Looking Down – Czech Blog Pots #11

I was going to start telling you about Dresden today, but then Hubby and I watched a movie last night, so I just didn’t get time to do a proper write-up on that German city. As it is, I think I’ll have to dedicate two entire posts to the beautiful, historic city.

So, instead, since it’s Halloween and I should do something different anyway, I want to remind you to look down – you never know what you’ll find. What I found were unique manhole covers!

The first three were all around Prague.

 

(This one might not really be a manhole cover, but more of a medallion of some kind in the street.)

This one in Český Krumlov.

One in Pilsen. (This also might be more of a memorial to this man.)

Then Dresden (which you will want to watch for more on next week!).

And finally, Kutná Hora.

Think artists submit their renderings and the city picks their favorite? 

Pilsen, home of Pilsner beer and more houses of worship - Czech Blog post #10

 

Sunday, September 28, we took the approximately 90-minute drive to the city of Pilsen, home of Pilsner beer. As I already mentioned on Sunday, the term Pilsner comes from, literally, “from Pilsen”, kind of like someone from America is called an American. 

The city of Pilsen was founded by King Wenceslas II. He was born in 1271, but his father died when he was only seven, so two other guys ruled during his younger years. They were not nice, and Wenceslas had to fight to rightfully serve as king. He finally was able to take over in 1296, but died of tuberculosis at the age of 33 in 1305. He was also king of Poland from 1296 to 1305, as well as Hungary. During his short reign, he built a great empire stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Danube River, as well as having several wives and many children.

This King Wenceslas II is not be confused with Good King Wenceslas, or Wenceslas the first, who was born in 907, and killed by his brother in 935 or 929. He is the patron saint of the Czech Republic and his feast day is September 28, which was the day we visited.

I thought there would be some sort of celebration going on in town, but basically, because it was a national holiday, most places were closed. Only small businesses are allowed to remain open. There had been some sort of goings-on in the town square but it was already shut down by the time we got there.

Anyway, we still saw a lot of things, most of which I don’t have a name for anymore. I should video the entire tour, right? So I can keep track of everything the tour guide says.

I did keep track of a few things. 

This is the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

It is part of the Franciscan monastery, which was established in the early 1300s and contains some of the oldest buildings in Pilsen. 

The gothic St. Bartholomew Cathedral, also built in the 1300s, is huge by comparison and boasts the tallest church tower in the Czech Republic.  

It was also beautiful inside, but somewhat overwhelming.

 

Just a few blocks away is Europe's second largest synagogue, the world's fourth largest synagogue.

The Great Synagogue, with its onion domes atop two high towers, was built in the Moorish-Romanesque style in 1893.

During World War II, it was used for storage by the Nazis. When the few surviving area Jews returned after the war, they struggled to maintain the building and it fell into disrepair during the years of communism in what was then Czechoslovakia.

 

In the last 1990s, it was restored to its former beauty, but with a population of only 200 Jews in the city, only the small winter room is now used for worship.

Last religious house we visited that day was the Church of St. John of Nepomuk.

It was built between 1909 and 1911, and I could tell you more about it, but aren’t you churched out? And just because I was there on a Sunday, doesn’t mean I need to ramble on about all the churches we saw.

Though the summer flowers were dying, I still tried to get a picture of some in each city. 

Luck

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. (Proverbs 3:5-6, New Living Translation)

One of the days we were in the Czech Republic, we visited the city of Pilsen, the home of Pilsner beer (because the word “pilsner” means “from Pilsen”, I guess).

Outside of the huge St. Bartholomew Cathedral, there was a gate with a line of scary-looking angels’ heads on it. There is a legend that one particular head grants good luck and happiness if you rub it. One website I found says, “The legend concerns an executioner who was not permitted to come into the church because his job involved killing people. So, he had a substitute man take his wedding vows there in 1739. While this substitute was at the altar with the bride, the executioner was praying at that gate. When he suddenly became faint, he grabbed a cherub with one hand so he would not fall.”

So, many of the people in our tour group rubbed that one certain head. Me? No. I didn't even get a picture of it. 

           And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. (Romans 8:28, New Living Translation)

One day, many months ago, I was talking to our pastor about a business trip he was about to take. As I turned to leave his office, I said, “Good luck on your trip.”

Then I caught myself. “It’s not a Christian-thing to wish people good luck, is it?”

He answered, no, with an explanation that if someone has faith in God, they don’t wish for good luck. They only need pray. Their prayer might not be answered the way they would like, but it will be answered in the way God knows is best.

It’s all about faith and not about luck at all.  

(Oh, and that little cherub head that's supposed to grant good luck? Because so many people rub it which wears it down, it has to be replaced every couple of years.)

Storming the Gates of the Castle, or well, just walking in - Czech Blog post #9

After we got back to the hotel from our trip to Terezin on Saturday, we took a bathroom break, and I laid down for about five minutes, before we took off for our next adventure. 

