Prague bridges are neglected works of art
Our guide is Marie Zákostelecká, head of the association Mapamátky, which was founded back in the days of the coronavirus and related restrictions. “We wanted people in Prague to be able to walk around on their own and find out something about architecture,” he recalls of the time when it was not possible to go on group walks with a live guide.
This is how the website mapamatky.cz was created, where interested parties can choose a themed route – they can see in advance how many stops it has, how long it will take and how many kilometers they will cover. Among the twelve routes is a journey in the footsteps of famous writers, the beauties of functionalism or brutalism, or the churches of architects such as Pavel Janák and Josef Gočár. All you have to do is come to the given place, click on the corresponding link on your mobile phone, and you will learn interesting information about it on your phone.
Even bridges are valuable
“We want to show that architecture is not just houses. For example, the bridges are a bit neglected, but they have an architectural value,” explains our guide, who otherwise works as an organizer at the Center for Architecture and Urban Planning.
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“The bridges in the city center are close together. You can stand on one, look at the others and compare,” smiles Marie Zákostelecká. The first stop – the Palacký most, which leads from the square of the same name in Smíchov – has interesting points of interest.
It was completed in 1878 according to the project of Josef Reiter and Bedřich Münzberger. It was named after František Palacká, a historian nicknamed the Father of the Nation.
“Materials in the colors of the tricolor were also used for the construction – blue granite, red and yellow metal and white marble,” explains our guide. At the tops of the arches, we can see the signs of the Czech cities located on the Vltava and the Elbe.
During the protectorate, the building had to be renamed, so from 1940 to 1945, the Palacký Bridge became the Mozart Bridge. A sculpture by the famous sculptor Josef Václav Myslbek also originally stood on both abutments. “However, it was destroyed during the bombing of Prague. It was then restored, but you won’t find them in the original location. Today they are located in Vyšehrad next to the Church of St. Peter and Paul,” we learn.
Baroque had to retreat
We continue along the Vltava to the Jiráská bridge. It began to be fully used in 1933, thanks to the engineer František Mencl and the well-known architect Vlastislav Hofman.
This building was also renamed during the Second World War, when it bore the surname of the Czech architect of German origin, Kilian Ignác Dientzenhofer. Why the name of the Baroque master?
“When the bridge was being prepared, a Baroque pavilion on the Smíchov side prevented its construction. Allegedly, Dientzenhofer was supposed to be its author,” explains our guide.
It was originally thought that the pavilion would be dismantled and moved. In the end, however, it was demolished – because there was no insurance company that would insure such a move, thus risking the possible destruction of valuable buildings.
We arrive at the National Theatre, near which our next stop is located – the Legion Bridge. Between 1841 and 1898, a chain bridge that bore the name of Emperor Francis I stood in these places.
“At that time it was one of only two bridges in Prague, the other being the Charles Bridge,” we find out.
Everyone knows him differently
Due to the frequent swaying of the bridge deck, which did not even allow tram traffic, the chain bridge was no longer sufficient for the needs of the people of Prague. A stone bridge of the same names was created instead. Its architect was Antonín Balšánek and it was built in the style of eclecticism, which “borrows” from various artistic trends.
On both sides of the bridge, a pair of booths where tolls were collected have been preserved and which are decorated with mascarons and city symbols.
“This bridge has changed its name really often,” the guide points out. From the bridge of Emperor František I, it became the bridge of the Legions during the First Republic, during the protectorate it was the Smetana bridge, after the war it returned to the legacy of the legionnaires, to become the May 1st bridge in 1960. The bridge also spans over Strělecký ostrov and it was there in 1890 that Labor Day was celebrated for the first time in Bohemia.
Finally, in 1990, it was named for the third time after the Czechoslovak legionnaires, i.e. the Legion Bridge, which has remained with it to this day.
Of course, a walk cannot miss the tourist magnet, the Charles Bridge, which replaced the older Judith Bridge and which was originally called Kamenný or Pražský. It only began to bear the designation Karlův in the second half of the 19th century.
They were not for pedestrians
Today, we inevitably associate him with crowds of pedestrians, but he remembers a whole range of means of transport. Since 1883, a horse-drawn railway, the so-called horse, has been operating here, which was replaced by an electrified tram in 1905.
František Křižík invented a system where the tramcars had ropes attached, which the driver had to pass to the bridge to lower. Subsequently, they slid along the surface of the contacts in the roadway and these were in turn connected to the box in the bridge railing. Thanks to this, they did not have to run wires over the bridge.
The system was ingenious, but unfortunately malfunctioned, so it lasted only three years. Then buses ran here on rails, but only for a year. From 1932 until the Second World War, buses with tires passed through here, and passenger cars were even here until 1965. Today, we can imagine most of the means of transport – if a driver accidentally strays here with a car, he will receive a fine.
Along the Vltava River we come to Jan Palach Square, where the Rudolfinum building is located and from where the Mánes bridge also leads. It was built in 1914 and its architect was Mečislav Petrů.
“Rudolf’s footbridge used to stand here. To this day, a half-timbered house on the bank of Malostra, where the bridge toll was collected, has been preserved,” says our guide.
Famous sculptors
The building from 1914 was originally called the Archduke František Ferdinand d’Este bridge, and from 1920 it was named after the painter Josef Mánes, who is also commemorated by a bronze statue by the famous sculptor Bohumila Kafka on the square. Famous sculptors also take risks to beautify the bridge itself, Jan Štursa, Josef Mařatka and František Bílek left their mark on it.
“Art works on the pillars depicting scenes from the lives of swimmers,” we learn. Another detail that most Prague residents and tourists do not notice.
Our last stop is Čechův most from 1908, which was called Mendel’s bridge during the protectorate. It is also associated with a number of interesting things – at 169 meters it is the shortest Vltava bridge in Prague, but it is also the largest art nouveau structure in the Czech Republic. Its architect was Jan Koula, and art lovers will find something here.
The railing is richly decorated, on the sides of the bridge you can see a total of four columns with bronze statues of Victoria. By the way, the construction of the pillars was finished by Emperor Francis Joseph I himself, when in 1907, during his visit to Prague, he ceremoniously laid the finishing stone.
If a walk is not enough, you can go to other bridges, including the Libeňské, Branické and railway bridges under Vyšehrad, via the Mapamátek website. The authors of the project also think about those who do not want to walk around with a phone in their hand.
Paper guide
“We are currently working on updating the website. In the future, I will provide a leaflet for each route in such a format that people can print it themselves,” says Marie Zákostelecká.
In addition to the walks, the association also published its first book this year with the title Mapamátky: 70 buildings that you should not miss in Prague.
Thanks to it, you can go to well-known and lesser-known places in the center and its wider surroundings and visit cultural institutions with a discount. You can then read about the most interesting buildings in the comfort of your home.
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