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In-Depth Information
they wanted. Many chose to leave the ghetto for nicer areas of the city. At the
end of the 19th century, municipal authorities decided to clear the ghetto, which
had become a slum.
The ghetto, renamed Josefov in Joseph II's honour, remained the spiritual
heart of Prague's Jewish community. That came to a brutal end with the Nazi oc-
cupation during WWII. Today the city is home to roughly 5000 Jews, a fraction of
the community's former size.
REVIVAL OF THE CZECH NATION
Remarkably, Czech language and culture managed to endure through the years of
Austrian occupation. As the Habsburgs eased their grip in the 19th century, Prague
became the centre of the Czech National Revival. The revival found its initial expres-
sion not in politics - outright political activity was forbidden - but in Czech-language
literature and drama. Important figures included linguists Josef Jungmann and Josef
Dobrovský, and František Palacký, author of
Dějiny národu českého
(The History of
the Czech Nation).
While many of the countries in post-Napoleonic Europe were swept up by similar
nationalist sentiments, social and economic factors gave the Czech revival particular
strength. Educational reforms by Empress Maria Theresa (r 1740‒80) had given even
the poorest Czechs access to schooling, and a vocal middle class was emerging
through the Industrial Revolution.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, Prague got a major baroque facelift,
including the statues on the Charles Bridge and construction of St Nich-
olas Church in Malá Strana. This was mainly the work of the Austrians
and the Jesuits, eager to mark their triumph.
INDEPENDENCE AT LAST
For Czechs, the tragedy of WWI had one silver lining: the defeat of the Central
powers, including Austria-Hungary, left the empire too weak to fight for its former
holdings, paving the way for the creation of independent Czechoslovakia in 1918.
Czech patriots Tomáš Masaryk and Edvard Beneš had spent the war years in the Un-
ited States, where they lobbied ceaselessly with Czech and Slovak émigré communit-
