Zprávy památkové péče 2019, 79(3):279-291 | DOI: 10.56112/zpp.2019.3.06

Archeology in Prague in the context of the birth of the Czechoslovak Republic

Ivana Boháčová

Archeologický ústav AV ČR, Praha, v. v. i.

The level of care for heritage properties in general is always dependent on current social necessity and the urgency at which they are accepted as part of a culture's own past. The same applies to the study of sources and its choice of topics. From the perspective of conception and organization of the care of archaeological sources in an urban organism, the activity developed by the Heritage Corps (Památkový sbor) of the City of Prague in cooperation with branch institutions after the establishment of Czechoslovakia in the interwar period represents an important chapter. Up to that point, Prague's archeology for this period had been completely marginalized, although it is linked to contemporary archeology in many ways and can still be a source of inspiration in some respects. The fact remains, however, that the framework that included the care of archaeological sources primarily involved the most important cultural and historical structures for capacity and financial reasons, and special attention was paid to sacral monuments. The concept of systematic protection of heritage properties, including archaeological ones, was based on interinstitutional and interdisciplinary cooperation and included the fields of preventive action, recordkeeping, documentation and archiving, leading research in the case of endangered structures or sites, care for the preserved fund, and presentation of monuments to the general public. The Heritage Corps was an advisory council established at the initiative of the Ministry of Education and National Enlightenment from institutionally delegated representatives of experts, the municipal government, and the socially active public. Its activities were financed by the Prague City Hall (reorganized in 1920) and by state subsidies and were supported from other sources as well. The preventive action of the Heritage Corps was made possible by an immediate link to the Building Department of the City Hall, and its representatives also participated in negotiations concerning the overall concept of building the city. Records of realized research were to be ensured by the State Archaeological Institute, whereas the documentation (surveying, photographic) of realized researches and existing properties was provided by relevant professionals, mostly hired by the Heritage Corps; the actual field research was mostly secured, given the tragic shortage of professional archaeologists, by students or recent graduates, sometimes by individuals from other professions with practical experience in documentation and heritage research. The research focused mainly on the historical center of the city as an area affected by construction activity after the establishment of the Republic, and exceptionally also on important medieval localities outside Prague (Nový hrad near Kunratice, Ostrov near Davle). The initial vision, however, even though it was successful in creating relatively favorable conditions in the course of the 1920s and the first half of the 1930s, could not be permanently anchored in the system of research and protection of archaeological heritage properties. Many of the solutions then presented were ahead of their time, only decades later becoming a common part of current archaeological practice.

Keywords: archeology of a city, heritage, history, Prague, 20th century

Published: September 1, 2019  Show citation