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Prague is a true cultural treasure trove, bursting with fascinating museums, galleries, theatres, and music venues. The city regularly plays host to numerous prestigious exhibitions, events, and more international festivals than you can shake a very large stick at. Known as the "city of a hundred spires", Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic and boasts of a rich cultural heritage. Situated close to the Vltava River, Prague has a variety of museums, galleries and theaters which give you a chance to appreciate this ancient culture. Prague is alive with culture at all levels, from buskers wafting the tourists across Charles Bridge with a whirl of the violin through to full blown classical performances by world-renowned ensembles in some of Europe’s most spectacular venues.

Declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, Prague´s historic center is a good place to start your adventures. Apart from the Old Town Square which dates back to the 12th century, Prague Castle and the old Jewish quarter are also worth visiting as they are very much a part of the city´s history. Music has always been regarded as an important part of education, both through the schools and through town musicians, whose jobs included teaching as well as performing. From its formation in the late 18th century, the Prague Conservatoire has been a world-class training ground for musicians and composers. In the 1780s, Dr Charles Burney described Bohemia as ‘a nation of musicians’ adding: ‘It is said by travellers, that the Bohemian nobility keep musicians in their houses; but in keeping servants it is impossible to do otherwise.’ Behind the big four Czech composers (Smetana, Dvořák, Jánacek and Martinù) lie literally hundreds of others, whose talents ranged from good to near great. In a historical sense, Prague has always been a cultural city of influence: Mozart wrote "Don Giovanni" here, the great Czech composer Antonín Dvorak spent most of his life here, and Franz Kafka is one of the city´s most famous sons. With the eclipse of Prague by Vienna, under the Hapsburgs, attention shifted from the political sphere to the artistic. Mozart was more highly regarded in Prague than he was in Vienna and every famous composer and virtuoso was welcomed with open arms, with conductors of the Prague opera including Weber, Mahler and Zemlinský. One of the downsides of the fall of Communism was the substantial cutback of state funding and the entire arts scene is experiencing financial difficulties in the shift to a market economy. Artists are still regarded as respected members of the community and every possible effort is made to further their careers. Performance standards have, if anything, risen still higher.

 

In order to get a clearer picture of Prague history you should visit the National Museum (Vaclavske namesti, 68) where you will find all manner of exhibits and relics which bear testament to the country´s origins. Other museums worth visiting include the Puppet Museum (Karlova, 12) and the Museum of Communism (Na prikope, 10) which looks back at "life" under Soviet rule.

 

Much of this Prague cultural dominance is due to the early establishment of a University in Prague. In 1348, the Charles University became the first such institution in central Europe, and it immediately began attracting great minds to the city. Culture´s role was of course somewhat depleted during the dark days of communist rule, but the Velvet Revolution - initiated by several peaceful Charles University student demonstrations - allowed creativity to take on forms other than that allowed by the authorities (or those which were aimed at sneaking under their radar!). Virtuoso instrumentalists and conductors have always been manifold. Surprisingly few were actually born in Prague, but almost all of them were residents at one time or another.
Another great way to experience Prague culture is by taking in a traditional theater production. The National Theater (Narodni trida, 2) showcases some remarkable ballet and drama performances, while the Prague State Opera and the Marionette Theater (Karlova, 12) which keeps alive the over 200 year traditions of puppetry are also worth visiting. A visit to Prague is to experience a culture and traditions of a people who won their freedom after years of hardship under foreign rule and who have begun to rewrite a new chapter in their history.

 

Prague is unquestionably a musical city. Prague Spring Festival is one of the major world-class festivals but concerts abound throughout the year. And this is not the end of the matter – buskers are found everywhere and the streets, squares and bridges echo to everything from talented students from the Conservatoire, to Dixieland jazz, folk and world music and pop.

Prague is also home to the National Gallery collection which is showcased in 6 separate venues including the Convent of St. Agnes of Bohemia (U Milosrdnych, 17) which is only a 10 minute walk from the Old Town Hall. Art lovers should make time to visit the Picture Gallery of Prague Castle as well.
Today, Prague once again shines brightly and proudly as a cultural beacon. As a city to create, exhibit, or perform in, check out our culture listings for a taste of what´s on offer!

Weekly listings for all musical events can be found in The Prague Post (website: www.praguepost.cz) and fortnightly in The Prague Pill (website: http://prague.tv/pill/). Do Mìsta gives monthly cultural listings in Czech.

The standard opera repertoire is offered at the State Opera, Legerova 75, Prague 2 (tel: 22422 7266; website: www.sop.cz). The Estates Theatre, Ovocný trh, Prague 1 (tel: 22422 7981; website: www.estatestheatre.cz), where Don Giovanni was first performed, still presents occasional Mozart operas. Czech repertoire is principally presented at the National Theatre (Národní Divadlo), Národní 2, Prague 1 (tel: 22490 1111 or 22490 1668; website: www.nationaltheatre.cz). Performances here tend to be more innovative and ticket prices are lower.

