Myths and legends surrounding Prague | by Sasha
Walking in the streets of Prague, you notice its elegant grace, the intricate detailing of gothic and high baroque work at every corner: coiling, piercing, interlinking and finally extending up from the facades, into the usually grey or blue sky above us. Despite this, Prague is not pompous in its presentation, it holds temperance while showing its visitors unforgettable sights. Between this clash of flying buttresses, castles, towers, rose and lancet windows, I’d like to direct attention to the settled aura that I’m sure everyone felt at one point prowling around in the city – Prague’s undeniable mysticism. Whether it’s the structures themselves, as I pointed out, or the abundance of stone statues with their own grim or religious (sometimes both) backgrounds – something about this city feels esoteric, mysterious in an occult way…
Now of course, this may be a subjective take, heavily biased towards my perception of Prague. However, after talking to a bunch of friends, other students and even colleagues (some of them locals), I was convinced that I’m not the only one sharing this view. The most damming evidence and last push to write this blog was discovering that one of the fictional cities in “Magic: The Gathering” lore (which is a high-fantasy card game turning 31 years in August) – Ravnica, is inspired by Prague. Looking at my own collection of Ravnica set cards, this connection is very much in plain sight and if those game designers saw something arcane in Prague, then there definitely is something to find. Digging deeper into this topic I found that our lovely capital of Czech Republic is full of legends and ghost stories that contribute to everything I’ve talked about up until now. Prague having such an extensive medieval history, we’re bound to find some skin-crawling recounts from the castle halls, all the way to the Old Town center. No seriously, I’m putting a disclaimer here that some of these are pretty grim and some readers may find themselves disturbed, so continue reading at your own peril.
That being said, let’s start seeking our folk tales at the heart of Prague, where the narrow streets resembling halls of a labyrinth all converge at Staroměstké náměstí.
Pictured: landscape that was inspired by Prague, printed on Magic: The Gathering card. Art by Kirsten Zirngibl.
1. The astronomical clock of Prague
Situated in the center of the Old Town square, stands Staroměstská radnice – the town hall of Old Town. Mounted on the south tower of this building, the Prague Orloj (Astronomical clock/Town hall clock tower) looms over dozens of tourists waiting for it to ring. Now, one of the more popular legends states that the clock was built by the clock-master Jan Růže (also known as Hanuš, or Hanuš from Růže) in 14th century. After his engineering triumph, the clock-master was approached by representatives from different nations, commissioning the craftsman for something akin to The Orloj. Upon hearing this, the Prague Councilors (never explicitly stated, but probably either of King Václav IV, or King Zikmund) had the master blinded, effectively ensuring that the astronomical clock could never be replicated. As revenge, Hanuš broke the clock mechanism in a way that only he could repair it. Some sources even claim that the clock-master threw himself into his creation, gumming up the cogs and taking his own life. He also apparently cursed The Orloj: „ All who tried to fix it would either go insane, or die.“
Except today we know that Jan (Hanuš) Růže was not the original clock-master, but rather this marvelous medieval timepiece was created by king’s clockmaster Mikuláš from Kadań and astronomer Jan Šindel from Prague University in 1410. Curiously, the clock did actually stop multiple times and the very first repairment and improvement was done in late 14th century, by non-other than Hanuš from Růže. This process had to be redone numerous times over the course of history, almost every century.
Apparently, the statue of the skeleton with the hourglass (who rings the bell) adorning the clock tower is also subject of local legends. It is said that if the clock is neglected and stops working, said skeleton will conjure evil powers to throw the entire nation into hard times. The only way to confirm this is to see the statue nod its head which then would spawn the expectation of the last remaining hope – a boy who is supposed to be born on New Year’s Eve. If the clock mechanism starts running again, this prophesized boy is supposed to “run out of the Týn Church (Church of Our Lady before Týn) across the square to the town hall. He has to run very fast to arrive before the last strike of the clock. If he makes it he will quit the skeleton’s evil power and avert all the evil.” (Prague City Line, n.d.)
