Beschreibung der Statt Prag mit sampt ihrer Contrafehtung.

Title

Beschreibung der Statt Prag mit sampt ihrer Contrafehtung.

General view of the city of Prague in 1574, below the coat of arms of Bohemia. On the back is a picture of the burning of a witch and the great uproar in Prague.

ca. 1550

Artist

Münster (1489-1552)

Sebastian Münster (1489–1552) was a leading Renaissance cosmographer. His most famous work, the Cosmographia (1544), was a comprehensive description of the world with 24 maps, based on research dating back to 1528. Continuously revised, the 1550 edition already included many new maps. It was the first scientific yet accessible world description published in German, illustrated with numerous woodcuts by artists such as Hans Holbein the Younger. Between 1544 and 1650, the Cosmographia appeared in 46 editions (27 in German) and was translated into several languages. Münster’s work combined the knowledge of scholars, artists, and travelers and remained influential long after his death.

Historical Description

Prague has been a political, cultural and economic centre of central Europe complete with a rich history. Founded during the Romanesqueand flourishing by the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque eras, Prague was the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia and the main residence of several Holy Roman Emperors, most notably of Charles IV (1346–1378).It was an important city to the Habsburg Monarchy and its Austro-Hungarian Empire. The city played major roles in the Bohemian and Protestant Reformation, the Thirty Years' War and in 20th-century history as the capital of Czechoslovakia, during both World Wars and the post-war Communist era. During the thousand years of its existence, the city grew from a settlement stretching from Prague Castle in the north to the fort of Vyšehradin the south, becoming the capital of a modern European country, the Czech Republic.