A Survey of Legislative Attempts at Architectural and Historical
RESCUING PRAGUE'S PAST: A SURVEY OF LEGISLATIVE ATTEMPTS AT ARCITECTURAL AND HISTORICAL PRESERVATION IN PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC Kirby Mitchell* I. INTRODUCTION Almost alone among European capitals, the Czech city of Prague largely escaped the ravages of World War H, and now stands as perhaps Europe's largest architectural and historical preservation site.' The center of Prague is a "solid-five-square-mile treasure"2 of ancient churches topped with golden spires, picturesque town squares, and a splendid mixture of Art Nouveau, Baroque, and Romanesque buildings.3 Stov~atd Praha,the "City of a Hundred Towers,"4 is considered by many to be the most beautiful capital in Europe. Today, however, the historic buildings and sites of Prague are in danger due to decades of neglect and pollution under the Communist government. Further, since the "Velvet Revolution" in November 1989,' the rush to a * J.D., 1996. The author would like to thank his former students and colleagues at Mati~nf Gymnizium in Ostrava, Czech Republic, where he taught English from 1991 to 1993. ' William Echikson, Restoring the Grandeur of Prague, CHRISTIAN SCI. MONITOR, September 4, 1986, at 18. 2 id. 31d. 4 Jan Pokorn9, New Building in the Historic Environment, ARCHIrECTURAL CONsERvA- TION IN THE CZECH AND SLOVAK REPUBLICS (1993). Prague is also often referred to as "The City of Hundred Spires," "Golden Prague," and "Art Treasury of Europe." See, e.g., JIWf DOLE±AL & IVAN DOLE±AL, PRAGUE (1991); Vladimfr Denkstein, Introduction, in PRAGUE 7 (Vladimfr Denkstein & Jfff Kotalik eds., Vladimfr Vafecha trans., 1979). ' In November 1989, the Communist Party leadership in Czechoslovakia resigned en masse, opening the door to the formation of the country's first non-communist government in 41 years.
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