Prague History of Prague Museum
A guide to the History of Prague! Visit Get-Packing.com for Prague History and read up-to-date information, reviews and articles on Prague art and museums...
The first permanent settlements on the Vltava River on the site where Prague stands today only dated from around 600AD, although there had been communities living in the area since the Stone Age.
Prague became the centre of Bohemia, and the area found its first popular hero in Good King Wenceslas who was actually a duke in the early 10th century.
It was under the rule of King Charles IV between 1346 - 78 that Prague got much of its character, with the landmarks of Charles Bridge, Charles University, and St Vitus' Cathedral being built.
Bohemia fell under the control of the Viennese Hapsburgs in 1526, although their rule was fairly short lived, and by 1618, revolt in Prague had kicked off the 30 years war, which devastated much of Europe, and saw the defeated Bohemia absorbed fully into the Austrian empire.
The move for independence gathered momentum in the city throughout the 19th century, and after the 1st world war, the Nation of Czechoslovakia was born in 1918, Prague was capital.
Sadly independence did not last long, and following the Second World War, during which Czechoslovakia was occupied by the Nazis, The Soviet forces "liberated" the country before immediately instigating communism, removing any opposition in a series of purges including the Red Army invasion in 1968 in which over 50 people protesting for freedom were killed.
As the Soviet influence collapsed in the late 1980's a series of non-violent demonstrations in the city ushered in the Velvet revolution and Czechoslovakia became a democracy.
The uneasy union of the Czech and Slovak republics ended in divorce in 1993, but Prague was already well on its way to becoming one of Europe's most visited destinations.
With membership of the European Union in May 2004, Prague is growing in popularity all the time.
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