2. The Golem of Prague
This legend is set in the Jewish Quarter of the Old Town. Sources, as accustomed to folklore, vary, however we can place this story somewhere between 16th-17th century. Fearing the fanatical anti-Semite priest Thaddeus, who used allegations like the “Blood Libel” (according to Jewish Virtual Library: belief “that Jews murder non-Jews, especially Christian children, in order to obtain blood for the Passover or other rituals”) to promote antisemitic violence and hate, the renowned historic wonderworking Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel (also known as Maharal of Prague) starts planning for an appropriate response. Apparently, he raised this question in his dream and received an alphabetically arranged answer, that translates to: “You shall create a Golem from clay, that the malicious anti-Semitic mob be destroyed.” (Vitalis, 2006). Rabbi Loew summoned his son-in-law Jizchak ben Simson and one of his disciples, Jacob ben Chajim Sasson and asked them to aid him in the creation of the clay living body. One day, after performing different rituals and chanting psalms, the three men went down to the bank of river Vltava. There they molded the Golem, which is disputed: some sources claim it to be very human-like, some sources depict it as a huge clay beast. However, what we can all agree upon is that due to the nature of the only responsibility this creature was tasked with, it was unnaturally tall and muscular. After uttering the words: “And the Lord formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”, harnessing the three elements – fire, water and air, Rabbi Loew and his men managed to breathe life into the clay superhuman. Forging the Golem to defend their Jewish community.
Funnily enough, how exactly this mythical creature from Jewish folklore contributed to fading away of the anti-Semitic agenda from the rulers at Prague Castle, or from the priest Thaddeus is never stated. However, I found it interesting to note that, the poem by H. Leivick – “The Golem”, which was obviously inspired by this legend, can be used to trace the roots of antisemitism, with allegations like “the Blood Libel” re-emerging in history to be used as reasoning for violence against Jewish people, most notoriously during the Nazi rule. The poem was written in 1922 and the folk tale is way older than that.
There exists a popular recounting that one day during the Sabbath, Rabbi Loew forgot to deactivate and let the Golem rest, its lack of purpose during the day frightened and enraged the clay figure, so it proceeded to go on a rampage in the streets of the ghetto. While this was happening, the great Maharal of Prague was reciting Psalm 92 in the Old New Synagogue. He was interrupted and informed about his Golem, to which in response the great Rabbi yelled: “Josef, stop it!” without even seeing his creation. Yes, the Golem was named Josef apparently. Since this incident, Josef has been deactivated and allegedly stored in the attic of the synagogue. To this day, during services at the most famous synagogue in Prague, Psalm 92 is recited twice – probably as a callback to the great Rabbi Loew.
3. The one-armed thief
If you enter the church of St. James the Greater (Bazilika svatého Jakuba Většího) and look up at the ceiling, you’ll notice a withered, charred, black arm dangling on the meat hook. As you could have guessed this is a lot grimmer than the abovementioned legends: this is a 400-year-old mummified hand of a thief, who, according to the local legend, tried to steal the jewels off the statue of the Virgin Mary. However, as soon as he started his business, he was interrupted by the statue suddenly coming to life, reaching out and grabbing, locking his arm in place, until the parishioners found him in this state. The members of the church were unable to free the thief of the statue’s grasp, so they consulted their own craftsman skills and amputated the arm. As soon as they did, the statue unhanded the limb and went back to its natural pose. As a reminder of what happens to thieves and burglars, they decided to hang the arm where it is today.
4. Three brothers Lech, Cech, and Rus
This refers to a legend that explains where the name “Czech” came from. The legend isn’t Czech by heritage. One of the prominent sources is Wielkopolska Chronicle, a medieval chronicle about the history and origin of Poland. In the legend, the three brothers: Lech, Cech and Rus were sons of prince Pan. They had to or willingly left the kingdom of Pannonia in pursuit of land with abundant resources, where they could settle (different sources vary on the reasoning, some say they left because of war, some say they left because they were accused of murder, etc.). On their journey, they reached the Říp Mountain and climbed it. This mountain/hill is interesting too, since it’s location made it visible from great distance, earning it a role of an important orientation point.
On top of the mountain, the forefather Cech proclaimed that the land in view is now his home for his family and called it “the land of milk and honey”. To honor their founding father, the tribe named their new territory after him – Czechia. As for Lech and Rus, former continued his journey and founded modern-day Poland and latter – Kievan Rus. However most sources exclude brother RUS entirely and just mention two brothers Lech and Cech/Czech. Also there is a tradition that every Czech has to climb this mountain at least once in their lives.
