Patrick Bade
Cultural History of Prague
Summary
Barely 10 million people make up the Czech population, but they’ve always punched beyond their weight from a cultural point of view. In this lecture Patrick Bade discusses how the Czechs have contributed so much joy, pleasure, and beauty to the world in terms of art, architecture, music and literature.
Patrick Bade
Patrick Bade is a historian, writer, and broadcaster. He studied at UCL and the Courtauld Institute of Art. He was a senior lecturer at Christie’s Education for many years and has worked for the Art Fund, Royal Opera House, National Gallery, and V&A. He has published on 19th- and early 20th-century paintings and historical vocal recordings. His latest book is Music Wars: 1937–1945.
I’m not sure about the nobility. I think probably also German. I once had a very interesting conversation with a gentleman at the London Jewish Cultural Centre I might repeat this story next week. He was a Mr. Anshel and he was a cousin of the great conductor Carl Anshel And he told me, sotto voce, that he was rather embarrassed, but he said to me, well of course, you know, we spoke German. We only ever spoke Czech with the servants. So I think the bourgeoisie, especially the Jewish bourgeoisie, they were speaking German.
Well, I suppose you just have to go… you’re not going to find a lot of it outside of Prague, I suppose.