Jan Huss Memorial

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The very large Jan Huss memorial sits on the East side of Old Town Square. You can't miss it! I had often looked at the monument, but had never looked at it closely. One evening we were in Old Town Square looking at the Christmas booths and listening to Christmas music being sung by groups on the temporary stage when we saw that people were standing on the lower step of the monument. Normally you cannot stand on the step, but the crowd was huge and no one seemed to mind. Nancy and I walked across the five foot flower bed and stepped up on the monument where we got a better view of the performers on the stage. After watching for about five minutes I decided to get a close-up look at the monument by walking around it. It was as I walked that I realized there is more to the monument than I had realized. It is not just a statue of Jan Huss, thought he is there, standing about twenty or twenty-five feet tall. Around him there are many other people representing the Hussites and the rebirth of the nation after 200 years under Hapsburg rule.

Jan

Huss was a reformer a hundred years before Martin Luther and during the years since his death had become a symbol of strength against oppressive regimes.

Huss was born in 1370 and became a theologian, philosopher and a reformer, believing that the Catholic mass should be spoken in the local language that all church members should partake of both the wine and the bread in the Eucharist service. This did not go over well with the Vatican. Huss was promised safe passage to and from Lake Constance. He traveled to Lake Constance and defended his view before the Council of Constance. The Council condemned him and burned him at the stake in 1415.

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Photos

Jan Huss Memorial
St. Nicholas Church with the lovely chandelier shaped like a Russian Czar's crown is in the background.

Jan Huss Memorial
The Tyne Church is in the background