The deep historical and cultural connection between Prague and Lusatia

The historical relationship between the golden city on the Vltava and the Sorbian settlement areas in Lusatia represents a fascinating chapter in Central European cultural history. For many centuries, the Bohemian metropolis functioned not only as a political center, but also as a spiritual pivot for the Slavic minority in today’s Germany.This close interdependence significantly shaped the linguistic, religious and literary development of the Sorbs and created a network of mutual inspiration that went far beyond mere neighbourhood. Until modern times, the traces of this fruitful interrelationship remained alive in the archives, the buildings and the minds of the people.

Medieval ties and royal privileges

As the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Moldavian metropolis formed the political and cultural centre for the adjacent areas of Upper and Lower Lusatia over long periods of time. The Bohemian monarchs promoted the development of the royal cities there, such as Bautzen, Görlitz, Kamenz, Lauban and Löbau, by granting comprehensive privileges. Their vested intereststhey are represented by Landvögts, who opened their official seat on the Ortenburg in Bautzen. Historical oaths of citizenship, which have also been handed down in the Sorbian language for several cities in the region, still bear witness to this close political interlocking. In the Bohemian metropolis itself, the coats of arms of the two Lusatians at the Old Town Bridge Tower and at the parapet of theroyal oratorio in St. Vitus Cathedral to the former affiliation to the Bohemian federation of countries.

Academic Education and Church Structures

In 1348, a foundation letter from King Charles IV created one of the first universities in Central Europe in the Bohemian metropolis. Since the beginning of the 15th century, numerous young men from Lusatia have enrolled at this traditional university in order to start their academic careers there. After the Peace of Prague in 1635, the German Emperor andbohemian King Ferdinand II inherited the two Lusatias from the Elector of Saxony. Due to the traditional process, however, the Habsburgs retained sovereignty over the Catholic Church in the region, where the cathedral monastery in Bautzen and several monasteries held on to the old faith.

Language care and artistic blossoming

At the end of the 17th century, a Jesuit born in Wittichenau developed the first printed grammar of the Upper Sorbian written language at the Prague Clementine. He thus created a fundamental set of rules for the Catholic variant of the Sorbian written language and also made a contribution to ecclesiastical historiography through a historical treatise on a place of pilgrimage.The re-Catholicisation in Bohemia was accompanied by a significant upswing in the arts, which attracted foreign artists and craftsmen to the Vltava. Among these immigrant artists was also a sculptor from Wittichenau, who enriched the artistic life of the city in the long term.

The Wendish Seminar and Cultural Exchange

In order to bind the Catholic theologians from Lusatia studying in Bohemia more closely to their homeland, two brothers chose the Bohemian metropolis at the beginning of the 18th century as the place for the foundation of a Wendish seminary. This institution proved to be extremely beneficial for the spiritual-cultural development of the Catholic Sorbs and promoted the emergence of an independentLiterature. Sorbian students met important representatives of Czech cultural life and Slavic reciprocity in the scholarly circles there. In 1846, a separate student association was founded in the city to strengthen the cohesion of the Slavic youth. In the last third of the 19th century, the town became the most important centre of theJungle Sorbian movement, with well-known poets and writers also completing their academic training there.

Institutionalisation of Sorabistics

Later, other authors shaped the intellectual exchange through their close contacts with the Czech press and literature. There were several Sorbian libraries in the city, one of which was considered the most important collection of its kind. Scientific research into the Sorbian language and culture was established in 1901 at the Faculty of Philosophy of Charles Universityand received the rank of an independent university subject there for the first time. The first teaching authority for this field was held by a Czech lecturer before the first full professorship was created in 1933.

Political Networking and Exile

In 1907, an active society of friends emerged in the city, which intensively sought new study opportunities for Sorbs after the closure of the Wendish Seminary. This association published Sorbian literature and organized cultural highlights, such as the ride of over 100 singers with a solemn reception with the President.sorbian clubs at all-Slavic meetings of a sporting and cultural nature were coordinated from there. In 1932, the Association of Slavic Women staged a socially critical play by a Sorbian author in the Czech language in the city. After the National Socialists took power, the place became an exile for young Sorbs, who openly wrote about it in handwritten magazines.the repressions at home.

Post-war and modern connections

A well-known Sorbian poet also chose the city as a place of residence and refuge for several years after her arrest for illegal activity. After the end of the Second World War, the place served for about a decade as a place of study for a small part of the Sorbian academic offspring. After 1948, the activities of the Friends’ Society were discontinued by the newpolitical situation, but revived again and again thanks to the commitment of individual Czechs. Until after the year 2000, the university still offered the subject of Sorabistics, before the teaching activity gradually expired. Since 1993, a Sorbian publisher has presented itself annually at the local book fair, which is associated with numerous readings in the Sorbian language.

The city as a source of inspiration in literature

The place occupies an important place in Sorbian literature, both in the intellectual horizon of the creators and as a place of action of individual works. A famous literary café on the banks of the Vltava River inspired a well-known poet to engage intensively with Slavic literatures. A historic house in a certain alley is still reminiscent of the close friendship betweena Czech writer and a Sorbian scholar. Contemporary Czech poets significantly influenced the classic of modern Sorbian poetry during his studies. In the tradition of a Moravian poet, there was a Sorbian author who dedicated a well-known poem to the city.

Literary locations and biographical works

The metropolis serves as a place of action in numerous prose works by various Sorbian narrators and novelists. The city occupies a broad space in a historical romance trilogy that describes the life and struggles of the Slavic minority in detail. Also in a novel-like biography about an important Sorbian poet, written by a Czech author,the cultural environment of the city plays a central role. These diverse literary testimonies impressively prove that the Bohemian metropolis was much more than just a temporary place of study. For centuries, it remained an indispensable reference point for the national awakening and cultural self-assertion of the Sorbs.