Astronomical Clock
History
The Astronomical Clock was created by Mikuláš from Kadani in 1410 based on calculations made by astronomer and professor, Jan Šindel. The watchmaker was very generously rewarded; he received 3000 Groschen in cash, a regular annual salary of 600 groschen, guarantees for his property and his heirs, and, to top it all off, a house near the Havel Gate.
Eighty years later, watchmaker Hanuš z Růže perfected the clock mechanism. In the second half of the 17th century, the figures appeared, except for the figure of Archangel Michael, which is a hundred years younger. The rooster figurine was installed in 1882. However, what you see now, are the copies. The originals are kept in the City Museum of Prague.
The Astronomical Clock was fully mechanized in 1556. It is said that 70% of the mechanism is actually original.
Interestingly enough, for several decades the city couldn’t find a master capable of repairing the mechanism. It was achieved in the second half of the 18th century, by the professor and rector of Charles University, Antonin Strnad.
Symbolism
The performance takes place every hour from 9:00 to 21:00. Two small windows open and you gradually watch all twelve apostles appear in them (six in each window). The figures were created in 1947 by Vojtěch Sucharda, and they have different characteristic attributes of the saints:
| Left window | Right window |
| St Peter – key | St Paul – book |
| St Matthew – axe | St Thomas – spear |
| St John – cup | St Simon – saw |
| St Andrew – cross | St Judas – stone board |
| St Philip – cross | St Bartholomew – skin |
| St James – washboard | St Barnabas – scroll |
Lower you can see 4 other figures: the skeleton and allegories of human sins. During the performance, the skeleton rings a bell, reminding people that another hour has passed. The hourglass in his other hand emphasizes the idea of the transience of time.
To its right you can see a figure “Turk”. There are few possible meanings – the idleness or aimlessness of human life.
On the opposite side, closer to the dial, there are two figures – the first one with a bag, an allegory of greed. And the second one with a mirror, an allegory of vanity.
During the performance, these figures also make some movements – turning their heads, moving their hands, etc.
The lowest level of the Astronomical Clock is motionless. It is represented by four sculptures: on the left, closer to the disk, is Archangel Michael and the rest are those who came to worship the newborn Jesus.
Clock
Let’s talk more about the clock itself, which was created in the 15th century. The clock doesn’t switch to summer time.
The outer dial displays the old Czech or Italian time in Arabic numerals. Back in the days, the day also consisted of 24 hours; however, it started at sunset.
The inner dial shows European time in Roman numerals. This inner disc is divided into 12 sectors, which are numbered using Arabic numerals. It displays the old Babylonian time, which starts at the sunrise. It is the world’s rarity, since it’s the only clock that shows this time.
The inner part of the clock is also divided into three parts by using different colors – each symbolizing something different:
- blue – day
- black – night
- brown – time in-between day and night.
In addition, it is possible to determine the day of the winter and summer solstice, autumn and spring equinoxes, the exact time of sunrise or sunset, sidereal time and much more.
The clock has only the hour hand. You won’t find a minute hand, since it didn’t exist in the Middle Ages.
The Astronomical clock was created during the time when the solar system was thought to be geocentric, i.e. the Earth was considered to be the center of the universe and all other celestial bodies, including the Sun, were thought to revolve around it. This idea is reflected on the dial – the Earth is in the center.
Calendar
Now let’s move on to the calendar. It was created in 1865 by artist Josef Mánes. It’s a copy; the original, which miraculously survived World War II, is kept in the Prague Museum. The copy was created by Bohumil Chila during the post-war reconstruction in 1947.
The center of the calendar showcases the coat of arms of Prague. Then there are two circles with 12 small paintings. The smaller one represents zodiac signs, the bigger months of the year.
The outer grey circle is actually movable and makes a full turn during the year. The small golden arrow shows the church holidays, the names of the days of the week and the specific date.
The calendar does not take into account leap year, so once every 4 years the clock hand doesn’t move for two full days. This day falls not on 28 February, but on 24 February.
