I took a tour out to Českŷ Šternberk castle. The tour is actually advertised as Karlštein Castle, but it is generally closed in the winter and they substitute with this one. It's not as scenic on the outside but much more interesting inside and I found the family history fascinating. The family changed their name to Šternberk (star on the hill) when it was fashionable to have German names, but they are one of the few surviving Czech noble families and have lived in the castle almost continuously since 1241. They still live on the first floor and the second floor is a museum of family belongings which is open to tour groups. The first thing that struck me was the array of etchings, up the staircase and covering many of the walls. One of the family a few generations back was a collector and it is an amazing historical collection predominantly of images of the 30 years war.
There were the usual painting of family members and hunting trophies, guns and swords, but there was also some lovely furniture, china, and a couple of unusual objects. In several of the rooms there were tall metal objects, painted to match the rooms. It turns out they were heaters, a bit like pot belly stoves but much bigger and without being able to see the fire. The access was from behind so that the floors didn't get dirty. In a study there was a painting of a tree on the wall, with a painting of each direct ancestor of the present Count. It was quite fascinating, partly because it also had their family crests. Another room also had some larger crests, and two caught my eye because the star (the mainly crest, hence the name) were on the right, indicating the female. It's the first time I've seen crests relating to the female in a house. These two women married kings so they would have had a higher status.
I did a World War II tour today. The young guy was hard to understand at first, but I think he was nervous and talking too fast. He went through the lead up to the war, with the annexation of parts of the country and then the eventual surrounding of it by the Germans to the point where they let them in or were wiped out. I hadn't realised that basically the English and French decided that the 'peace in our time' meant that parts of Czechoslovakia were disposable, without the Czechs having any say. They didn't realise or care that these were the areas that fortified the country and basically once Hitler controlled them, the country was doomed. We learnt about the assassination attempt on Heydrich, the Butcher of Prague, and the consequences of that including the total massacre of two villages. He also told a funny story which I suspect has been embellished over the years. Heydrich was a very accomplished violinist and wanted to put on a concert for Hitler at the Rudolphinum, a municipal hall turned concert hall on the banks of the river. It has statues of famous composers around the top, and apparently Heydrich ordered Mendelssohn's statue be removed because he was born Jewish. (Ironically he was never raised as a Jew.) The workmen didn't know which one it was so they were asked to find the one 'with the biggest nose'. They started destroying it, but it was actually of Wagner, Hitler's favourite composer.
One of the most interesting parts of the tour was exploring the cellars below the town hall. They were originally at ground level, so there are chambers below them as well, and also tunnels which connect most of the buildings around the Old Square. The resistance were holed up in there at the end of the war, when they made a stand against the Germans. The Town Hall was hit with missiles, damaging most of the largest wing. Some parts of the tower were repaired, including the spire and clock but they demolished the damaged wing and only a part of it still survives.
Most of the war damage in Prague was actually caused by Allied bombers who dropped bombs on the city thinking they were over Dresden. There are also still walls with stray holes from bullets etc but most have been covered over as facades have been repaired. The most obvious signs are on door facades which are harder to repair.
The Jewish Quarter now has small bronze plaques in the footpath at various points commemorating people who had lived there and were killed at various concentration camps. The Jewish Quarter was in a fairly swampy area, basically where the others didn't want to live. They were allowed a small area as a burial area, and were not allowed to increase this, so they dug down deep and over the centuries they buried the bodies on top of each other. In the small area over 100,000 bodies are buried, spanning over 500 years.
Surprisingly the Germans left the Jewish Quarter intact because Hitler was going to make it a museum to an extinct race.
In one of the synagogues they inscribed over 77,000 names of people who had died in the war. In 1968, when the Prague Spring was crushed the names were removed and the synagogue closed because of 'water damage'. After independence the names were put back. In another room are a number of children's paintings down by the children sent to the concentration camp Terezin. A woman at the camp had the children draw as a release for their emotions. They didn't draw torture though, they drew happy faces, playing games etc. Sadly, most of the children didn't survive. She buried the pictures wrapped safely, and told a friend. The woman didn't survive but the friend did, and when the camp was liberated she told the authorities who dug them up and had them preserved.
