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80-815: Founded in Prague in July 1991, the EHF was based in Brussels , where it employed a small team of staff focused on European Union policy advocacy and capacity-building in European humanist organisations. Its advocacy activities are primarily focused on the European Parliament , European Commission , and other bodies associated with the European Union and Council of Europe , as part of its mission to promote

160-779: A Germanic city called Casurgis . In the late 5th century AD, during the great Migration Period following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire , the Germanic tribes living in Bohemia moved westwards and, probably in the 6th century, the Slavic tribes settled the Central Bohemian Region. In the following three centuries, the Czech tribes built several fortified settlements in the area, most notably in

240-407: A bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics , but failed to make the candidate city shortlist . In June 2009, as the result of financial pressures from the global recession , Prague's officials chose to cancel the city's planned bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics . On 21 December 2023, a mass shooting took place at Charles University in central Prague. In total, 15 people were killed and 25 injured. It

320-702: A democratic way. The other Warsaw Pact member countries, except Romania and Albania , were led by the Soviet Union to repress these reforms through the invasion of Czechoslovakia and the capital, Prague, on 21 August 1968. The invasion, chiefly by infantry and tanks, effectively suppressed any further attempts at reform. The military occupation of Czechoslovakia by the Red Army would end only in 1991. Jan Palach and Jan Zajíc committed suicide by self-immolation in January and February 1969 to protest against

400-616: A humanist vision of Europe. It was the largest umbrella organisation of humanist associations in Europe, promoting a secular Europe, defending equal treatment of everyone regardless of religion or belief, and fighting religious conservatism and privilege in Europe and at the European Union level. It closely collaborated with alongside Humanists International for much of its existence. When it dissolved in 2022, its activities had largely been taken over by Humanists International. The EHF

480-656: A massive increase in the city's overall population caused by the influx of Czechs from the rest of Bohemia and Moravia and the increasing prestige and importance of the Czech language as part of the Czech National Revival. World War I ended with the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the creation of Czechoslovakia. Prague was chosen as its capital and Prague Castle as the seat of president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk . At this time Prague

560-477: A month later, Frederick the Great was defeated and forced to retreat from Bohemia. The economy of Prague continued to improve during the 18th century. The population increased to 80,000 inhabitants by 1771. Many rich merchants and nobles enhanced the city with a host of palaces, churches and gardens full of art and music, creating a Baroque city renowned throughout the world to this day. In 1784, under Joseph II ,

640-401: A popular tourist destination and as of 2017, the city receives more than 8.5 million international visitors annually. In 2017, Prague was listed as the fifth most visited European city after London , Paris , Rome , and Istanbul . The Czech name Praha is derived from an old Slavic word, práh , which means " ford " or " rapid ", referring to the city's origin at a crossing point of

720-542: A response to the would-be Berlin Declaration , which, being negotiated at the time and set to become the preamble to the amended EU Constitution , contained references to God and the supposed " Christian roots of Europe". Eventually these references were left out, and a strong emphasis on individual rights and dignity included, much to the relief of David Pollock (former EHF president), Sophie in 't Veld (EPPSP chairwoman) and Roy W. Brown (former IHEU president),

800-648: A significant role in persuading the Dutch government to treble its funding for population assistance in 1998, becoming the largest single donor to the UN Population Fund . In 1999 WPF became more widely known when it was chosen by the UN to host the Hague Forum on Population and Development. In 1998 Brown handed over the chairmanship of WPF to Nicolaas Biegman, former Dutch ambassador to the UN, but remained on

880-612: A verse of The Beleaguered City by Longfellow (1839) and also in the limerick There was an Old Lady of Prague by Edward Lear (1846). Prague is also called the "City of a Hundred Spires " , based on a count by 19th century mathematician Bernard Bolzano ; today's count is estimated by the Prague Information Service at 500. Nicknames for Prague have also included: the Golden City, the Mother of Cities and

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960-582: A wide range of public and private schools, including Charles University in Prague, the oldest university in Central Europe. Prague is classified as an "Alpha-" global city according to GaWC studies. In 2019, the city was ranked as 69th most livable city in the world by Mercer. In the same year, the PICSA Index ranked the city as 13th most livable city in the world. Its rich history makes it