We had been close to the base of Prague Castle on our other walks, so we figured we could make the walk there and back and still have time to wander around the grounds. The two-mile trek there wasn’t bad, but that hike up to the summit of the hill got our hearts pumping. 

But the views! Totally worth breaking a sweat. 

We wandered around for a bit, then plunged through the gate (which really didn’t seem like a gate at the time) and started exploring.   

Unfortunately, you needed a ticket to get inside any of the buildings, but we figured we had enough to see outside. 

How much have I told you about Prague Castle? 

It is actually an extensive castle complex and the official residence and workplace of the president of the Czech Republic. During its existence, the complex served as the seat of power for kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman emperors, and presidents of Czechoslovakia. Building began in the 9th century, but as each new king came to power, he added on a new building, until the entire compound reached 1,870 feet in length and 430 feet in width. 

According to the Guinness Book of Records, Prague Castle is the largest ancient castle in the world, occupying an area of almost 750,000 square feet. I know I mentioned that before, but I finally looked up what makes it an ancient castle as opposed to any other castle.  

It has to have been built during the Middle Ages, has to have served as both a fortified military stronghold and a residence for a lord or ruler, and has features from that time period, such as thick stone walls, towers, arrow slits, and gatehouses. 

After a quick lunch at a café within the walls, we started wandering around in earnest. Until we walked out from an alley way to this: 

St. Vitus Cathedral is the largest and most important religious building in Prague. Apart from religious services, coronations of Czech kings and queens also took place here. Several patron saints, sovereigns, noblemen, and archbishops are buried there. 

The current cathedral is the third religious building to be on this site, all dedicated to St. Vitus.

Construction of this one began on November 21, 1344. Due to wars, changing of architects, and lots of other drama, the cathedral wasn’t declared to be finished until 1929! (Keep that in mind if you are personally in the midst of a construction nightmare.)

I’m not sure what else we saw as we walked along, but it was all breathtaking. Including the views from the top.

Czech Blog post #8 - When will we learn?

On  Saturday, September 27, we took the hour-long bus ride to the northern Czech city of Tererzin.

In January of 1780, Habsburg Emperor Joseph II ordered that a fortress, named Theresienstadt after his mother, Empress Maria Theresa, be built. Construction lasted ten years and included the building of the town of Theresienstadt. It was originally intended to be a resort for Czech nobility. 

The fortress, or the "Small Fortress", was on the east side of the Ohře River, while the walled town, called the "Main Fortress", was on the west side. The Elbe River is directly to the north.  

During wartime, 11,000 soldiers could be stationed there, and trenches and low-lying areas around the fortress could be flooded for defense, but at no time was the fortress under direct attack. 

Towards the end of the 19th century, the fortress was used as a prison, and during World War I, it was a political prison camp. Its most famous prisoner was Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb student, who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand. This assassination is the event which was the catalyst for the outbreak of World War I. Princip was sent to the Small Fortress at Terezin to serve a twenty-year sentence, but died on April 28, 1918, nearly four years later from tuberculosis and prolonged malnutrition.

When the Austro-Hungarian Empire fell in 1918, the town became part of the newly formed state of Czechoslovakia. Twenty years later, Nazi Germany annexed the city and the surrounding lands. By 1940, the Prague Gestapo Police set up the prison in the Small Fortress. By the end of the war, 32,000 prisoners, including 5,000 women, passed through the Small Fortress, many of whom perished while there.

During this same time, on the other side of the river, at the Main Fortress, the Nazis created the Jewish Ghetto. Here, over 150,000 Jews were interned, including 15,000 children. Most of these people were from Czechoslovakia, but there were also thousands of Jews sent there from Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and Denmark. Though not an extermination camp, thousands died from the deplorable conditions, and many others were sent to the death camps. At the end of the war, there were only 17,247 survivors.

In my travels, I've been to several other prisons and death camps where innocent people have been held, starved, tortured, and killed because of their race, religion, or creed. I'm certainly not fascinated by these places; I'm appalled. But I think everyone needs to see for themselves the atrocities that have been inflicted on our fellow human beings. Maybe someday this sort of madness can stop.

These pictures are ones drawn by the children who were held in the Jewish Ghetto.

When the Jewish families were taken from their homes and moved to Terezin, they were allowed to take one suitcase to carry all of their belongings. 

“We felt it was so important to release the film at this moment in response to the level of hate, intolerance and violence currently happening right here in America,” shared Smulowitz.  “We must learn from the lessons of the past about where this level of hate can lead.  Terezin also offers an inspirational message about the power of hope and love, so needed in these times.” Quote from 2020, by Anna Smulowitz, playwright and director of the play and film, “Terezin”.  

For more information on Terezin, click this link.