The Story of Prague (1920)/Chapter 8

by František Lützow

CHAPTER VIII

Walks and Excursions near Prague

TO those visitors to Prague who have acquired some interest in the history of the country no excursion will appeal more than that to the White Mountain, ‘the Chaeronaea of Bohemia,’ as it has been aptly called. Leaving the Malá Strana by the now-demolished Strahov gate (near the monastery of that name), we soon reach the White Mountain. Factories built in modern times have considerably altered the aspect of the ground. The plateau, which the Bohemian army occupied on the evening of November 7, 1620, and where earthworks were hastily thrown up, and the battle-field of the following day can, however, still be clearly distinguished. The Bohemian lines extended from the village of Repy to the ‘Star’ Park and the village of Liboc. The last and fiercest fighting took place immediately outside the park. Dr. Krebs^[1] writes: ‘The south-eastern angle of the “Star” Park became the grave of the national independence of Bohemia. Every Bohemian who passes this spot should remember, “It is holy ground on which I tread.”’ The Star Park is now a favourite summer resort of the citizens of Prague, who, perhaps wisely, appear to be intent rather on present pleasure than on gloomy memories of the past.

 

‘Little they think of those stout limbs
That moulder deep below.’

 

After the battle the Bohemian troops that still occupied the Royal hunting lodge at the ‘Star’ capitulated, and the victorious Duke of Bavaria spent there the night that followed the battle. Somewhat to the south of the ‘Star’ is the Church of St. Mary, built in 1706 in commemoration of the great defeat of the Bohemians. It is said that when the Emperor Joseph II. visited this church he expressed his displeasure, and he is said to have characteristically remarked ‘that he wished to reign over men, not over brutes,^[2] who celebrated their own defeat.’ It must be added that the pilgrimages to this church on November 8 have now entirely ceased.

From the village of Liboc the traveller can by rail reach in half an hour the romantic valley of the Sarka.

Of the many walks in the immediate neighbourhood of Prague we may mention that to the Petrin Hill, which has already been referred to. An outlook tower has recently been built here. Favourite summer resorts of the citizens of Prague are the Crown Prince Rudolph Park and the adjoining Belvedere Gardens, and the Stromovka or Baumgarten.

Those who wish to visit the village of Sterbohol, where the Battle of Prague (in 1757) principally raged, should start from the Francis Joseph Station and leave the train at Hostivár, the second station. The spot where General Schwerin fell is marked by a monument erected in 1824; a.second monument was erected in 1838 by King Frederick William III. of Prussia.

From the State Railway Station the traveller can in half an hour reach the station of Roztok, a place much frequented by the Praguers in summer because of the beautiful scenery. Close to here is Levy Hradec, historically interesting as the site of the most ancient Christian church in Bohemia; it was built by Borivoj in 871. No traces of the original building now remain.^[3]

A somewhat more distant excursion, but. perhaps the most interesting, is that to the Karlstyn Castle.
THE ‘STAR’ HUNTING LODGE It is reached in little more than an hour from the Smichov Station of the western railway. The Karlstyn was built by Charles IV. as a refuge for the Royal Family in time of war, and also as a safe spot where the crown jewels and the treasury could be deposited. It was built in a manner that rendered it for the time almost impregnable, and it successfully resisted the attacks of Sigismund Korybut during the Hussite Wars. In consequence of the importance of the treasures the castle contained, the custodian (burgrave) of the Karlstyn became one of the great dignitaries of Bohemia. Among the last to hold this ofice was Count Thurn, afterwards celebrated as the originator of the defenestration. His immediate successor, Martinic, one of the victims of the defenestration, was the last to hold the office of burgrave of the Karlstyn. With the autonomy of Bohemia the title was naturally in abeyance after the Battle of the White Mountain. The castle was built with great splendour, but many of the treasures it contained were either dispersed or transported to Vienna. The present Emperor of Austria—always a true friend of Bohemia—has lately (1901) given the order that several of the pictures that formerly were in the Karlstyn should be sent back there. The most valuable part of the building is the Chapel of the Cross, that contains some interesting early Bohemian paintings. Quite recently the Karlstyn has to a great extent been restored in a manner that has not on the whole pleased the critics.

 

THE OLDEST GREAT SEAL OF THE MALÁ STRANA,
THIRTEENTH CENTURY

 

1. In his Die Schlacht am Weissen Berge.
2. *In German ‘Bestien.’
3. Some remains of the ancient structure appear to have existed in comparatively recent times. In his Phosphorus Septicornus Pesina (1629–1680) writes of the ‘castellum Hradec uno atque medio infra Pragam milieri’ that ‘castelli hujus rudera hodique spectantur in quorum medio templum . . . adhuc integrum.’