1040-478: Is Velký Počernický with 41.76 ha (103.2 acres). The largest body of water is Hostivař Reservoir with 42 hectares (103.8 acres). Roy W. Brown Roy W. Brown (born 2 November 1937) is a British-born engineer, humanist and human rights activist. He was president of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) from 2003 to 2006 and was for a time its main representative at

1120-696: Is a crescent-shaped golden sun with rays protruding. One of these banners was captured by Swedish troops during the Battle of Prague (1648) when they captured the western bank of the Vltava river and were repulsed from the eastern bank, they placed it in the Royal Military Museum in Stockholm ; although this flag still exists, it is in very poor condition. They also took the Codex Gigas and

1200-528: Is dominated by the cathedral , which began construction in 1344, but was not completed until the 20th century. The legendary origins of Prague attribute its foundation to the 8th-century Czech duchess and prophetess Libuše and her husband, Přemysl , founder of the Přemyslid dynasty . Legend says that Libuše came out on a rocky cliff high above the Vltava and prophesied: "I see a great city whose glory will touch

1280-643: Is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia . Situated on the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.4 million people. Prague is a political, cultural, and economic hub of Central Europe , with a rich history and Romanesque , Gothic , Renaissance and Baroque architectures. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia and residence of several Holy Roman Emperors , most notably Charles IV (r. 1346–1378) and Rudolf II (r. 1575–1611). It

1360-575: The Bethlehem Chapel . Inspired by John Wycliffe , these sermons focused on what were seen as radical reforms of a corrupt Church. Having become too dangerous for the political and religious establishment, Hus was summoned to the Council of Constance , put on trial for heresy , and burned at the stake in Konstanz in 1415. Four years later Prague experienced its first defenestration , when

1440-852: The British Humanist Association , the National Secular Society and the Council for Secular Humanism , but only became active in the Humanist movement after attending the 14th World Humanist Congress in Mumbai in 1999. He became a member of the IHEU Committee for Growth and Development later the same year and chair of the Committee in 2000. He was elected a vice-president of IHEU in 2001, and president in 2003. He served as president until 2006. Prior to

1520-631: The Codex Argenteus . The earliest evidence indicates that a gonfalon with a municipal charge painted on it was used for the Old Town as early as 1419. Since this city militia flag was in use before 1477 and during the Hussite Wars, it is the oldest still preserved municipal flag of Bohemia. In the following two centuries, Prague strengthened its role as a merchant city. Many noteworthy Gothic buildings were erected and Vladislav Hall of

1600-908: The Enlightenment . IHEU agreed to work on a joint campaign, "A Vision for Europe", with the European Humanist Federation and the international NGO Catholics for a Free Choice to create an alternative to the Berlin Declaration, be called "the Brussels Declaration" to set out Europe's common heritage based on the values of the Enlightenment. Brown was appointed co-ordinator of the campaign. The drafting process ran from October 2006 until January 2007 and involved hundreds of conversations and some 15 preliminary drafts. The Brussels Declaration

1680-532: The European Union with a declaration to be known as the Berlin Declaration that was to make reference to Europe's "Christian roots". The declaration was to be signed by all 27 heads of government of the European Union and would become the preamble to the proposed new European Constitution. Brown proposed a campaign to challenge this potentially divisive idea which promised to neglect not only other faiths but Humanism , secularism and Europe's debt to

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1760-542: The Hispano-Jewish merchant and traveler Abraham ben Jacob . The Old New Synagogue of 1270 still stands in the city. Prague was also once home to a slave market. At the site of the ford in the Vltava river, King Vladislaus I had the first bridge built in 1170, the Judith Bridge (Juditin most), named in honor of his wife Judith of Thuringia . This bridge was destroyed by a flood in 1342, but some of

1840-569: The Netherlands in 1984 where with his wife Diana he founded the World Population Foundation (WPF) to promote family planning: a major factor in improving the quality of life of women and families, and solving the problems of human development and rapid population growth in developing countries. By 1993 WPF had become one of the leading population advocacy organisations in Europe, and in 1994 played an important role in

