The history of Prague, now the capital of the Czech Republic, documents its rise to fame and fortune however its growth and story has not always been smooth sailing.

Fortified settlements have existed at the site of Prague on the Vitava River for thousands of years dating back to the time of the Celts. Prague Castle has been the heart of the community since its creation in 870. This landmark ranks as the largest ancient castle in existence in the world.

Following the completion of the Prague Castle the St Vitus Cathedral was built in the castle grounds in 926 while the Vysehrad Castle was built on the opposite bank of the Vitava River also in the 10th century.

in the latter part of the 11th century King Vratislav came to the city and soon became an influential resident helping to elevate the status of the city. In the 12th century Juditas Bridge was built out of stone to replace a previous wooden bridge that was destroyed by floods in 1157. Juditas Bridge was to last 170 years until the floods of 1342. The bridge built to replace this bridge is the now famous Charles Bridge, named after King Charles IV who was instrumental in building the bridge and actually laid the first foundation stone.

The Charles University was completed in 1348 and was the first university in Central Europe and now boasts 50,000 students.

In the centuries that followed Prague witnessed the arrival of the Habsburg monarchy in 1526 and in 1583 King Rudolf II lived here until the end of his reign in 1611. Battles and sieges were the order of the day including the uprising of the Czech Nobles between 1618 and 1620, the thirty years war from 1618 to 1648 and the Battle of the White Mountain in 1620.

The Saxon War of 1631 and the Battle of Prague in 1648 resulted in a dramatic drop in population from 40,000 to 20,000 and then another blow was dealt to the city with a massive fire destroying much of the city in 1698 and later more than 12,000 lost their lives due to the plague epidemics. However, by the end of the 18th century the population was close to 100,000.

After the 1757 Battle of Prague a number of locals were extremely wealthy and influential including merchants who made their fortunes from trading. These merchants as well as noblemen commissioned the building of various baroque style palaces and grand residences as well as several imposing churches. This period of history formed much of the city’s present day character and heritage and the city began to enjoy its affluence and success.

The industrial revolution also transformed the city with factories springing up everywhere with coal conveniently in abundance close by creating much employment.

After WWI with the demise of the Austrian-Hungary empire a new independent Czechoslovakia was declared in 1918 with Prague as its capital. There were many German speaking people living here just as WWII commenced. Hitler brought his army to the city in 1939 and gave a speech at the Prague Castle itself. German occupation enveloped the entire country resulting in the persecution of the Jewish community. We learned about the persecution and more about Jewish traditions during our visit to the Jewish Quarter however some 80,000 Czech Jews were victims of the holocaust

One of the most important historical events for Prague and the Czech Republic was the Velvet Revolution in 1989 where the streets became crowded with people protesting against the power of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. The Velvet Revolution was a non violent transition of power and occurred from 17 to 29 November 1989. By the 20 November the number of protestors rose to 500,000 and resulted in the entire top leadership of the communist party resigning on 24 November. In June 1990 Czechoslovakia held its first democratic election since 1946. There is much information about the Velvet Revolution around the city and I think some of it may have been erected to signify the 30th anniversary which has only just occurred.

On 1 January 1993 Czechoslovakia split into two countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with Prague becoming the capital of the new Czech Republic.