitutional system, which while satisfying the claims of the Bohemians would yet have firmly connected them with the other lands ruled by the house of Habsburg. An Imperial message, addressed to the diet od Prague on September 14th 1871, stated, that the sovereign in consideration of the former constitutional position of Bohemia, and remembering the power and glory, which its crown had conferred on his ancestors, and the constant fidelity of its population, gladly recognised the rights of the kingdom of Bohemia, and was willing to confirm this assurance by taking the coronation-oath. Various influences contributed to the failure of this attempt to effect a reconciliation between Bohemia and Austria. In 1872 a government of pronounced German tendency took office in Vienna and the Bohemians for a time again refused to attend the parliamentary assemblies of Vienna and Prague. In 1879. Count Edward Taafe—an Austrian of Irish origin—became Austrian prime-minister, and he succeeded in persuading the representatives of Bohemia to take part in the deliberations of the parliament of Vienna. They did so after stating, that they took this step without prejudice to their view, that Bohemia with Moravia and Silesia constituted a separate state under the rule of the same sovereign as Austria and Hungary. The government of Count Taafe, in recognition of this con- cession made by the Bohemians, consented to remove some of the grossest anomalies connected with the electoral system of Bohemia, which had hitherto been most unfairly partial to the German minority of the population. The government of Count Taafe also consented to the foundation of a Bohemian university in Prague, which in the few years of its existence has already contributed largely to the intellectual development of Bohemia.

On the fall of the government of Count Taafe, prince Alfred Windischgrätz became prime minister. The policy of his shortlived government was hostile to Bohemia; he was soon replaced by Count Badeni. This statesman again attempted to conciliate Bohemia. He did not indeed consider it possible to reopen the question of the autonomy of Bohemia but he endeavoured to remedy some of the most serious grievances of the country. In the beginning of the year 1897. Count Badeni issued a decree, which stated, that after a certain date all government officials, who wished to be employed in Bohemia, would have to prove a certain knowledge of the Bohemian, as well of the German language. This decree met with violent opposition on the part of the German inhabitants of Austria and caused the fall of the cabinet of Count Badeni in the autumn of 1897. After a brief interval he was succeded by Count Thun and then by Count Clary, whose government repealed the decree that had to a certain extent granted equal rights to the Bohemian language. In consequence troubles broke out in Prague, that were severely repressed by the Austrian government. During the subsequent governments of Körber, Gautsch, Prince Hohenlohe and Beck the Bohemians have generally opposed the central government of Vienna, though they have sometimes taken up an opportunist attitude, when this appeared to be in the interest of their country.

The Royal Capital of Prague

THE ROYAL CAPITAL OF PRAGUE.

Grand and beautiful, full of splendid palaces, spacious monasteries and green gardens „matička naše Praha“ (our dear mother Prague) extends along side of both banks of the broad river Vltava rejoicing in the picture of her beauties reflected in the water’s mirror as a lovely woman would conscious of her charms and attractions.

And high above the town beyond the endless tiers of tiled mansard, roofs with dormer-windows and gables there rises like a picture woven into a magic veil the pink silhouette of sacred „Hradčany“ the proudest mediaeval acropolis, enveloped in the charm of a glorious past of great events, which it was fated to witness.

And beneath this splendid castle amidst the sea of houses, amongst which, like fresh oases in the desert of grey masonry, gleams the soft and warm green of widespread parks and gardens, rise high into the air the venerable edifices of many churches, the numerous spires and towers of which point to the sky like the full-eard stalks of a field of wheat, watching over the masses of buildings at their feet.

Farther still on the very outskirts of the splendid town, in the pinkish mist of the southern and eastern horizon the eye perceives the soft outlines of majestic Vyšehrad as if it were rising out of the silvery waves of the Vltava, further on, the heights of Vinohrady and the mount of Žižkov, the slopes of Vysočan and Prosek. Beyond these at a greater distance gleam in the golden sunshine crop-covered ridges of hills, and yet farther again, towards the left, the top of Ladví, the brownish rocks of Bráník with the dark background of the pineforest near Modřan; beyond them the high hills of Zbraslav and Závisť are rising out of the forests on both banks of the river Vltava while in the foreground is seen, the dark green ridge of Petřín, with the line of Charles’s „Hunger-wall“ to the south, while on the opposite side nestles with its spires the monastery of Strahov amidst the green of shady gardens on its slopes.

All this forms a picture of enchanting beauty a fairyscene of marvels the dream of a Bohemian’s soul, „the“ town of all Slavonic towns THE CITY OF PRAGUE.

Urbem conspicio fama quae sidera tanget! (Libuša's prophecy.)

It is no wonder indeed that from time immemorial the most famous travellers considered and declared the „golden“, „the hundredtowered“ city of Prague to be one of the most beautiful cities of the world on account of its picturesque situation on both banks of the river Vltava and on the slopes of seven surrounding hills as well as for her many historic and artistic monuments.