1920-552: The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The EHF also supports its 63 member organisations in the challenges they are facing at a domestic level and works in partnership with a large network of associations – including progressive religious organisations – with whom it shared goals and interests, in order to oppose conservative religious lobbies across Europe. As the centrepiece of their campaign A Vision for Europe , that strove to uphold secularism within

2000-514: The Prague astronomical clock , the Jewish Quarter , Petřín hill and Vyšehrad . Since 1992, the historic center of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites . The city has more than ten major museums, along with numerous theatres, galleries, cinemas, and other historical exhibits. An extensive modern public transportation system connects the city. It is home to

2080-931: The Presidents of the Commission , the European Parliament and the European Council . The EHF also participates in meetings of the European Parliament Platform for Secularism in Politics (EPPSP). At the EU level, it also works with the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), whilst also collaborating with the Council of Europe and

2160-647: The Red Army took the city almost unopposed. The majority (about 50,000 people) of the German population of Prague either fled or were expelled by the Beneš decrees in the aftermath of the war. Prague was a city in a country under the military, economic, and political control of the Soviet Union (see Iron Curtain and COMECON ). The world's largest Stalin Monument was unveiled on Letná hill in 1955 and destroyed in 1962. The 4th Czechoslovak Writers' Congress, held in

2240-530: The Thirty Years' War , a particularly harsh period for Prague and Bohemia. Ferdinand II of Habsburg was deposed, and his place as King of Bohemia taken by Frederick V, Elector Palatine ; however his army was crushed in the Battle of White Mountain (1620) not far from the city. Following this in 1621 was an execution of 27 Czech Protestant leaders (involved in the uprising) in Old Town Square and

2320-757: The UN Commission on Human Rights and its successor, the Human Rights Council . Brown has prepared written submissions and spoken at the plenary sessions of the Commission and Council on issues as diverse as Female Genital Mutilation , the plight of the Dalits in India, slavery in North Africa, witchcraft and witch hunts in Africa, freedom of expression, the concept of defamation of religion,

2400-489: The US Army Air Forces . 701 people were killed, more than 1,000 people were injured and some buildings, factories and historic landmarks ( Emmaus Monastery , Faust House , Vinohrady Synagogue ) were destroyed. Many historic structures in Prague, however, escaped the destruction of the war and the damage was small compared to the total destruction of many other cities in that time. According to American pilots, it

2480-671: The oldest university in Central Europe. His father John of Bohemia began construction of the Gothic Saint Vitus Cathedral , within the largest of the Prague Castle courtyards, on the site of the Romanesque rotunda there. Prague was elevated to an archbishopric in 1344, the year the cathedral was begun. The city had a mint and was a center of trade for German and Italian bankers and merchants. The social order, however, became more turbulent due to

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2560-517: The Šárka valley , Butovice and Levý Hradec . The construction of what came to be known as Prague Castle began near the end of the 9th century, expanding a fortified settlement that had existed on the site since the year 800. The first masonry under Prague Castle dates from the year 885 at the latest. The other prominent Prague fort, the Přemyslid fort Vyšehrad , was founded in the 10th century, some 70 years later than Prague Castle. Prague Castle

2640-601: The " normalization " of the country. In 1989, after riot police beat back a peaceful student demonstration, the Velvet Revolution crowded the streets of Prague, and the capital of Czechoslovakia benefited greatly from the new mood. In 1992, the Historic Centre of Prague and its monuments were inscribed as a cultural UNESCO World Heritage Site . In 1993, after the Velvet Divorce , Prague became

2720-418: The 17th century, Prague's population began to grow again. Jews had been in Prague since the end of the 10th century and, by 1708, they accounted for about a quarter of Prague's population. In 1689, a great fire devastated Prague, but this spurred a renovation and a rebuilding of the city. In 1713–14, a major outbreak of plague hit Prague one last time, killing 12,000 to 13,000 people. In 1744, Frederick

2800-559: The 50th anniversary of the foundation of IHEU, Brown acted as co-ordinator of the project to update its founding document, the Amsterdam Declaration. The Amsterdam Declaration 2002 was adopted unanimously that year by the 15th World Humanist Congress and the IHEU General Assembly as "the official defining statement of World Humanism". As president of IHEU Brown initiated a process of decentralisation with

