Prague Chimes: History and Sculpture

The Prague Astronomical Clock (Orloj) is a tower medieval clock, set in Prague on the Old Town Square. They are located on the south wall of the tower of the Old Town Hall. By age, these astronomical clocks rank third in the world. By the way, they are the oldest, but still operate.

Ah, how good the Prague chimes! Orloj consists of three basic elements placed on a tower on a vertical. Its central part is equipped with an astronomical dial that shows the Babylonian, Old Bohemian, modern (Central Europe) and stellar time, the time of sunset and sunrise, the phases of the moon, the position of the heavenly bodies among the constellations of the zodiacal circle.

On both sides of the astronomical clock there are figures moving every hour. Among them, the most prominent is the statuette of Death, executed in the form of a human skeleton. Above, on the right and left side of the stone central sculpture of the angel are placed two windows in which every hour, when the battle of the chimes is heard, the sculptures of the 12 apostles appear alternately. Above the stone statue of the cherub is a golden cock that screams when the apostles complete their procession.

Under the astronomical dial there is a calendar one, with which you can determine the month of the year, the weekend, the day of the week, and also the unchanging holidays of Christians. On the right and left of it are also sculptural sculptures.

Privilege

Prague chimes are placed on the tower of the Old Town building. In 1338, the people of the Old City, the Emperor Jan of Luxembourg, granted the privilege of having a personal town hall. After that, for private needs, a private house was purchased from the merchant Volfin from Kamene. First, the building was rebuilt in accordance with the needs of the City Council, and then in 1364 it was equipped with a tower. The clock was installed on it, which was first mentioned in 1402. However, due to negligent maintenance, they soon had to replace them, and as a result, it was created by Orla.

So, we continue to study the Prague chimes. The dial is an astronomical and mechanical watch is the oldest parts of Orloi, made in 1410. These elements were created by the watchmaker Mikulash from Kadani on the project of the astronomer and mathematician Jan Schindel. The astronomical dial has a sculptural design, which was made by the workshop of the famous Czech sculptor and architect Peter Parlerzha. For the first time, Orloi was mentioned in a document dated October 9, 1410. In it, Mikulash from Kadani is characterized as an eminent and recognized watchmaker, who created astraloby chimes for the ancient site of Prague.

It is interesting that in this paper the Council of the city and the elders reproach the craftsman Albert (the former custodian) for carelessly taking care of the previous hours and praising Mikoláš for his outstanding work. The document also states that as a reward for the work the professional received a house from the city's Havel Gate, 3,000 Prague groschens and an annual allowance of 600 groschen.

Historical error

Another documentary information about Orloj appeared in 1490. It was then that watchmaker Jan Rouget from Prague, known as the master of Hanoush, fixed the device, added the first moving statue of Death and the lower dial with the calendar. These impressive improvements and 80 years of forgetfulness of the first creators influenced the fact that it was the master Hanush who for the next 450 years was considered the creator of Orloi. The historical error was even reflected in the legend, according to which a member of the Prague council ordered to blind the specialist Ganush, so that he could not repeat his work anywhere else. This information is especially common among intellectuals, thanks to the writer Jirásek Alois, who added it to his "Czech Old Tales" (1894).

Ian Rouget probably had a son who helped him for many years. It was he who followed Orloi until 1530. This watchmaker is compared with Jakub Cech, the creator of the first portable Czech watch. Yakub did not have a student, and Orloj remained without adequate care.

In 1552, the Prague chimes to serve appointed Yan Taborsky. He repaired and modernized the product, and also compiled his exhaustive technical instruction. It is in this document that Jan Taborsky, for the first time, incorrectly calls the author of the chiming clock Jan Rouget. The error occurred because of the incorrect interpretation of the records of that time. In 1962, she was corrected by Czech astronomer and historian Zdeněk Gorski, who studies the history of science.

Salvation of Orloj

In the following centuries the Prague chimes stopped many times due to the absence of professional caretakers and a couple of times. In 1629 and 1659, the watch was repaired, during which their slugging mechanism was moved down from the tower, and the wooden figure of "companions" appeared in the figure of Death. During this repair, a hidden, exclusive system for moving the moon was created, showing its phases.

For decades the Prague chimes were standing motionless. Prague in the XVIII century did not pay attention to their critical condition. When in 1787 the masters rebuilt the town hall, Orloy even wanted to scrap metal. Hours from the deaths rescued employees from Prague Clementinum: the supervisor of the observatory, Professor Strnad Antonin, obtained repair subsidies and, together with watchmaker Simon Landsperger, by 1791 repaired them a little. In fact, he managed only to start the watch device, and the astrolabe damaged remained.