Already at the beginning of the twelfth century the first Bohemian historian Kosmas praises it enthusiastically. He wrote the words of Libuša’s prophecy quoted above. After him, in the XVth. century, Aeneas Silvius (afterwards pope Pius II.) calls Prague the queen of towns. Enthusiastic are all the opinions of the travellers who visited Prague in the last and in the present century. The great German poet Goethe calls Prague „der Mauerkrone der Erde kostbarste Stein“, the famous German traveller Humboldt puts it in the fourth place amongst the most beautiful European towns and the renowned French geographer Elisée Reclus calls it one of the most beautiful towns altogether.

And the Prague of former times was more beautiful still, as it was seen even in the fifties of the XIXth. cen- tury by the most renowned Gothic architect Viollet-le-Duc, who speaks of its beauties as follows: „On aperçoit à travers des toits aigus de la ville basse les longues lignes horizontales de la vieille cité convertes de monastères et de palais entremelés de jardins magnifiques. Ce n’est pas par la pureté des details que brillent les monuments de Prague, mais par l’ampleur et un certain air aristocratique qui n’éclate pas le pittoresque.“

Then he appreciates in warm words its unusual historic and architectural importance by which it surpassed even the much vaunted Nuremberg. He says: „Prague est bien une ville du moyen âge, belle, bien percée couverte d’edifices énormes à cheval sur une grande rivière et couronnée par une acropole, qui conserve l’aspect d’une vaste citadelle gothique avec son enceinte des murs suivant les sinuosités de la colline qui lui sert d’assiette. Nuremberg malgré ses richesses architectoniques fatigue par la multiplicité des details; les edifices les uns sur les autres, petits dormant sur les rues ou des places peu étroites, ne permettent au regard de se réposer nulle part. Il semble que l’on a voulu dans cette ville reunir sur un seul point ce que l’art du moyen âge a pu enfanter; c’est un magasin de bric à brac plutôt qu’une cité.“

Greater still is the enthusiasm, with which the well known French aesthetic and critic William Ritter speaks about Prague in a letter which he sent to the magazine Lumír in 1899. He mentions Viollet-le-Duc’s love for Prague and speaks for himself: „When Viollet-le-Duc knew Prague it was such an admirable town, that every stone of it would have deserved a separate description. If Ruskin had not been so much occupied with Florence, Venice and Amiens, he might have written three volumes with the title „The Stones of Prague“ and there would not have been on the surface of the earth a more beautiful book of history and architecture. There may be books beautiful perhaps in other respects but none would be more beautiful in this particular.“

In the same way the Danish writer George Brandes was struck with the beauty of Prague; and the famous sculptor Rodin calls Prague very properly „the Rome of the North“.

But Prague is well known and renowned not only for its beauty, but also for its important position as a seat of art and culture. It was once the capital of Central Europe and in Charles IV. time the seat of the first university of Central Europe and possessed the first botanical garden. In Rudolph’s age it was famous as a town containing the most valuable collections, and for the splendour of its court and for the pleasures it offered, it was considered the Paris of Central Europe. Prague is the cradle of modern journalism: here the very first news-paper of the world was published (in the Bohemian [Czech] language). It was also here that the first systematically arranged exhibition took place (1791). In this city Mozart composed his opera of Don Juan, which in the history of music must be called an epoch-making event.

And yet Prague shares in many respects up to the present the fate of towns which live on the renown of their former better days!

Prague has ceased to be the residence of its kings therefore also ceased to be the object of the Austrian government’s solicitude. From within her walls the life and bustle of a residential town has vanished and with it the influx of foreign guests has stopped. The town began to be degraded by all sorts of malicious and unfounded aspersions and began to suffer financially and economically; it looked already as if it were to share the fate of other famous towns of Europe, such as Ravenna, Aquileia, Bruges, Ghent, Avignon, Florence and Venice.

But the reviving strength and power of a nation sound at heart and proud of its glorious past, self-reliant and conscious of what it was able to accomplish, did not allow Prague to fall so low, and by unwearied efforts raised it to a worthier position.

Nobody in the kingdom of Bohemia, much less in the empire of Austria in the sixties of the XIXth. century would have dared to anticipate or to predict the present flourishing state of Prague. But what to the most sanguine enthusiasts at home seemed to be a mere dream, did not escape the sharp eyes of the foreign observer. It is again the famous Viollet-le-Duc, who in the fifties, at the time of the fiercest persecution during Bach’s era of absolutism foresees the future rise of Prague and sees in the city the capital of a great rising nation, saying: „Mais Prague est une capitale, dans laquelle on sent la puissance d’un grand peuple“ and these prophetic words really came true. Prague is actually holding up its head again.

By its own strength and helped by the efforts of its own sons it opened like a rose of Jericho, as it were, by miracle into a fair flower and rose to all its former grandeur. It became not only the capital of all ranks of the nation aspiring to the highest degrees of culture, but it became also what it was in the days of its glory a centre of art.

