The 15th century saw discontentment spread throughout the city as the notorious anarchist, Jan Hus, began to spread his views. The Hussite Wars began soon after the arrival of Hus, starting with the 1419 New Town Revolution.

This discontentment was short-lived however as Emperor Rudolph II set up home in Prague Castle in 1583 and made Prague the centre of European art, science and politics. This new-found status allowed Prague to blossom with Renaissance culture. Unfortunately, Rudolph II died in 1612 and this marked the end of Prague’s notoriety in world culture.

When the Thirty Year War came to an end, the city was rebuilt and many walls and defences put in place, which effectively cut the city off from the outside world. The French briefly occupied Prague for three years from 1741, after which Prussian troops invaded and took over.

In 1784, the four independent towns of Prague (Old Town, New Town, Lesser Town and Hradcany) were united to form one single city which was ruled by Emperor Joseph II and a period of stability began.

By the beginning of the 20th century, Prague began to develop a new neo-Renaissance style and freedom of expression was all the rage. Artists and culture buffs hurried to the city and a new wave of cultural awareness followed.

Since the early -20th century, Prague worked fast to become a modern and cosmopolitan European city. It has seen Czechs, Germans and Jewish cultures all working in unison to promote and expand the city.

The city’s rapid development was once again halted, although this time by the Nazis. By March 1939, Czechoslovakia had surrendered to the Germans and Hitler was soon to arrive in Prague. The Jewish community of the city was wiped out, with an estimated 40,000 people killed.

The city continued to slowly decline until 1948 and the communist revolution. This resulted in a rapid growth in population, with new buildings being built extremely quickly and very cheaply. The ugly face of communism banned all freedom of expression in 1968 and the country became dull and void of all art until 1989.