Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic and its beauty, its magical atmosphere and its cultural wealth do not leave any tourist indifferent. If you plan to go soon, try to be more or less clear about the itinerary you are going to follow, because the offer is so wide that you have to organize fine to see as much as possible, in fact, I recommend that you consult some of our guides what to see in prague, so that you discover which points should be essential in your visit. In that list, without a doubt, it would be included the city's Astronomical Clock, one of its most representative jewels. In this post we are going to reveal the legend that surrounds this incredible work of art.
The Astronomical Clock in Prague
The Astronomical Clock in Prague it is one of the most precious treasures from the Czech Republic. It was built in 1410 by master watchmaker Hanus, its technical level and its extraordinary beauty surprised the society of the time and made it known throughout the world. This masterpiece, in addition to telling the time, measure the moon phases, has a very precise calendar and is ornamented with animated figures that move every time the clock strikes the hours.
The figures of the Prague Clock
When the clock strikes the hours, tourists gather in front of it to admire the show. The upper windows of the clock open and the figures of the twelve apostles parade peering at them as if they had a life of their own.
There are four additional figures which are after 1945. These also join the movement, each represents an allegory:
- Death, represented by a skeleton. He pulls a rope marking the start of the parade and has an hourglass representing the time we have until the reckoning.
- A turkish prince, accompanied by a lute, represented lust.
- A jewish merchant which represented greed. He has a bag of money that he shakes when the clock strikes the hour.
- Vanity, represented by a man looking in the mirror.
Another curiosity is that all these figures make the same head movement, all except Death. While the Turkish prince, the Jewish merchant and the vain shake their heads, death nods, affirming that she has the last word and that, although they do not agree, their time has run out.
The legend of the Prague Clock
The stir caused by the clock at that time kept the citizens of Prague proud, and even there were those who traveled thousands of kilometers to visit what was a unique piece in the world.
According to legend, an aristocrat, fascinated by Hanus's abilities, offered a large sum of money to make an identical watch for him in a German city. The councilors of Prague saw the status that the city had achieved by owning such an exclusive and they tried to persuade him not to accept the offer. But the teacher did not give his arm to twist and, one night, while working in his workshop, three men entered, they dragged him to the fireplace and, to prevent him from replicating the clock, they burned his eyes with a burning iron.
Hanus's physical and mental state was getting worse and worse, no one suspected who could be responsible for the attack. Neighbors and the councilors themselves came regularly to see him and, one day, on one of those visits, his apprentice, Jakub Cech, heard how the leaders confessed to being the masterminds of the attack.
The teacher, outraged and furious, hatched a plan to disable the clock and get revenge for what had been done to him. He asked the councilors for permission to go to the clock, claiming that he wanted to hear his machine one more time before he died. Finally, they accepted. That day, Hanus and the apprentice visited the clock and the master put his hand inside the machinery, cutting it off and thus destroying the complex mechanism that he himself had created.
Hanus died that night and it was a long time until they were able to fix the clock. According to legend, since the death of the master, the clock is cursed and the luck of Prague depends on its proper functioning. If the clock stopped working, bad luck would come to town.