2880-572: The Dutch delegation to the International Conference on Population and Development , (ICPD), held in Cairo. In 1996, WPF became a founding member of Eurongo, the European network of NGOs working in the field of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Population and Development, an organisation first proposed in 1991 by Brown, Sjaak Bavelaar (at that time Executive Director of WPF), and Ann Allport of CARE International. WPF played

2960-504: The EU, the EHF, the IHEU and Catholics for Choice (endorsed by the EPPSP) jointly presented the "Brussels Declaration" on 27 February 2007 in the European Parliament , and also addressed to the 27 EU heads of government. It was widely supported by European politicians (signed by more than 80 MEPs), academics, scientists, Nobel Prize winners, writers and journalists. The Brussels Declaration was

3040-426: The European parliament. When the invitation was eventually received however the Pope declined, stating that the Parliament had become "too secular". 1999, with his wife Diana, Council for Secular Humanism "Distinguished Humanists" award 2006, the Free Press Prize of the Danish Free Press Society , together with the Norwegian-Pakistani comedian Shabana Rehman . The prize announcement stated that " Roy Brown has been

3120-454: The Great of Prussia invaded Bohemia. He took Prague after a severe and prolonged siege in the course of which a large part of the town was destroyed. Empress Maria Theresa expelled the Jews from Prague in 1745; though she rescinded the expulsion in 1748, the proportion of Jewish residents in the city never recovered. In 1757 the Prussian bombardment destroyed more than one-quarter of the city and heavily damaged St. Vitus Cathedral. However,

3200-412: The Heart of Europe. The local Jewish community, which belongs to one of the oldest continuously existing in the world, have described the city as עיר ואם בישראל Ir va-em be-yisrael , "The city and mother in Israel". Prague has grown from a settlement stretching from Prague Castle in the north to the fort of Vyšehrad in the south, to become the capital of a modern European country. The region

3280-532: The Prague Castle was added. In 1526, the Bohemian estates elected Ferdinand I of the House of Habsburg . The fervent Catholicism of its members brought them into conflict in Bohemia, and then in Prague, where Protestant ideas were gaining popularity. These problems were not preeminent under Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II , elected King of Bohemia in 1576, who chose Prague as his home. He lived in Prague Castle, where his court welcomed not only astrologers and magicians but also scientists, musicians, and artists. Rudolf

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3360-550: The UK and US automobile industries. From 1978 until 1982, as the business grew, Metier developed Artemis systems for other platforms including Hewlett Packard and IBM mainframes. From 1980 Metier embarked on an ambitious programme to develop their own RISC -based computer hardware and a complete software rewrite, to be called Artemis 2. By 1985 when the partners sold the company to the Lockheed Corporation, one of their biggest customers, Metier had 700 employees (of whom 70 were shareholders) and offices in 21 countries. Brown moved to

3440-478: The United Nations, Geneva. Roy Brown was born in London on 2 November 1937. He was educated at the Martin School, East Finchley and The Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School , an Independent school in Elstree in Hertfordshire, and the University of London where he read Engineering. He trained as an engineer with ITT in London working on the development of electronic systems, and the UK Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Orford Ness and Aldermaston where he

3520-463: The Vltava river. Another view to the origin of the name is also related to the Czech word práh (with the meaning of a threshold ) and a legendary etymology connects the name of the city with princess Libuše , prophetess and a wife of the mythical founder of the Přemyslid dynasty . She is said to have ordered the city "to be built where a man hews a threshold of his house". The Czech práh might thus be understood to refer to rapids or fords in

3600-414: The WIN program, opening 20 clinics providing primary health care for mothers and their children, family planning, skills training and literacy classes for young women and girls in the slums around Bandra East. As of 2010, WIN was providing services to a population of over 80,000 people. Brown was brought up as a Methodist but became a Humanist when he met his second wife Diana. He became a life member of

3680-406: The appointment of a number of regional representatives to work closely with the more than 100 IHEU member organisations in over 40 countries. In 2004 in Kampala, Uganda he inaugurated the launch of the African Humanist Alliance, uniting Humanist, secular and freethought organisations around Africa. Since 2004 Brown has also served as IHEU Main Representative at the UN, Geneva, where he has worked at

