City Hall places time capsule into Charles Bridge foundation

The beautiful Gothic Charles Bridge (called the Stone Bridge until 1870), built across the Vltava River to connect the Old Town to the Mala Strana (Lesser Town), is Prague's biggest tourist attraction and boasts a breathtaking view of Prague Castle. Some thirty statues from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries line the bridge, with each one of them having their own unique story to tell. But today's Spotlight is not about what's on the bridge but rather what's inside it - a message for the future citizens of the city of Prague.

Charles Bridge was built from 1357 to 1406 under the reign of Charles IV. Legend has it that the date - 1357 - was chosen to start construction because it consists of prime numbers, which were believed to bring good luck. Well, it was a wise move as the bridge has indeed survived devastating times - two floods and the Second World War, for example. Today, the bridge is one of the country's most significant national and cultural heritage sites; it is protected by Czech law and has been on the UNESCO list of world heritage sites since 1993.

"You know, the bridge is a construction, which is most important in Prague because Prague was founded at the place where it was possible to cross the river so the bridge is a symbol of Prague and in addition to this it consists of very beautiful constructions - there are three towers and of course there's the bridge itself."

Martin Krise, photo: CTK

...says Prague architect and preservationist Martin Krise. The bridge is almost 650 years old, and the centuries have left their mark on its structure. When Prague was hit by devastating floods back in the late eighteenth century, it was almost washed away by the current. Massive rebuilding stabilised its piers, with the exception of two - the eighth and ninth piers. The floods in the summer of 2002 eroded the subsoil of the two piers and after a thorough examination of the stability and surface structure of the bridgecechomor, City Hall launched a two-year rebuilding project last year. For the first time in over a century, the wooden foundation of the bridge was uncovered. Mr Jiri Petrak is the head of the Czech branch of Mott MacDonald, the construction company in charge of the repair work:

City mayor Jan Bürgermeister puts the capsule nto the foundation of the bridge, photo: CTK

"It was very interesting because we uncovered the foundations of the piers and saw structures that are over six hundred years old. This was the first time that we could see the bottom of piers number eight and nine. We found very interesting details of the work that was done many centuries ago. We found out, for example, that piers were founded on milling stones. There was a cavern underneath one of the piers, so the milling stone was exposed. It will be on display at a museum, which will hold a permanent exhibition on Charles Bridge."

On Monday, the first stage of rebuilding came to an end and City Hall took the opportunity to build on a tradition that has been present in the country for over eight centuries. Martin Krise again:

"During important rebuilding or repair work, it was a custom to put items of the time into places that were difficult to reach. My wife, for example, recently opened a little box behind a grave, where my grandmother left a few things many years ago. They were several devices and some old clothes, which were touched by my grandmother. I also remember when I was a little boy, a treasure was found in the tallest tower of south Bohemia, in a Church in Sobeslav, which had a parcel of newspapers from the 19th century and some coins and some other papers, which made a very big impact on me because it was like moving back in time, back into history."

A time capsule - a 50 cm long copper tube - was put into the foundation of the bridge just before it was cemented over for another couple of centuries. And with me now is Zuzana Petrova, the director of City Hall's public relations department.

"The time capsule is made from copper and contains the Constitution of the Czech Republic, a valid city transport ticket, all current bills and coins, a Sunday newspaper, a map of Prague, a DVD about Prague, a DVD with the current TV news, a theatre programme, and all the information about the mayor of Prague as well as the Prague Council."

And when was the last time that a time capsule was found in Prague?

"The placing of time capsules into buildings has a pretty big tradition here. I think the citizens of Prague have had this tradition since the 12th century. The last time we found a time capsule was a couple of years ago when we rebuilt the Manes Bridge. We found a time capsule from 1907, which contained a memory note written on parchment, a large collection of Czech and German press, and other documents."

And these can now be viewed at the Prague City Archives?

"Yes. All documents and time capsules themselves, meaning from 1583, 1613, and the eighteenth century, which were found within the last twenty-five years in Prague buildings, are now in the City of Prague Archives."