Unusual music shows are presented in the summer at the Křižíkova Fontana (Krizik’s Fountain), in Luna Park, Prague 7, with shows linking music, lights, fountains and water features.
Theatre:Misery Loves Company, Celetná 17, Prague 1 (tel: 22480 9168), presents consistently high-quality productions of international plays and Czech works in English translations. They are active in the summer at the reconstructed Globe Theatre, Výstavištì, Hološovice, Prague 7 (tel: 22271 1515) There are currently several companies presenting shows combining music, dance and 3D effects with black (ultraviolet) light features, known as Black Light Theatre. Performances run from classical to rock and all the companies are excellent. They include The Black Light Theatre, Jiří Grossmann Theatre

Dance: Classical ballet is prevalent at the major theatres but modern dance companies, with their experimental and multimedia techniques, offer a far more exciting evening. Ponec, Husitská 24A, Prague 3 (tel: 22272 1531; e-mail: divadlo@divadloponec.cz; website: www.divadloponec.cz), a new performance space owned by the dance company, Tanec Praha (website: www.tanecpha.cz), presents a constantly varied and challenging programme of Czech and international companies. Folklore shows combining energetic dancing and music with colourful costumes have not lost their exuberance or high standards under the demands of tourists. Restaurace U Marcanu, Veleslanínská 14, Prague 6

Film: The majority of foreign films in Prague are screened in their original language – subtitled films are billed as titulek and films dubbed into Czech are dabovat.

South of Smíchov is the Barrandov Studio. Built by Václav Havel’s grandfather, after World War I, it soon became the centre of the Czech film industry. Czech directors, camera operators and technicians were soon in demand across Europe. Gustave Machatý’s Erotikon (1929) reveals Art Deco Prague in all its glory, while his Extase (1933), winner at the Venice Biennial in 1934, created a sensation with its daring nude scene by Austrian actress Hedy Kiesler (later, in Hollywood, Hedy Lamarr). The earliest important silent films set in Prague, however, were German. Paul Wegener’s The Golem (1920) vividly brought to life the medieval legend of the Jewish clay automaton (with studio expressionist sets that recreated the claustrophobic ghetto) and Henrik Galeen’s The Student of Prague (1926), a tale of the Doppelgänger (evil double) recreated the early 19th-century city. Czech animation came to prominence in the 1930s and remains influential in the genre.
The implementation of Stalinist doctrine under the Communists largely isolated the industry from the West. However, innovations were still possible and in 1947, Jiří Trnka created the first puppet film, establishing a new genre that helped maintain a Czech presence in world cinema. The 1950s also saw the training of a new generation of filmmakers who, with the relaxation of restrictions in the 1960s, gave rise to the superb Czech New Wave. The finest films of this period were undoubtedly Closely Observed Trains (1966) and The Shop on Main Street (1965). Since the Velvet Revolution, Czech filmmakers seem to have lost their way, remaining in awe of the New Wave and attempting to maintain an identity in the wake of the influx of Hollywood values. Ironically, those values that threaten to swamp Czech films have also served to revive the industry

Cultural Events: The Czechs have always been known for their musical ability, as well as their love of music. One of the world’s largest festivals, now entering its 60th year, the Prague Spring International Music Festival (website: www.festival.cz) continues this fine musical tradition. Every year, the festival starts on 12 May (the day Smetana died in 1884) and the opening concert always features his great cycle of symphonic poems, My Country.

Literary Notes: The German poet, Edward Mörike, wrote a novella called Mozart’s Journey to Prague (1855), which is a delightful, if fanciful, account of the composer’s trip in 1787 to conduct the premiere of Don Giovanni. Jan Neruda (the ‘Czech Dickens’) provides fascinating 19th-century vignettes in Lesser Town Tales (1878), while Gustav Meyrink’s The Golem (1915) remains the classic version of the story concerning the medieval Jewish automaton. Although also Gothic in character, F Marion Crawford’s occult novel, Just as Kafka has spawned an industry of souvenirs, so too has the anti-hero of Jaroslav Hasek’s comic masterpiece of World War I, The Good Soldier Svejk (1921). Karel Capek’s anti-utopian play, R.U.R. (1921), added the word ‘robot’ to the international vocabulary. Bohumil Hrabal’s deservedly famous Closely Observed Trains (1965) offers a thoroughly unromantic picture of the final days of World War II. For the Stalinist period, Milan Kundera’s The Joke (1967) is a far superior work to his better known The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984). The Witch of Prague (1891), provides a wealth of description of the city in the late 1880s. Prague’s most famous writer, Franz Kafka, generally took a more jaundiced view of the city, filtered through the bewildering and menacing absurdities of Hapsburg bureaucracy. His masterpieces include The Trial (1925), The Castle (1926) and The Transformation and Other Stories (1915). Since the Velvet Revolution, literature (often experimental) has flourished in the Czech Republic. Michael Viewegh’s Bringing Up Girls in Bohemia (1994) offers a wry look at rampant capitalism and sex in modern suburban Prague. Peter Demetz’s Prague in Black and Gold: The History of a City (1998) is richly textured historical work that delves beneath the smooth tourist veneer of the city today to vividly reveal more barbarous and brutal times.

 

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