The folklore of Prague

The name Prague comes from the Czech word prah meaning threshold or gateway. It is, in part, because of this that the city has been nicknamed the gateway to the mystic. Personally, I find mystical to be a very fitting word. The streets are gorgeous, and the old and new town are the perfect settings for stories. It has been at the center of numerous historical events and the home of many artists and authors. It makes sense that the city should amass a large collection of tall tales. These are some of my favorites that I heard while I was there.

Golem

The legend of this supernatural creature begins with the plight of the head Rabbi in Prague, Rabbi Lowe. He contemplates the problem of anti-semitism in the city and wishes that he could protect the Jewish people. Eventually, he decides to mould a tall, strong, humanlike creature, the Golem, from the mud and places a shem (a clay tablet bearing the name of God) into its mouth. At first the Golem did well protecting the Jewish people, but things turned for the worse. On Sabbath, the creature was typically deactivated by removing the shem; one evening, however, he forgot. The next morning the creature tore through the city, wreaking havoc on everything in its way. The Rabbi eventually confronted the creature and deactivated it. It was never brought to life again, but legend has it that the creature's remains are still in the synagogue to this day waiting to be revived at a time when it is needed. Another interesting fact is that the legend may have inspired Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

The Defenestration of Prague

The Thirty Years War occurred between 1618 and 1648 and involved all of the major European countries. The fighting primarily took place in the German states, but the conflict began in Prague when Ferdinand II began ruling. He was a big fan of the Catholic counter reformation and, in turn, his Protestant subjects were not a big fan of him. He tried to send messengers ordering that churches not be built on government property (amongst other new laws). The result was that two of the messengers were thrown from a window. They did survive, however. As to how exactly, the story varies. The Catholics claimed that angels guided them down and Protestants said they landed in a pile of manure. 

Good King Wenceslas 

I was surprised to learn that good King Wenceslas was a real person. I was disappointed to learn, though, that the Christmas carol did not originate in Prague. It was written by an Englishman, John Mason Neale. He compiled a Finish song, Tempus Adest Floridum “The time is near for flowering”, ( originally about spring), with the Czech folktale. The story behind the song says that Saint Wenceslas I, the Duke of Bohemia, was celebrating the feast of Saint Stephen. Beside the warmth of his fireplace, he looked out the window and saw one of his subjects gathering firewood in the cold. Immediately, the king wanted to share the warmth of his home and his meal. He and a servant set out to find the man’s home, trudging through the snow with food and wood. They eventually find the man’s home and share a meal together.

By Sierra Lastine