Timeline
- 870 - 1526: Kingdom of Bohemia
- 1526 - 1918: Hapsburg Empire
- 1918: First Czechoslovak Republic was formed
- 1939 - 1989: Communist era
- 1993: dissolution of Czechoslovakia
Foundation of the city of Prague
From the 4th to the 6th century ce, Slavs appeared on the Vltava banks, followed by the Avars.
The first settlement at what is now Prague has been traced to the second half of the 9th century. The oldest building was Vyšehrad (hrad, “castle”), set on a commanding right-bank hill.
The oldest work of architecture within the city is Prague Castle, which has foundations dating back to the 9th century.
Premyslids: in power from 803 to 1306.
the dynasty included St. Wenceslas (Vaclav)
Prague within the Kingdom of Bohemia (870 – 1526)
- Era: Middle Ages
The Duchy of Bohemia was established in 870 CE, and eventually it was elevated to the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198. Bohemia was part of the Holy Roman Empire, which was a coalition of multiple states that controlled large portions of Central and
Western Europe. Prague served as the capital of Bohemia, and it reached a cultural peak in the Gothic Age during the reign of Charles IV.
Charles IV, Bohemian king and Holy Roman emperor, had his capital at Prague from 1346 to 1378. In 1348 he founded Charles University, the first in Central Europe. During his time Charles bridge and St Vitus Cathedral were built.
Although this was a time of relative prosperity for the city, there were also many conflicts between the Bohemians and the rest of the Holy Roman Empire. The most notable of which are the Hussite Wars, which were a series of religious and political strifes that lasted from 1419-1434.
Czech money was minted at nearby Kutna Hora.
Bohemia as part of the Hapsburg Empire (1526 – 1800)
After Bohemia and its allies suffered a major defeat against the Ottoman Empire in 1526, the Kingdom of Bohemia was absorbed into the Austrian Empire under the rule of Ferdinand I. Ferdinand was a member of the powerful House of Hapsburg, and he was the younger brother of Charles V, who was Holy Roman Emperor. The [[Hapsburgs]] would continue to rule Prague from **1526** until the end of WWI in **1918**. During this time Prague saw an influx of German speaking immigrants, and by the 19th century German was the dominant language in the city.
Although no longer the capital of an independent nation, Prague still prospered under Hapsburg rule, and many of Pragues greatest works of architecture date from this time period. The city also became tangled in the Thirty Years’ War, which lasted from 1618-1648. In fact, many historians credit the city with starting the Thirty Years’ War, after the infamous Second Defenstration of Prague, when a few religious leaders were thrown from the windows of Prague Castle.
Prague played a significant role in The Reformation. The sermons of Jan Hus, a scholar at the university, begun in 1402 at the now-restored Bethlehem Chapel.
The second of Defenestrations of Prague (1618), when the governors of Bohemia were thrown from the windows of the council room in Hradčany—one of the major events precipitating the Thirty Years’ War—was followed by the decisive defeat of Protestant forces at the Battle of the White Mountain, near the city, in 1620. Twenty-seven Prague commoners and Czech noblemen were executed on the Staroměstské Square in 1621; the city ceased to be the capital of the empire, was occupied by Saxons (1631) and Swedes (1648), and went into a decline hastened by two outbreaks of plague.
Fall of the Austrian empire (1918 - 1939)
After WWI, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was broken up, and the First Czechoslovak Republic was formed. Prague saw the continuation of the Czech Nationalist Movement, which had begun in the 1800s. The Czech language and other elements of Czech culture were growing in popularity. Artists such as Alphonse Mucha were focusing on the Czech identity and the art and architecture of the times reflected this focus back to the nation’s roots. Its at this point in 1929 that St. Vitus Cathedral was finally completed, featuring several stained glass windows designed by Mucha. Many Art Nouveau buildings also date to this time period such as the Prague Municipal House.
WW2 and Soviet Union (1939 - 1989)
After the outbreak of WWII, The Nazis entered the cityand began an occupation that would last until 1945. The Czech people within Prague furiously opposed the occupation, and a few prominent Nazi Party officials were assassinated by resistance groups. By the end of the war Soviet troops had pushed the Germans out, and Prague and the rest of Czecheslovakia remained behind the Iron Curtain within the Soviet Union until the Velvet Revolutionof 1989. This marked the end of Soviet control and Prague was once again the capital of an Independent Nation.
In November 1989, Prague’s Wenceslas Square became the cradle of the movement that swiftly ended four decades of communist rule in Czechoslovakia.
1993: dissolution of Czechoslovakia