And we trust the time is not far distant, when by redoubled energy, discipline and honesty, free from foreign influence the Bohemian nation will win for its royal Prague peacefully by its own genius and by weapons of intellect alone that importance and glory, of which whole generations of the past dreamt visions in joyful anticipation.

We propose to lead the reader through a small but interesting part of Prague—namely—the Staré Město (Old Town), across Charles' bridge and farther on by the Malá Strana (Small Town) to Hradčany (Castle Town) and back again, to some at least of the prominent monuments of Nové Město (New Town) with the aim of presenting a general sketch of a fragment of Old Prague, one of the most interesting townships which have been preserved from the dark middle ages to our days. The reader we hope will be enabled, to form a tolerably correct idea of the beauty of Prague in general, of her characteristic streets picturesque squares and palaces, surrounded by old gardens and ornamented by ascending terraces, loggias, pavilions, and salla-terrenas, which offer the finest views of the hundred towers, red-bricked roofs and walls which form the attractions and charm of the ancient capital.

From the Prague railway-stations on the Poříč and the Hybernská ulice and from the neighbourhood of the best Prague-hotels there are only a few steps to St. Joseph’s square (Josefské náměstí) a spacious open place much frequented and of ac ompletely modern character. That part of it which lies on the crossing of three important streets (Poříč, Příkop and Hybernská ulice) is at the same time the

Unie.

POWDER GATE. entrance to the central and oldest part of Prague the Old town (Staré město). The most prominent feature of this part of the square and its most splendid ornament is one of the most remarkable monuments of Prague,—the famous Powder gate (Prašná brána), dating from the end of the XVth. century, it is a master-piece in the Wladislaus Style of the renowned Bohemian Architects (Master Václav and Rejsek z Prostějova) the latter was the first B. A. and subsequently rector of the school „na Týně“ and master builder. Here in the vicinity of the former temporary residence of the kings of Bohemia, the two masters erected one of the most renowned Gothic towers in central Europe, majestic in general outline and marvellously attractive in the details of its ornamentation. The outside of this building shows that the gate which was begun in 1475 and finished only after the death of master Rejsek z Prostějova in 1506, used to serve defensive purposes as part of the once powerful and strong fortification-walls of the old town, it also boasts of a beautiful vault with a richly decorated fireplace and was at the same time the most ornamental part of the kings residence with which it was connected by a wooden bridge.

It is to be regretted, that of this once splendid royal residence, the place of which in after years was taken up by the archbishop’s palace and seminaries, and later still by a military school for Cadets, not one stone is now left upon another. In this square of monuments of past years, only one other remarkable edifice is left which will interest especially visitors from Great-Britain.

It is a church of the Virgin Mary secularized in emperor Joseph II.’s time, formerly belonging to a monastery of Hibernians, in which one of the chief altars was devoted to the patron-saint of Ireland St. Patrick. Only the facade of this church remains as of old and forms, in spite of a certain soberness of outline and decoration, or perhaps in virtue thereof a very affective feature at the entrance to the finest street of Prague, the Moat (Přikop).

At the corner of this street the stream of communication between the old and new town is divided into two chief channels, one of which leads by the Příkop to the spacious square of St. Wenceslaus (Václavské náměstí)— one of the largest squares in central Europe—the other takes you by the site of the large new town-house now in process of erection (chiefly for representative and social purposes and planned by the architects Balšánek and Polívka in a modernized renaissance style), straight to the centre of the old town by its most lively although narrow street—the Celetná ulice, beginning at the Powder-gate. This street is still quite mediaeval in its character, narrow, crooked, but full of life, bustle and commotion. A very interesting view is obtained from the shady passage of the street of the monumental building formerly by the military commando, now used as the country law-court, which has a beautiful balcony carried by cariatides, and was in 1848 the scene of the first bloody revolutionary event; farther on at the corner of the Ovocný trh (Fruit-market) there is an interesting house with the picture of the „Black mother of God“, while on the opposite side is a group of picturesque buildings and as mall lane (Templová ulička) which opens half hidden under a low arcade into the chief street. Going on through the crooked street we reach the beautiful house of the Counts of Millesimo, now the „casino of the nobility“, and passing a line of finely built houses of the characteristic Prague style we land at the end of the street before the steeples of the Týn church, glimmering high above the roofs of the houses in their shining covering of slate. The shape of these steeples is quite unique among all the Gothic steeples in Europe, and few can be found which could equal or even approach them in the peculiarity of general design and the details. The steeples are the chief object of attraction in this neighbourhood. Not far from them is the Týnský dvůr (Town court) once the centre of commerce not only of the town of Prague, but in the middle ages of the whole of central Europe. The court is picturesque up to this day, being adorned by renaissance-loggias, sgrafitti and large frescoes dating from the times of Ferdinand I. Close to it is an original crossing of streets, converging from all sides round the court, and their interesting mediaeval plan and character is now unique in Europe. The famous church of the Virgin Mary at the back of the Týn is remarkable not only for its architecture, but also for its historical associations with the emo