5. The Iron Man of Prague
Going back to the center of the Old Town, at Platnéřská street, if we face the town hall walls, we’ll notice the stone statues guarding their posts, occupying inverted corners of the building. If you stand facing the entrance of the town hall from Mariánské náměstí, on the right you’ll notice the statue of our familiar Rabbi Löw. On the left, however, stands the Iron Man. Both pieces were made by sculptor Ladislav Šaloun, for the only administrative building in the world to house a statue with a cursed ghost attached to it. The ghost in question is knight Jáchym Berka. He was known as “Iron Knight” because of his black armor. Berka got engaged to a daughter of a black smith, by accounts, a sweet woman who was devoted and pure-hearted. They lived at Platnéřská street 119/19. One day the knight was sent off to serve his duties on the battlefield and once back, heard disgusting rumors about his fiancée being unfaithful. There are discrepancies about his response: one legend says he immediately married a different woman without even seeing his bride-to-be, second says that he came back home enraged and in a fit or rage, took her life. I’ll go with the second version for this blog. With her last breath, the daughter of the blacksmith cursed the knight which turned him into the stone statue we see today. The vengeful but now regretful ghost can be freed, but only every 100 years, by “virgin pure of heart takes pity on him and gives him a kiss”.
Where the actual petrified statue of the Iron Knight is, nobody knows. The ghost part to this legend comes with the claim that in 1909 (exact date not agreed upon, nor exactly known), That a young woman was visited by the ghost of Berka, retelling his story and asking her to free him. He even showed her where the stone body was. But during this transaction, the mother of the woman found out and since she was planned to be married to a tram driver from a good family, the mother intervened and locked her daughter in a room, while offering herself as help. This didn’t work since she wasn’t a virgin, so the curse remained unbroken.
There are no known attempts from 2009, so we can expect news in 2109 maybe, granted, if the date provided is even correct.
6. Prince Bruncvík
This legend is kind of sweet actually. The story revolves around Bruncvík and his wife – Neomenia. Before setting off to a campaign, they swapped rings and told her that when he’d be back, she’d be able to recognize him with their rings. If he didn’t return in 7 years, she should remarry. Bruncvík set off conquer conquer the lion’s emblem (the symbol representing Bohemia on the Czech coat of arms), like his father before him had once conquered the eagle’s emblem (the symbol representing either Moravia or Silesia on the Czech coat of arms). On their way to their destination, while sailing the seas, they unfortunately crossed in the vicinity of the Amber Mountain, that according to the legend, sucked everything towards its shores all around. The yellow light emitting was a doomsday sign that all those who now witnessed it are in trouble. This came true, as the entire ship with the prince and his army disappeared into the waves, caused by the sudden storm. Once awaking on the island, at the base of the Amber mountain, the army suffered grueling days of starvation, until the only two men left where prince Bruncvík and one of the oldest knights. The old knight told him that he noticed a carnivorous bird making trips to the island, so the prince could disguise himself in the leather of one of the horses and could fool the bird into taking him away. So Bruncvík did as he was told, promising beforehand to take care of the old knight’s family once he reached home. The bird snatched him in his leather bag and brought the noble prince as food for its babies. This was a chance for our hero to draw his sword, cut himself out of the disguise and escape. Travelling back home, he found himself deep in a wild jungle, where he encountered a vicious beast – a nine-headed monster that seemed to be battling with a local resident – a lion. Bruncvík took up his sword once again and joined the lion, fighting for 2 days to defeat the monster. To thank him for his deed, the lion took the prince and nursed him back to help, after which the unlikely duo became inseparable. At some point during their journey, Bruncvík’s trust sword would be replaced by a magical sword he found in some castle. This longsword was special, after a verbal command it could chop people’s heads off all on its own. So, he used it against demons that he encountered on the way back home. This whole journey took longer than 7 years. Coming to his kingdom, he found out that his wife was getting remarried and everyone were celebrating the wedding. Bruncvík slipped his (but actually her) ring into the drink of the princess and left the castle. After taking a sip, Neomenia was unable to ignore the ring of her betrothed and immediately chased after him, calling off the wedding. This obviously enraged the groom and in response called a search party of armed men to track prince Bruncvík and kill him. However, this plan didn’t go through, as upon approaching him, the armed men experienced the power of the magical sword first hand, dropping one by one until none of them were left. Bruncvík, Neomenia and their pet lion lived together happily ever after, as the noble rulers of the kingdom of Bohemia.
