The history of Prague
A history of more than a thousand years speaks for itself. But how did everything start? And when? Who were the first Czech kings? The answers to all this questions can be found in the short chronological table below:
8th century The Czech Tribe settles in the territory of central Bohemia. The Vysehrad Acropolis is built on the right bank of Vltava.
Around 870: Founding of the Prague Castle.
921: Wenceslas becomes prince of Bohemia.
Around 925: Founding of St. Vitus Cathedral in the Prague Castle grounds.
965: Prague first reported in the narration of Ibrahim Jakub, a merchant.
973: Foundation of Prague bishopric.
1070: Vysehrad becomes the residence of the Czech princes.
1085: Prague becomes the temporary residence of the first Bohemian king Vratislav I.
1172: The seat of the Czech princes is moved from Vysehrad to the Prague Castle.
1158: Construction of Judith Bridge, the 2nd stone bridge in Central Europe.
Around 1230: Establishment of the Old Town.
1257: Foundation of Mala Strana (Lesser Quarter).
1310 – 1346: John of Luxembourg rules as the king of Bohemia.
Around 1320: Foundation of Hradcany, the area around Prague Castle.
1338: Foundation of the Old Town Hall – the importance of the city increases.
1344: Prague bishopric upgraded to archbishopric, beginning of St. Vitus, St. Wenceslas and St. Adalbert Cathedral (finished 1929).
1347-1378: Charles IV epoch – Prague becomes the capital of the Bohemian Kingdom and the Holy Roman Empire.
1348: Charles IV founds the New Town and the Charles University, the first university in Central Europe.
1357: Charles IV begins the reconstruction of the main bridge over Vltava (Judith Bridge), which will later become Charles Bridge.
1410: Building of the Astronomical Clock in the Old Town and excommunication of Jan Hus, the most important Czech reformer, later declared a heretic and burned at the stake (1415). The Czech people considered him a martyr and started the Hussites revolutionary movement.
1420: Hussites are victorious in the fights against the Emperor’s Catholic crusades, under the lead of Jan Zizka, the brilliant leader who invented mobile artillery. Jan Zizka died in 1424.
1458: George of Podebrady, the last Czech king is crowned.
1526: Beginning of the Habsburg dynasty in Prague. Ferdinand I crowned king of Bohemia.
1583-1612: The rule of Rudolf II, Renaissance reaches Prague and the city becomes the emperors residence and centre of social and cultural life.
1620: After the lost battle of the White Mountain and the execution of 27 Protestant leaders in 1621, Bohemia becomes a province of Austria and the Czech language and Czech national consciousness begin to decline.
1648: The end of the 30 Years’War. Prague Castle occupied by the Swedes.
1740: Maria Theresa becomes the new Empress of the Empire.
1784: Prague so far independent towns: Hradcany, Lesser Town, Old Town and New Town unite and form a single unit.
1805: Napoleon defeats the Czech, Austrians, Russians at Austerlitz (Slavkov).
1800-1900: Prague grows into a new city, national values are rediscovered and Czech language is re-established as the official language.
1868: Foundation of the National Theatre on the bank of Vltava.
1875: The first Horse-Tram runs in Prague, on a route leading from The National Theatre to Karlin.(in September 2005 the Prague Public Transport Company celebrated 130 years of existence).
1881: The National Theatre is destroyed in a fire, the inhabitants of Prague collect money for its re-construction.
1883: Re-opening of the National Theatre.
1912: The Municipal House is opened.
1918: Tomas G. Masaryk becomes the firs elected president of the new independent state the Czeckoslovak Republic. Prague becomes the capital of the new state.
1938 After political betrayal of allied, Germany occupied Sudetenland and in 1939 whole country.
1939-1945: Prague is under the occupation of the Nazi (Prague is the capital of the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia)
1945: Hundreds of Praguers killed in an air raid of U.S. Air Force (due to a mistake of the pilots – the target was Dresden)
1945: Uprising against the Nazis during the last days of World War II, ended with the arrival of the Soviet Red Army.
1948: The Communist Party assumes the political power in the country.
1968: Members of the Warsaw Pact (5 states) invade Prague in order to repress the Prague Spring. Over 100 protesters are killed as troops enter the city.
1989: Prague is the main centre of the Velvet Revolution (the end of Communist Era in Czechoslovakia, Vaclav Havel elected President of Czechoslovakia).
1993: 1st of January, Czechoslovakia splits in two and the Czech Republic is founded.
1993: 26th of January, Prague declared once again capital of the Czech Republic. Vaclav Havel elected president.
1999: 12th of March, The Czech Republic is accepted in NATO.
2000: Anti-globalization Protests in Prague (about 15,000 protesters) turn violent during the IMF and World Bank summits.
2002: Praguers fight with floods, parts of the city are evacuated but no major landmarks destroyed.
2004: 1st of May, The Czech Republic joins the European Union.