Abstract
The author analyzes the space of Prague presenting national perception of the city. It was registered as a UNESCO world heritage site. The author shows the process of changing Prague into a national symbol of Czechness. However, national movement increased national divisions between Czechs and German: in the 1880s separate promenades, coffee shops, and a university were established. During the First Czechoslovak Republic, the capital is mapped primarily in reference to the tradition of Charles IV and the Hussite movement. However, this tradition was modernized: Prague Castle as the seat of President T. G. Masaryk became the most important place in Prague. During Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, places associated with the Hussite tradition were “erased,” but the symbolism of medieval Prince Václav (Wenceslas) was made into a symbol of Czech loyalty toward the Germans. Next phase of manipulation occurred when communist took power. National traditions no longer have an integrating and rallying function today.
Highlights
Rather than as a unique artistic-architectural monument, the famous panorama of Hradcany was considered a magnificent diadem of Prague as the royal city, the metropolis of the former medieval state, later demeaned by the Austrian and Austro-Hungarian monarchy that, still, was unable to remove its royal magnificence
The list of First Republic cultural heritage sites was adopted by the Protectorate even though it reduced it to Hussite, Sokol, and legionnaire monuments; the symbols of Czech military tradition
The return to the national tradition − especially Hussite and Revivalist − was unique during the period following the Second World War within the terms of the socialist political camp
Summary
The author analyzes the space of Prague presenting national perception of the city. It was registered as a UNESCO world heritage site. The author shows the process of changing Prague into a national symbol of Czechness. During the First Czechoslovak Republic, the capital is mapped primarily in reference to the tradition of Charles IV and the Hussite movement. This tradition was modernized: Prague Castle as the seat of President T. Czeski ruch narodowego odrodzenia wyznaczył w mieście miejsca najważniejsze dla jego tożsamości. Obecnie narodowe tradycje (a także zabytki) nie spełniają funkcji integracji i mobilizacji
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