Before his death however, the now king Bruncvík, walled off his magic sword into the bricks of Charles bridge. One of the statues seen at the west side of the bridge, holds a golden longsword and dawns a noble knight’s armor. This is statue of Bruncvík, sculpted by Ludvík Šimek.
7. Prague’s pathetic vampire
The readers can judge if the title is justified. This tale tells a sad story of a man who was so poor (but not exactly a beggar) that he’d go around cheap pubs and wait people to leave unfinished drinks, so he’d drink them himself, earning the poor man the nickname “Dopiječ”, which translates to someone who drinks-it-up. This one time, when a man left his beer and Dopiječ decided to finish it, turns out he was mistaken, as the man came back to fetch his beer and caught him in the act. The original buyer of the beer demanded Dopiječ to pay for the new drink, but the pauper had nothing to pay with. So, a fight ensued that ended with Dopiječ dying due to stab wounds. There was no money for a funeral, so he was to be dumped in a common grave. During the burial, he awoke and realized that he had become a vampire. This was because during the fight that took his life, the cruel man, who was probably a vampire himself bit his arm. According to Czech vampire legends, vampires can not stray far away from their grave for too long and Dopiječ didn’t have a single grave but was rather dumped into a mass, common grave, the entire Olšanské hřbitovy (Olšany cemeteries) counts as his grave. Dopiječ, having escaped certain death and becoming undead, is now known as “Upír Dopiječ” and “Krvavé koleno” which means bloody knee. The reason for this second nickname is that the vampire hasn’t changed his personality since turning, meaning that Upír Dopiječ is too shy to hunt and too mentally frail to attack someone and feast on them. What he does instead is hide on the territory of one of the biggest cemetery complexes in Prague (his home) and wait for people to trip, fall and cut themselves in the process. Seizing this opportunity, Upír Dopiječ pounces on the unfortunate and licks blood off the injury. He also occasionally roams outside of the Olšanské hřbitovy, “preying” on citizens who’ll fall on tram tracks or injure themselves in the nearby parks. Hence the nickname “Bloody knee”.
8. The ghost nun of St. Agnes Convent
On the very north side of Old Town, approaching the Vltava river bank, you’ll find yourself in the presence of one of the most important gothic buildings in Prague – the Convent of St. Agnes of Bohemia. It was built by Premyslid princess St Agnes of Bohemia and her brother – King Wenceslas I between 1231 and 1234, making it the oldest convent in Europe. Other than other astonishing historical details surrounding the building, this holy shelter has a ghost – a ghost of the murdered nun. The legend says that a daughter of a nobleman fell in love with a poor knight outside her family’s class. Upon hearing this, her dad not only refused her wish but sent her to live in St. Agnes Convent, where she was to become a nun. The night before her transfer, the woman decided to sneak away, but with a stroke of the cruelest form of irony, was met by her father in the hallway, who was taken aback and humiliated by her insolence. In response, the nobleman stabbed her to death, cursing her to roam the halls of the convent, where she indeed resides today in her ghost form. People claim that she can be seen either moaning and weeping at night, covered in blood, or warmly smiling at an unhappy couple. Apparently, she helps people who’re unhappily in love. One account claims that a girl was going to poison herself in the convent because of her unhappy love affair. The murdered nun took her hand, replaced the poison with a bag of coins and wished her a happy and fulfilling life.
There are many more legends and myths residing in the streets of Prague, I selected my favorite ones and also the ones you can easily visit and view the landmarks yourself. In case you’re interest in more ghost-stories, I’d urge you to either buy books that have this exact premise, or even better – grab some snacks and take to the streets! You’ll find yourself meeting statues every 10 meters or so with their own stories and slumbering ghosts in them. Thank you for reading my piece and until we meet again, this was Aleksandre (Sasha) signing off and wishing you all a merry Czech ghost/legend-hunting.
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