Prague and the Czech Republic    

Refined and bewitching Prague saw Russia’s invasion as only one in a series of occupations in their long struggle for independence and nationhood.  If you talk to a Czech today and refer to their country as lying in “Eastern Europe” they sometimes politely, but sometimes gruffly correct you. “Central Europe” they suggest.  What’s in a name?   Even though these Central European nations have been influenced by such ideas as the Renaissance and the Reformation they are now trying to catch up to their western nations.  They do not want to be confused with their Russian neighbors, who have that most awkward Eastern inclination towards despositism. “We want NATO. We want the EU.  We are the West.”  All of these hopes and aspirations are suggested with their insistence of “Central Europe.”  These people know that the 20th century’s Cold War was one of the conflicts of east and west.  Russians might look European but Mother Russia’s heart was molded in the great wastelands of Central Asia.


Charles Bridge Charles Bridge must be one of the most enchanting bridges in Europe.  The stone bridge has imposing but beautifully crafted statues of saints and heroes on of both sides of the narrow lane.  King Charles supposedly built the bridge to remind the people of Prague of man’s smallness and of god’s greatness.  Halfway down the bridge is the obligatory statue of Jesus.  However this crucifix is different from any other.  Centuries before the Holocaust a Jew had been found guilty of blasphemy and his punishment was to surround the crucifix with the words proclaiming Jesus’ greatness in Hebrew letters of gold. Both the good and bad ideas of Europe reached Prague.
Disco

At the end of the Charles Bridge is “Central Europe’s Largest Disco - ”  at least that’s what the massive neon sign advertises.



dead hero
While Eastern despots understand revolutions of soldiers and would be dictators, they have a harder time with revolutionaries who use weapons of the mind.  When the city went to far during Khrushchev’s “de-Stalinfication” in the Prague Spring of 1968 a student named Jan Palach poured gasoline and set himself on fire to protest the soviet occupation of his country.   The Czechs blooming revolution against their Eastern oppressors died with him. 





Clock On one side of the Town Square is a early 15th century Gothic astronomical clock.  Every hour on the hour skeletons ring bells, apostles appear, and a cock crows.  For 50 years this landmark could entertain only Eastern Europeans.  Now that the wall has fallen and the West has discovered Prague again the city is invaded by tourists.  The clock does it dance for huge Crowd crowds every hour.




Jan Hus The statue of religious reformer Jan Hus, which dominates the center of Prague’s old town square, reminds the visitor how the ideas of Europe had filtered into Prague.  Like Western Europe, a thinker, not a despot dominates the town’s old square.


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About Me:  I am a History teacher who wants to transform my hobby of Travel Photography into paying for my summer vacations.  If you would like to use any of my images in your magazine or web site  please contact me at kevinrpatterson@hotmail.com.

I also have many more images not found in this site from Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Jordan, Syria, Hungary, Spain, Turkey, Czech Republic, Bosnia, and Romania.