Lennon wall

Prague is one of those places that have survived and prospered despite everything that’s

been stacked against it over the centuries, from Roman occupation to the ravages of the

Thirty Years War in the 17th century, from being a powerhouse of the Austro-Hungarian

Empire until WW1 to surviving Soviet hegemony for nearly half a century after WW2. As a

result the population are politicised to a degree that is rare in the rest of Europe, and none

more so than during the days of the Prague Spring in 1968, before the Comintern tanks rolled

in to quell the anti-Russian revolution. They might as well have used Quells.

If you like history, try Prague - there’s more of it here than almost anywhere else in

mainland Europe. It’s given us Europe’s best preserved Jewish Cemetery, Holy Roman

Emperors, writers like Kafka and heretics like Jan Hus; the spooky Castle tested the myth of

alchemy, Mozart conducted the first performance of ‘Don Giovanni’ in the Estates Theatre

(which still performs it), the Black Theatre of Prague is world famous, and the city’s

architecture is endlessly stimulating. Here is a small part of the John Lennon Wall in the Malá

Strana district, where the people can have their say, and frequently do, although these days

the messages have more to do with culture and world peace than the politics of previous

decades. I liked the play of light and shadow giving strong diagonals over this section of

wall.

Prague is one of those places that have survived and prospered despite everything that’s been

stacked against it over the centuries, from Roman occupation to the ravages of the Thirty Years

War in the 17th century, from being a powerhouse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until WW1 to

surviving Soviet hegemony for nearly half a century after WW2. As a result the population are

politicised to a degree that is rare in the rest of Europe, and none more so than during the days of

the Prague Spring in 1968, before the Comintern tanks rolled in to quell the anti-Russian revolution.

They might as well have used Quells.

If you like history, try Prague - there’s more of it here than almost anywhere else in mainland

Europe. It’s given us Europe’s best preserved Jewish Cemetery, Holy Roman Emperors, writers like

Kafka and heretics like Jan Hus; the spooky Castle tested the myth of alchemy, Mozart conducted

the first performance of ‘Don Giovanni’ in the Estates Theatre (which still performs it), the Black

Theatre of Prague is world famous, and the city’s architecture is endlessly stimulating. Here is a

small part of the John Lennon Wall in the Malá Strana district, where the people can have their say,

and frequently do, although these days the messages have more to do with culture and world

peace than the politics of previous decades. I liked the play of light and shadow giving strong

diagonals over this section of wall.

Lennon Wall, Prague