3760-411: The board until 2012. The family moved to Switzerland in 1987. In 1999, together with Christine Magistretti, Charles Riolo and Frederick Naville, Brown became a founding member of the board of the International Foundation for Population and Development based in Lausanne Switzerland. Working with their partner organisation, the Centre for the Study of Social Change, CSSC, in Mumbai, India, IFPD created

3840-492: The capital city of the new Czech Republic. From 1995, high-rise buildings began to be built in Prague in large quantities. In the late 1990s, Prague again became an important cultural center of Europe and was notably influenced by globalisation . In 2000, the IMF and World Bank summits took place in Prague and anti-globalization riots took place here. In 2002, Prague suffered from widespread floods that damaged buildings and its underground transport system. Prague launched

3920-427: The city in June 1967, took a strong position against the regime. On 31 October 1967 students demonstrated at Strahov . This spurred the new secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party , Alexander Dubček , to proclaim a new deal in his city's and country's life, starting the short-lived season of the " socialism with a human face ". It was the Prague Spring , which aimed at the renovation of political institutions in

4000-406: The city militia fought bravely under the Prague Banner. This swallow-tailed banner is approximately 4 by 6 ft (1.2 by 1.8 m), with a red field sprinkled with small white fleurs-de-lis, and a silver old Town Coat-of-Arms in the center. The words "PÁN BŮH POMOC NAŠE" (The Lord is our Relief/Help) appeared above the coat-of-arms, with a Hussite chalice centered on the top. Near the swallow-tails

4080-483: The country was occupied by Nazi Germany , Hitler took over Prague Castle. During the Second World War , most Jews were deported and killed by the Germans. In 1942, Prague was witness to the assassination of one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany — Reinhard Heydrich —during Operation Anthropoid , accomplished by Czechoslovak national heroes Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš . Hitler ordered bloody reprisals. In February 1945, Prague suffered several bombing raids by

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4160-428: The declaration contained no reference to God, religion or Europe's supposed Christian heritage, and the declaration was eventually signed only by Angela Merkel as president of the European Council, Hans-Gert Pottering, president of the European Parliament, and Jose Maunuel Barroso, President of the European Commission. The declaration was then incorporated as the Preamble into the daft of the European Constitution. One of

4240-479: The early 1980s, Artemis systems were in use in over 30 countries providing management information for some of the world's largest civil, aerospace, nuclear and military projects, including the construction of off-shore oil platforms, aircraft development, the construction of five military cities in the Middle East, the maintenance of the US navy fleets at Long Beach and Norfolk Naval Yard , aerospace projects, nuclear power plant maintenance, and production scheduling in

4320-407: The exiling of many others. Prague was forcibly converted back to Roman Catholicism followed by the rest of Czech lands. The city suffered subsequently during the war under an attack by Electorate of Saxony (1631) and during the Battle of Prague (1648) . Prague began a steady decline which reduced the population from the 60,000 it had had in the years before the war to 20,000. In the second half of

4400-466: The first company to develop and market mini-computer-based systems for the management of large scale projects. Their first product, Apollo, launched in 1977, was the first Project Management System to run on a minicomputer but was limited to network planning and scheduling. It was joined in 1978 by a sister product, Artemis which incorporated cost and resource management, and became the world's first commercially successful relational database system. By

4480-421: The four municipalities of Malá Strana, Nové Město, Staré Město, and Hradčany were merged into a single entity. The Jewish district, called Josefov , was included only in 1850. The Industrial Revolution produced great changes and developments in Prague, as new factories could take advantage of the coal mines and ironworks of the nearby regions. The first suburb, Karlín , was created in 1817, and twenty years later

4560-414: The incompatibility of the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam with the Universal Declaration , and the role of the Holy See in attempting to cover up the child abuse scandal and its failure to honour its obligations under the International Convention on the Rights of the Child . In 2006 the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, announced plans to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the foundation of

4640-522: The last of whom called it "a victory for Secularism in Europe". The following list contains all member organisations of the EHF (as of 2014). Note: Official English names of organisations are given priority. Organisations that lack an official English name have been translated as literally as possible whilst retaining their intended meaning and complying with English grammar and conventions. Prague Prague ( / ˈ p r ɑː ɡ / PRAHG ; Czech : Praha [ˈpraɦa] )

