Follow in the footsteps of Božena Němcová in Prague. Her life suffers from a lack of money, frequent moving and watching the secret police
She moved in 1842, specifically to Na Poříčí Street, to the U Zeleného stromu house. She joined the Prague Society at a Czech ball held in Žofín in 1843. “She was already the mother of four children, but she said she looked beautiful, like a 19-year-old,” describes literary historian Věra Menclová.
On the Slavonic Island opposite the Žofín Palace, this event is still commemorated by the work of sculptor Karel Pokorný from 1954. The life-size statue depicts a blonde-haired woman with a frayed dress. “It’s a statue of an optimistic young woman stepping forward. It is very impressive, especially because it stands on the high plinth of the architect Jaroslav Fragner, “describes Věra Menclová.
Together we move to Ječná Street, where we will see a bronze memorial plaque with a relief portrait of Božena Němcová on the facade of building number 28. It was created by Eva Springerová and Jan Zázvorka in 1957. The text in gold letters says that Božena Němcová wrote Grandma in this house in 1854. But did Grandma really come into being here?
Also read
“She wrote her grandmother in a high degree of despair over the departure of her son Hynek, who died when she lived right here in Ječná Street. So she started writing it here, but it’s not true that she wrote it in its entirety. My grandmother went out on stage, as a notebook, as was the custom at the time, and finished it only in Vyšehradská Street, “the literary historian. In today’s Vyšehradská Street, specifically at house 1378/45, we find a memorial plaque of an atypical shape – it is an open book built in height. “Božena Němcová lived in the ground floor apartment for a year. She had to put him together with her friends, because there lived a lady in front of her who kept animals and barely ventilated for two years, but Němcová was finally satisfied with her. She wrote to her husband in the letter that “the apartment is nice and, most importantly, very healthy,” says Věra Menclová.
“Great misery during life and great glory after death”
Božena Němcová moved very often in Prague in the last years of her life. “At that time, it was not customary to rent apartments for several years, and some tenants moved out after the fourth year. Finances played a role for Němcová, she moved to ever cheaper and smaller flats, but also their children’s illnesses, so she looked for flats where there would be better conditions for them, “explains the literary historian, adding that the writer moved mainly between Ječná and Štěpánská streets. Vyšehradská, Řeznická, Vodičková and Na Příkopě, where she died in 1862. Here, her and her husband were being chased everywhere by the secret police, who were interested in who she was in contact with and regularly reported on, says Věra Menclová: they understood very well. “
We will end the journey in the footsteps of Božena Němcová in Prague in today’s Na Příkopě Street, where the House at Tří lip stood, where the writer died on January 21, 1862. “She just lay and moaned in this apartment, it was probably total exhaustion. As much as she suffered her whole life, her funeral was spectacular. Suddenly everyone knew that a great personality had died. Great glory after death and great misery during life, ”concludes literary historian Věra Menclová in the footsteps of Božena Němcová. The sandstone tombstone in the Vyšehrad cemetery is decorated with a profile of Božena Němcová sculptor Tomáš Seidan, as well as a relief plaque depicting Grandma showing the grandchildren a tolar received from Emperor Joseph II. The font on the monument was then designed by Josef Mánes.