Prague Astronomical Clock: history and sculptural decoration

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:48

Prague Astronomical Clock (Orloj) is a medieval tower clock installed in Prague on the Old Town Square. They are located on the southern wall of the tower of the Old Town Hall. By age, this astronomical clock ranks third in the world. By the way, they are the oldest, but still active.

Oh, how good the Prague chimes are! Orloi consists of three basic elements placed vertically on the tower. The masters equipped its central part with an astronomical dial, which shows the Babylonian, Old Bohemian, modern (Central Europe) and sidereal time, the moment of sunset and sunrise, the phases of the Moon, the position of the heavenly bodies among the constellations in the zodiac circle.

On both sides of the astronomical clock there are figures moving every hour. Among them, the statuette of Death, made in the form of a human skeleton, stands out the most. Above, on the right and left sides of the stone central sculpture of an angel, there are two windows in which every hour,when the chiming clock is heard, the statues of 12 apostles appear in turn. Above the stone statue of a cherub, a golden rooster crows as the apostles complete their procession.

Under the astronomical dial there is a calendar one, with which you can determine the month of the year, weekends, day of the week, as well as the invariable holidays of Christians. Sculptures are also placed to the right and left of it.

Privilege

Prague chimes are placed on the tower of the Old Town building. In 1338, John of Luxembourg granted the population of the Old City the privilege of having a personal town hall. After that, for city 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. A clock was installed on it, which was first mentioned in 1402. However, due to negligent maintenance, they soon had to be replaced, as a result of which Orla was created.

So, we continue to study the Prague Astronomical Clock. The astronomical dial and mechanical clock are the oldest parts of Orloi, made in 1410. These elements were created by the watchmaker Mikulas from Kadan according to the project of the astronomer and mathematician Jan Shindel. The astronomical dial has a sculptural design, which was made by the workshop of the famous Czech sculptor and architect Petr Parler. Orloi was first mentioned in a document dated October 9, 1410. In it, Mikulas from Kadani is characterized aseminent and recognized watchmaker who created the astrolabe chimes for the ancient site of Prague.

It is interesting that in this paper, the City Council and the headman reproach the craftsman Albert (the former keeper) for careless care of the previous clock and praise Mikolash for outstanding work. The document also states that as a reward for his work, the professional received a house at the city's Havel Gate, 3,000 Prague groszy one-time and an annual allowance of 600 groszy.

Historical error

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

Jan Rouge probably had a son who helped him for many years. It was he who followed Orloi until 1530. This watchmaker is compared to Jakub Cech, the creator of the first portable Czech watch. Yakub did not have a student, and Orloi was left without decent care.

In 1552 the Prague Astronomical ClockJan Taborsky was appointed to serve. He repaired and upgraded the product, and compiled its comprehensive technical manual. It is in this document that Jan Taborsky for the first time incorrectly names Jan Rouge as the creator of the chimes. The error occurred due to incorrect interpretation of the records of that time. In 1962, it was corrected by the Czech astronomer and historian Zdenek Gorski, who studies the history of science.

Saving Orloy

In the following centuries, the Prague Astronomical Clock stopped many times due to the lack of professional keepers and was repaired a couple of times. In 1629 and 1659, the clock was repaired, during which its beating mechanism was moved down from the tower, and wooden "companions" were added to the figure of Death. During this refurbishment, a hidden exceptional system of moving the moon was created, showing its phases.

For decades the Prague Astronomical Clock stood motionless. Prague in the XVIII century did not pay attention to their critical condition. When in 1787 the craftsmen were rebuilding the town hall, Orloi even wanted to be scrapped. The clock was saved from death by employees from the Prague Clementinum: the head of the observatory, Professor Strnad Antonin, obtained subsidies for the repair and, together with the watchmaker Simon Landsperger, by 1791 repaired it a little. In fact, he only managed to start the clock device, and the astrolabe remained damaged.

