The exhibition on Mariánské náměstí will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of Greater Prague
One hundred years ago, specifically on January 1, 1922, a total of three laws from 1920 came into force, which connected Prague with 37 nearby and more distant suburbs into one territorial and administrative unit, the Capital City of Prague. Thus, the efforts of several generations of Prague politicians to unite cities and municipalities in the Prague agglomeration into one strong and functional city, the so-called Greater Prague, came to an end. Outdoor panel exhibition on Mariánské náměstí, prepared by the City of Prague m of Prague in cooperation with the City Archive m of Prague, now this anniversary will commemorate.
The eight-sided panels contain Czech and English versions from various angles of the presented development of Prague in the period between the two world wars. The authors of the exhibition deliberately chose this time period, because it was then that the capital was commonly called the phrase Greater Prague. At the same time, the originally disparate unit of variously developed towns and villages, which represented representative cities with a thriving economy and extensive housing, connected with transport infrastructure and networks, which provided the population with health and social care and sufficient cultural and sports activities.
The then city administration and its representatives played a key role in this successful development. The deputies and especially the city officials were the ones who carried out the de facto unification of Greater Prague, which is still not generally known. The exhibition on Mariánské náměstí is therefore trying to rectify this debt by devoting a larger part of its space to the actions of the city administration. The authors of the exhibition do not forget to mention the then project of European significance, which was built Masaryk’s homes – Social Homes of the Capital City of Prague in Krč, where the Thomayer University Hospital is currently located, or the construction of a number of new modern schools in the connected areas.
In the end, however, the exhibitions outline less successful moments in the history of modern Prague, such as the economic and political crisis in the 1930s or the consequences of war and postwar development.