4720-403: The opposite side of the river, as well as the Lesser Town beneath the existing castle, appeared only later. The English spelling of the city's name is borrowed from French . In the 19th and early 20th centuries it was pronounced in English to rhyme with "vague": it was so pronounced by Lady Diana Cooper (born 1892) on Desert Island Discs in 1969, and it is written to rhyme with "vague" in

4800-442: The original foundation stones of that bridge remain in the river. It was rebuilt and named the Charles Bridge. In 1257, under King Ottokar II , Malá Strana ("Lesser Quarter") was founded in Prague on the site of an older village in what would become the Hradčany (Prague Castle) area. This was the district of the German people, who had the right to administer the law autonomously, pursuant to Magdeburg rights . The new district

4880-428: The people rebelled under the command of the Prague priest Jan Želivský . Hus' death, coupled with Czech proto-nationalism and proto-Protestantism , had spurred the Hussite Wars . Peasant rebels, led by the general Jan Žižka , along with Hussite troops from Prague, defeated Emperor Sigismund , in the Battle of Vítkov Hill in 1420. During the Hussite Wars when Prague was attacked by "Crusader" and mercenary forces,

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4960-417: The population exceeded 100,000. The revolutions in Europe in 1848 also touched Prague, but they were fiercely suppressed. In the following years, the Czech National Revival began its rise, until it gained the majority in the town council in 1861. Prague had a large number of German speakers in 1848, but by 1880 the number of German speakers had decreased to 14% (42,000), and by 1910 to 6.7% (37,000), due to

5040-492: The reasons for the success of the campaign was that rather than attempt to obtain a million or more signatures from ordinary citizens the campaign enlisted the support of 1000 leading Europeans including elder statesmen, religious leaders and Nobel laureates, all with considerable influence in their respective countries. One not entirely unexpected result of the campaign was that a furious Pope Benedict XVI declared that "Europe has lost its soul" and demanded an invitation to address

5120-406: The region of Bohemia, which means "home of the Boii people". In the last century BC, the Celts were slowly driven away by Germanic tribes ( Marcomanni , Quadi , Lombards and possibly the Suebi ), leading some to place the seat of the Marcomanni king, Maroboduus , in Závist. Around the area where present-day Prague stands, the 2nd century map drawn by Roman geographer Ptolemaios mentioned

5200-480: The reign of his son, King Wenceslaus IV (1378–1419), a period of intense turmoil ensued. During Easter 1389, members of the Prague clergy announced that Jews had desecrated the host (Eucharistic wafer) and the clergy encouraged mobs to pillage, ransack and burn the Jewish quarter. Nearly the entire Jewish population of Prague (ca 750 people) was murdered. Jan Hus , a theologian and rector at Charles University, preached in Prague. In 1402, he began giving sermons in

5280-433: The rising power of the craftsmen 's guilds (themselves often torn by internal conflicts), and the increasing number of poor. The Hunger Wall, a substantial fortification wall south of Malá Strana and the castle area was built during a famine in the 1360s. The work is reputed to have been ordered by Charles IV as a means of providing employment and food to the workers and their families. Charles IV died in 1378. During

5360-409: The river, the edge of which could have acted as a means of fording the river – thus providing a "threshold" to the castle. Another derivation of the name Praha is suggested from na prazě , the original term for the shale hillside rock upon which the original castle was built. At that time, the castle was surrounded by forests, covering the nine hills of the future city – the Old Town on

5440-491: The stars". She ordered a castle and a town called Praha to be built on the site. The region became the seat of the dukes , and later kings of Bohemia . Under Duke of Bohemia Boleslaus II the Pious the area became a bishopric in 973. Until Prague was elevated to archbishopric in 1344, it was under the jurisdiction of the Archbishopric of Mainz . Prague was an important seat for trading where merchants from across Europe settled, including many Jews, as recalled in 965 by

5520-419: Was a true European capital with highly developed industry. By 1930, the population had risen to 850,000. Hitler ordered the German Army to enter Prague on 15 March 1939, and from Prague Castle proclaimed Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate . For most of its history, Prague had been a multi-ethnic city with important Czech, German and (mostly native German-speaking) Jewish populations. From 1939, when

