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All Czechia Prague Defenestration of Prague Window

Defenestration of Prague Window

The palace window through which Protestant nobles flung two Catholic regents, thus sparking the Thirty Years' War.

Prague, Czechia

Added By
Edward Denny
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The site of the second defenestration of Prague.   DigitalExtropy
The site of the second defenestration of Prague.   DigitalExtropy
Defenestration Room at the Prague Castle   Artinpl
The window that started the Thirty Years’ War.   Jay Galvin
The window up close.   Wolfgang Sauber
Memorial below the defenestration window.   Jürgen Regel, Marian
A woodcut of the defenestration in 1618.   Johann Philipp Abelinus
Through the window.   Flazaza
Memorial below the defenestration window.   Jürgen Regel, Marian
  Edward Denny / Atlas Obscura User
  SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
  SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Entrance to copper canopy   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Copper canopy   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
View from balcony in front of tower window.   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
An attempted re-enactment.   JamazingClayton / Atlas Obscura User
The tower where the defenestration took place   katielou106 / Atlas Obscura User
  rbenn250 / Atlas Obscura User
Head to the right hand corner.   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
  SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Deep within the vast Prague Castle complex is an easily overlooked feature that is quite literally a window to a devastating moment in history: the 1618 defenestration (the act of throwing someone out a window as a means of execution) that led to Europe's Thirty Years' War.

The origins of the war lie in an entanglement of complexities that are often simplified as a conflict between Protestants and Catholics. When the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II attempted to make Catholicism the sole religion of the empire, the Protestants of Bohemia (modern Czechia) protested the suppression of their religion. In anger, Bohemian nobles in Prague flung two representatives of Ferdinand out of a window of the Royal Palace.

The flingees survived their fall with only minor aches and pains, being cushioned by the flocculence of a manure pile, although Catholics claimed that a divine miracle saved them. Then, with significant chips on their shoulders, Ferdinand’s representatives reported their assault by the bunch of tossers, and the Thirty Years’ War began.

As unique as defenestration of one’s enemies may sound, this was actually the second historically significant window-tossing event in the city. The first Defenestration of Prague occurred in 1419 when an angry mob threw a judge out of the second story window of the New Town Hall, starting a rather shady tradition. Yet a third defenestration may also have occurred in 1948 when Communists were accused of assassinating Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk by similar means.

Although a reference to the Thirty Years’ War is unlikely to yield much reaction from most Americans, to central Europe it was a catastrophe of epic proportions, with consequences that reverberate through today. Fought between 1618 and 1648, estimates of fatalities range from 5 million to 11 million people, and it all began from a fit of jealousy in the Czech Office of the Old Royal Palace. If you happen to sashay into the Prague Castle and gaze over at its immensity, take time to visit the famous window for a moment of reflection.

Related Tags

Castles Palaces War History Religion Execution Sacred Spaces Military

Know Before You Go

The Czech Office is off the Vladislav Hall in the Old Royal Palace which can be reached via the courtyard to the right of St. Vitus’ Cathedral. A plaque to the left of the entrance marks the window.

To view the window from outside, head down a flight of stairs that starts underneath a copper canopy that is perpendicular to St. Vitus' Cathedral on the right side of the plaza. Well worth the journey down a several stairs, as you get a glimpse of a spectacular view of Old Town and the  Charles Bridge.

Community Contributors

Added By

Edward Denny

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SEANETTA, erjeffery, chris1310, Spiffy...

  • SEANETTA
  • erjeffery
  • chris1310
  • Spiffy
  • Meg
  • JamazingClayton
  • rbenn250
  • katielou106
  • jkallen18

Published

February 15, 2018

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  • https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2012/05/20/the-three-defenestrations-of-prague/
  • http://www.onceatraveler.com/overlooking-the-defenestration-of-prague
Defenestration of Prague Window
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