The History of the Prague Orloj
Prague Orloj
Here at Montres Publiques, we adhere to the policy of ‘saving the best for last’, so even though we already discussed Big Ben, it doesn’t mean that we think anything less of today’s topic, the Prague Orloj. Prague is known for many things, its medieval town center, its castle, defenestrations, and a its magnificent astronomical clock tower. Now, unfortunately for horology history, none of the famous defenestrations happened in the Orloj, but it does still have a very interesting story.
The Prague Orloj is the brainchild of Mikuláš of Kadaň and Jan Šindel, who completed their work in 1410. Astronomical clocks, like the Orloj, have one specific function that set them apart from regular clocks towers; they show astronomical and zodiacal information including the positions of the Sun, the Moon, other planets, and constellations using specially designed mechanisms, usually with the help of someone like Jan Šindel, who was a mathematics and astronomy professor at Charles University. In fact, one of the most impressive features of the Prague Orloj is the astronomical dial, which includes glyphs of ancient Czech time. The Orloj lead a mostly insignificant life for its first 80 years, notably receiving the addition of a calendar plate, for date changes, from Master watchmaker Hanuš in 1490. The clock went through several caretakers in the 16th century and was finally made fully mechanized in 1566. It was almost destroyed in the 18th century when the towns of Prague were merged into a single entity in 1784 and the Town Hall underwent major works in 1787. Luckily, the Orloj was spared and itself underwent repairs in the 1790s. In 1864, the clock was repaired using public funds acquired through a fundraising effort. Unfortunately, it would almost be destroyed by the Nazis about 80 years later, at the end of WWII.
The Prague Orloj was in an awful state after WWII, and it would be a while before it was whole again. Fortunately, it was at least functioning again by 1948, and since then it has been repaired and restored accordingly; the treasured clock finally appreciated by the world for the 600-year-old masterpiece that it is.