Moving statuettes of apostles were added during the same period. Orloi was overhauled in 1865-1866: all parts of its mechanism werecorrected, including the astrolabe, a statuette of a rooster was added. It is known that at that time the artist Manes Josef painted the lower calendar disc. And to control the accuracy of the course, the specialists installed Bozek Romuald's chronometer.

Damage

Many craftsmen created the Prague Astronomical Clock. The Czech Republic is proud of this work of art. It is known that at the end of the Second World War, impressive damage was done to the clock. In Prague in 1945, on May 5, an anti-Nazi riot broke out. Fighting was going on everywhere in the city, barricades were erected. Particularly stubborn clashes were observed in the center, near the building of the Czech Radio, captured by the rebels. With the help of a radio transmitter located on the tower of the Old Town Hall, the rebels transmitted appeals to the Czech people.

In Prague were part of the German group of forces "Center". It was they who tried to crush the uprising and interrupt radio broadcasts. The German army shot down the building of the Old Town Hall from anti-aircraft guns with incendiary shells, as a result of which it ignited on May 8, 1945. Then Orloi was badly damaged by fire: the astronomical disk fell down, and the calendar dial and wooden statues of the apostles burned down.

Recovery

It is known that by July 1, 1948, the chimes were reconstructed in full: the brothers Jindrich and Rudolf Wiesecki repaired the broken and bent parts of the clockwork and assembled it again, and the woodworker carved new figurines of the apostles. The last minor repair of Orloi was made in 2005. Today it3/4 of the creation consists of old parts.

Astronomical dial

Why do many people want to see the Prague Clock? The astronomical signs depicted on this masterpiece impress everyone. The Orloi dial is an astrolabe powered by a watch system. Orloi reproduces the Ptolemaic geocentric structure of the world: in the center is the Earth, around which the Moon and the Sun revolve.

The following elements move along the motionless colored background of the astronomical disk depicting the sky and the Earth: the outer and zodiacal rings, pointers with the symbols of the Moon and the Sun and a pair of hour hands with a golden hand and an asterisk at the end. Unlike ordinary watches, there is no hour hand.

Calendar dial

What else is the Prague Astronomical Clock famous for? Orloj's calendar clock was first designed by Jan Rouge (master Ganush) in 1490. It is known that the chimes at first consisted only of an astronomical dial. The first calendar disc, unfortunately, has not been preserved. Its current version was created by the archivist K. J. 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 the artist Josef Manes. That is why it is often called the Manes dial.

Sculptural decoration of chimes

We already know what the Prague Astronomical Clock is called. Orloi is their middle name. Sculptures decorating it were created for several centuries. Exactlytherefore they do not have a single creative intent. It is believed that the stone carved ornament that adorns the astronomical disk and the sculpture of an angel in the upper part of Orloi were made by the workshop of Petr Parlerge. The rest of the scenery came later.

From time to time the clock statues were reconstructed, sometimes re-produced, 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 powers

People with medieval thinking believed that supernatural forces could be detrimental to any structure. Therefore, they decorated it at home with a variety of security details. Since Orloi is located on the facade of a secular building (it was not protected by the temple space), the need for amulets increased. Thus, the upper part of the Prague masterpiece is guarded by a rooster, basilisks and an angel.

On the sloping roof there are mythical creatures - two basilisks that can turn all living things into stone with one glance. 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 due to the title of the snake king. The gilded rooster, an ancient symbol of vigilance and courage, meeting the Sun and a new day, is placed under the very roof of the chimes. Beliefs say that it is with the first cry of this bird that the evil spirit that rules at night disappears.

The central statue of the top of the clock is a statue of an angel with wings. God's messenger holds a fluttering ribbon witha message that is no longer readable today. The angel is considered the oldest rarity statue and is a stubborn fighter against dark forces. It rests on a cornice, under which is placed a completely unidentifiable stone band. Some say that this is a stylization of a snake, others - a scroll with an unknown text. On either side of the figure of an angel there are two windows in which statuettes of 12 apostles appear every hour.

We hope you enjoyed our article on the Prague Astronomical Clock, and you have a desire to see this masterpiece with your own eyes.