5600-403: Was an art lover as well, and Prague became the capital of European culture. This was a prosperous period for the city: famous people living there in that age include the astronomers Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler , the painter Arcimboldo , the alchemists Edward Kelley and John Dee , the poet Elizabeth Jane Weston , and others. In 1618, the famous second defenestration of Prague provoked

5680-418: Was an important city to the Habsburg monarchy and Austria-Hungary . The city played major roles in the Bohemian and the Protestant Reformations , the Thirty Years' War and in 20th-century history as the capital of Czechoslovakia between the World Wars and the post-war Communist era . Prague is home to a number of cultural attractions including Prague Castle , Charles Bridge , Old Town Square with

5760-614: Was from 2024 transformed to the European Humanist Services Network (EHSN) . The EHF promotes a secular state and opposes lobbying by religious organisations towards European institutions. The EHF aims to: The EHF was recognised as an official partner of the European Union (EU) under Article 17 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). It is therefore regularly invited to meet

5840-544: Was on the bank opposite of the Staré Město ("Old Town"), which had borough status and was bordered by a line of walls and fortifications. Prague flourished during the 14th-century reign (1346–1378) of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and the king of Bohemia of the new Luxembourg dynasty . As King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor, he transformed Prague into an imperial capital. In the 1470s, Prague had around 70,000 inhabitants and with an area of 360 ha (~1.4 square miles) it

5920-772: Was part of the team developing monitoring systems for the international Test Ban Treaty . After emigrating to Canada where he worked for four years with Canadian Marconi in Montreal on the design of airborne radar and navigation systems he returned to the UK as Chief Designer for Racal Research in Tewkesbury , pioneers in the field of Computer Aided Design. In 1976, with three colleagues: Richard (Dick) Evans, Robin Lodge and James Miller, Brown founded Metier Management Systems in London,

6000-538: Was presented to the representative of the European presidency at the European Parliament on 27 February 2007, one month before the date of the anniversary celebrations, and addressed to all 27 heads of government with a plea that the values set out in the Brussels Declaration be incorporated into the Berlin Declaration. The campaign was successful. When the Berlin Declaration was promulgated on 27 March 2007, three heads of government refused to sign because

6080-569: Was settled as early as the Paleolithic age. Jewish chronicler David Solomon Ganz , citing Cyriacus Spangenberg , claimed that the city was founded as Boihaem in c.  1306 BC by an ancient king, Boyya. Around the fifth and fourth century BC, a Celtic tribe appeared in the area, later establishing settlements, including the largest Celtic oppidum in Bohemia , Závist, in a present-day south suburb Zbraslav in Prague, and naming

6160-483: Was the deadliest mass murder in the history of the Czech Republic. Prague is situated on the Vltava river. The Berounka flows into the Vltava in the suburbs of Lahovice . There are 99 watercourses in Prague with a total length of 340 km (210 mi). The longest streams are Rokytka and Botič. There are 3 reservoirs, 37 ponds, and 34 retention reservoirs and dry polders in the city. The largest pond

6240-559: Was the parent body of the European Humanist Professionals (EHP), which networks humanist celebrants , humanist pastoral carers , school speakers and educators, and the staff of the various European humanist associations into one professional body, focused on building best practice and expanding the availability of humanist charitable services across Europe. This work became part of Humanists International's European Capacity Building and Networking Project, which

6320-399: Was the result of a navigational mistake. In March, a deliberate raid targeted military factories in Prague, killing about 370 people. On 5 May 1945, two days before Germany capitulated, an uprising against Germany occurred. Several thousand Czechs were killed in four days of bloody street fighting, with many atrocities committed by both sides. At daybreak on 9 May, the 3rd Shock Army of

6400-637: Was the third-largest city in the Holy Roman Empire. Charles IV ordered the building of the New Town (Nové Město) adjacent to the Old Town and laid out the design himself. The Charles Bridge, replacing the Judith Bridge destroyed in the flood just prior to his reign, was erected to connect the east bank districts to the Malá Strana and castle area. In 1347, he founded Charles University ,

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