In the same period, moving figurines of the apostles were added. Overhaul of Orloi was carried out in 1865-1866: all parts of its mechanism were corrected, including astrolabe, a rooster statue was added. It is known that then the artist Manes Josef painted the lower calendar disc. And to control the accuracy of the experts established a timekeeper Bozhek Romuald.

Damage

A lot of masters created the Prague chimes. Czech Republic is proud of this work of art. It is known that at the end of the Second World War, the clock was inflicted with considerable damage. In Prague in 1945, on May 5, an anti-Nazi revolt erupted. In the city there were fights everywhere, barricades were built. Particularly stubborn clashes were observed in the center, near the building of the Czech Radio, captured by the rebels. The rebels, using a radio transmitter placed on the tower of the Old Town Hall, transmitted the proclamations to the Czech people.

In Prague were parts of the German group of troops "Center". It was they who tried to suppress the uprising and interrupt the broadcasting. The German army shot the building of the Old Town Hall from antiaircraft guns with incendiary projectiles, which on May 8, 1945, it ignited. Then Orloj suffered greatly from the fire: the astronomical disk collapsed down, and the calendar dial and the wooden statues of the apostles burned down.

Recovery

It is known that by July 1, 1948, the chimes were reconstructed in full: the brothers Jindřich and Rudolf Vesetský repaired the broken and curved details of the clockwork and collected it again, and the wood expert cut out new statuettes of the apostles. The last small repair of Orloy was made in 2005. Today this 3/4 creation consists of old details.

Astronomical dial

Why do many people want to see the Prague clock? The astronomical signs depicted on this masterpiece impress everyone. Dial Orloy is an astrolabe, equipped with a drive from the clock system. Orloy reproduces the Ptolemaic geocentric device of the world: in the center is the Earth, around which the Moon and the Sun rotate.

On the stationary color background of the astronomical disk depicting the sky and the Earth, the following elements move: outer and zodiacal rings, signs with the symbols of the Moon and the Sun and a pair of hour hands with a golden arm and an asterisk on the end. Unlike a simple clock, there is no hour hand here.

Calendar dial

What else are Prague Chimes famous for? Orloj's calendar hours were first designed by Jan Rouget (master Hanuse) in 1490. It is known that the chimes initially consisted only of the astronomical dial. The first calendar disk, unfortunately, did not survive. Its current version was created by the archivist K. Ya. Erben from Prague during the restoration of 1865-1866, based on the surviving copy of 1659, which was based on ancient engravings. In 1865-1866 the calendar disk was painted by artist Manes Josef. That is why it is often called the dial of Manes.

Sculptural decoration of chimes

We already know what the Prague chimes are called. Orloj is their middle name. Sculptures, decorating it, were created several centuries. That's why they do not have a single creative idea. It is believed that the stone carved ornament, decorating the astronomical disk, and the sculpture of the angel in the upper part of Orloi, was made by the workshop of Peter Parler. The rest of the scenery appeared later.

From time to time the sculptures of the clock were reconstructed, sometimes they were made anew, which erased their primary meaning. As a result, today it is very difficult to explain the significance of the architectural design of the chimes.

Supernatural forces

People with medieval thinking believed that any structure could be disastrously affected by supernatural forces. Therefore, they decorated it at home with various security details. Since Orloj is on the facade of a secular building (it was not protected by the temple space), the need for amulets increased. So, the top of the Prague masterpiece is guarded by a cock, a basilisk and an angel.

On the sloping roof are mythical creatures - two basilisk, which are able at a glance to turn all living things into stone. Each of them has two wings, a bird's beak, a swept tail and a snake body. It is known that the basilisk gained fame thanks to the title of the serpent king. The gilded cock is an ancient symbol of vigilance and boldness, which meets the Sun and a new day, placed under the roof of the chiming clock. Believers say that it is with the first cry of this bird that the impure force that dominates at night disappears.

The central statue of the upper part of the clock is the statue of an angel with wings. The Divine Messenger holds a fluttering ribbon with a message that it is impossible to read today. The angel is considered the oldest rare statue and is a stubborn fighter against the dark forces. It rests on the cornice, under which is placed an absolutely unidentifiable stone tape. Some say it is a stylization of a snake, others say a scroll with an unknown text. On both sides of the figure of the angel there are two windows, in which hourly there are statuettes of 12 apostles.

We hope you enjoyed our article about the Prague chimes, and you had a desire to personally see this masterpiece.