greetings from scotland to all in the czech republic! i recently joined a scottish cultural forum and we are having a debate regarding the statues in Scotland and Edinburgh in particular, and their significance and relevance (or the lack of!) in the eyes of ordinary ppl. i think you're famous charles bridge is a perfect example of how to display statues...it also makes the functional structure of the bridge itself far more asthetically pleasing and transforms it into an everyday cultural exhibition for everyone using it. what i'd like to know though, to finally get to my point :? , is who is represented by these statues on the bridge and elsewhere in prague and the czech republic and how are they percieved by the average czech citizen? are they popular 'folk' heroes with relevance to ppl today or are they they relics of previous opressers?.. do they give a sense of identity, or a sense of alienation, or are ppl indifferent to them? sadly, in Scotland most of our statues totally fail to represent either our culture or our heroes. They are symbols of english colonialism and are mostly of 'british' imperialists, so they not only seem alien to many scots; they are passionately despised!! One way or another i think that the statues of a nation reveal a lot about what its values are and how it sees itself, or at least; how it attempts to portray itself !! I would appreciate any and all opinions and thoughts on this issue. i think it is an interesting way to view your history and culture....hope you do too!
I think I answer most of your questions by saying that I, an average Czech, had no idea which persons the statues represent. I've checked the internet, though. They are all statues of some saints. For vast majority of them, I cannot think up any relation to the Czech lands. A couple of them are some almost forgotten (as in I recognize the name, but that's it) Czech saints. One of the statues represents saint Vaclav, who is very well known and percieved in a good way. (Although some Czechs may view him as a German's bitch; the World War II term 'collaborant' comes to mind). The fact that most Czechs are atheists does not help the popularity of the statues much. As for the "everyday cultural exhibition" part of your post: 1) The statues are not original, they are copies. Originals are stored elsewhere. 2) The bridge used by tourists only. I spent most of my life in Prague and I haven't been to the bridge more than a handful of times.
The Charles Bridge, founded in 1357, is considered as the copy of famous Bridge of Angels in Roma. It was typical for the baroque to decorate the bridges with statues of saints. If I remember first statue of Charles Bridge is from the 17th century. But the majority are from the 18th and 19th centuries. Every statue there has its own history and symbolic significance in the Catholic religion. There are statues of St. John of Nepomuk, one of the Czech national patrons (he was killed on this bridge and as well because of it is considered as patron of bridges), Bohemian duke Wenceslaus, the most important patron of Czech country, statue of St. Cyril y Methodius (Slavic apostles who came in 863 in Moravia in orded to baptise Czech people) - I think these three statues have special significance for our history and culture. Of course, this significance is not presented in our everyday life, but it is in our "cultural code". I dont think that Wenceslaus, John of Nepomuk or Cyril and Methodius are "national heroes" of Czech people, I think there are more symbols of our national pride and historical continuity (and our atheism cannot change it, because despite of all we are christian country with domination of Catholicism). But besides of these statues (and statue of the Christ/Crucifix),the Charles Bridge has statues with special history. For example the statue of St. Antony from the 19th century. It was founded like expression of gratitude for lucky salvation (against an assassination) of Emperor Francis Joseph I. (by Czechs very unpopular ruler, who was never coronated in the St. Vitus Cathedral)And paradoxly nobody did notice it - during the time of liquadiation of all "Habsburg" in the 20ies of the 20th century...Of course I cannot tell you about all statues there...because simply I dont remember them: some of them are really very quality (St. Luigarde of Braun and other statues of Brokoff. Brokoff and Braun are considered like the best scultors of Baroque in the Central Europe). So,statues of Charles Bridge has nothing comon with national revival. They have primary religious significance - and I think contemporary Czechs see them mainly as decoration of this old bridge.