The only really 'modern' buildings in the Old town are in the Jewish Quarter - two buildings constructed by the Soviets. One is an Intercontinental Hotel which wouldn't look out of place in any western city, but certainly looks out of place here. They built it to show that they were bringing Prague into the present day, and to attract Westerners. The building across the road is even more 70s, and was the KGB headquarters, conveniently placed for spying on the people staying at the hotel! Apparently when they renovated the hotel fairly recently they found all sorts of hidden microphones ad other devices.
There were the usual painting of family members and hunting trophies, guns and swords, but there was also some lovely furniture, china, and a couple of unusual objects. In several of the rooms there were tall metal objects, painted to match the rooms. It turns out they were heaters, a bit like pot belly stoves but much bigger and without being able to see the fire. The access was from behind so that the floors didn't get dirty. In a study there was a painting of a tree on the wall, with a painting of each direct ancestor of the present Count. It was quite fascinating, partly because it also had their family crests. Another room also had some larger crests, and two caught my eye because the star (the mainly crest, hence the name) were on the right, indicating the female. It's the first time I've seen crests relating to the female in a house. These two women married kings so they would have had a higher status.
I did a World War II tour today. The young guy was hard to understand at first, but I think he was nervous and talking too fast. He went through the lead up to the war, with the annexation of parts of the country and then the eventual surrounding of it by the Germans to the point where they let them in or were wiped out. I hadn't realised that basically the English and French decided that the 'peace in our time' meant that parts of Czechoslovakia were disposable, without the Czechs having any say. They didn't realise or care that these were the areas that fortified the country and basically once Hitler controlled them, the country was doomed. We learnt about the assassination attempt on Heydrich, the Butcher of Prague, and the consequences of that including the total massacre of two villages. He also told a funny story which I suspect has been embellished over the years. Heydrich was a very accomplished violinist and wanted to put on a concert for Hitler at the Rudolphinum, a municipal hall turned concert hall on the banks of the river. It has statues of famous composers around the top, and apparently Heydrich ordered Mendelssohn's statue be removed because he was born Jewish. (Ironically he was never raised as a Jew.) The workmen didn't know which one it was so they were asked to find the one 'with the biggest nose'. They started destroying it, but it was actually of Wagner, Hitler's favourite composer.
One of the most interesting parts of the tour was exploring the cellars below the town hall. They were originally at ground level, so there are chambers below them as well, and also tunnels which connect most of the buildings around the Old Square. The resistance were holed up in there at the end of the war, when they made a stand against the Germans. The Town Hall was hit with missiles, damaging most of the largest wing. Some parts of the tower were repaired, including the spire and clock but they demolished the damaged wing and only a part of it still survives.
Most of the war damage in Prague was actually caused by Allied bombers who dropped bombs on the city thinking they were over Dresden. There are also still walls with stray holes from bullets etc but most have been covered over as facades have been repaired. The most obvious signs are on door facades which are harder to repair.
The Jewish Quarter now has small bronze plaques in the footpath at various points commemorating people who had lived there and were killed at various concentration camps. The Jewish Quarter was in a fairly swampy area, basically where the others didn't want to live. They were allowed a small area as a burial area, and were not allowed to increase this, so they dug down deep and over the centuries they buried the bodies on top of each other. In the small area over 100,000 bodies are buried, spanning over 500 years.
Surprisingly the Germans left the Jewish Quarter intact because Hitler was going to make it a museum to an extinct race.
In one of the synagogues they inscribed over 77,000 names of people who had died in the war. In 1968, when the Prague Spring was crushed the names were removed and the synagogue closed because of 'water damage'. After independence the names were put back. In another room are a number of children's paintings down by the children sent to the concentration camp Terezin. A woman at the camp had the children draw as a release for their emotions. They didn't draw torture though, they drew happy faces, playing games etc. Sadly, most of the children didn't survive. She buried the pictures wrapped safely, and told a friend. The woman didn't survive but the friend did, and when the camp was liberated she told the authorities who dug them up and had them preserved.
The only really 'modern' buildings in the Old town are in the Jewish Quarter - two buildings constructed by the Soviets. One is an Intercontinental Hotel which wouldn't look out of place in any western city, but certainly looks out of place here. They built it to show that they were bringing Prague into the present day, and to attract Westerners. The building across the road is even more 70s, and was the KGB headquarters, conveniently placed for spying on the people staying at the hotel! Apparently when they renovated the hotel fairly recently they found all sorts of hidden microphones ad other devices.
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