Czech Currency 5000 Czech koruna banknote 1993
Czech National Bank - Česká národní banka
Obverse: Portrait of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850-1937), Czechoslovak politician, sociologist and philosopher, 1st President of Czechoslovakia; spray with fruits; red and white ribbon
Reverse: Gothic and Baroque buildings in Prague: St. Vitus Cathedral, St. Nicolas church and St. Jacob church in Prague; heraldic shields of Prague and Bohemia; Coat of arms of the Czech Republic at right.
Colors: dark-blue, pink.
Size: 170 x 74 mm.
Watermark: portrait of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk.
Artists: Oldřich Kulhánek, Miloš Ondráček, Václav Fajt.
Printer: Státní Tiskárna Cenin.
Czech banknotes - Czech paper money
1993 - 2009
1000 Korun 2000 Korun 5000 Korun
Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk
Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (sometimes called Thomas Masaryk in English (7 March 1850 – 14 September 1937), was a Czechoslovak politician, sociologist and philosopher, who as an eager advocate of Czechoslovak independence during World War I became the founder and first President of Czechoslovakia. He originally wished to reform the Austro-Hungarian monarchy into a democratic federal state, but during the First World War he began to favour the abolition of the monarchy and, with the help of the Allied Powers, eventually succeeded.
With the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, the Allies recognized Masaryk as head of the Provisional Czechoslovak government (on October 14th), and on November 14, 1918, he was elected President of the Czechoslovak Republic by the National Assembly in Prague (Masaryk was in New York at this time). He came back to Prague Castle on December 21, 1918.
Masaryk was re-elected as president three times: in May 1920, 1927, and 1934. A provision in the 1920 constitution exempted him from the two-term limit. He visited England, Egypt and Israel (and other countries as well) in 1923 and 1927. After the rise of Hitler, he was one of the first political figures in Europe to voice concern. He resigned from office on December 14, 1935 on the grounds of old age and poor health, and Edvard Beneš succeeded him.
On paper, Masaryk's powers as president were limited; the framers of the constitution intended for the Prime Minister and Cabinet to hold the real power. He did, however, provide a considerable measure of stability in the face of frequent changes of government (there were ten cabinets headed by nine Prime Ministers during his tenure). Due to this stability as well as his great prestige inside and outside the country, Masaryk enjoyed almost legendary authority among the Czechoslovak people. He used this authority to create an extensive informal political network called Hrad (the Castle). Under his watch, Czechoslovakia became the strongest democracy in central Europe.
Masaryk died less than two years after leaving office ("hoar Tuesday", September 14), at the age of 87, in Lány, Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic. Dying when he did, he was spared witnessing the Munich Agreement and the Nazi occupation of his country. He was known as "The Great Old Man of Europe". Commemorations of Masaryk, state institutions, and democratic societies have taken place annually in Lány cemetery on March 7 and September 14, since 1989.
Masaryk wrote several books, including The Czech Question(1895), The Problems of Small Nations in the European Crisis (1915), The New Europe (1917) and The World Revolution (1925), in Czech, published in English as The Making of a State (1927), and the two following Volumes). The writer Karel Čapek wrote a series of articles entitled 'Hovory s T.G.M.' (Conversations with T.G.M.) which were later collected as a form of autobiography.
St. Vitus Cathedral
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saints Vitus, Wenceslaus and Adalbert (Czech: metropolitní katedrála svatého Víta, Václava a Vojtěcha) is a Roman Catholic metropolitan cathedral in Prague, the seat of the Archbishop of Prague. Up to 1997, the cathedral was dedicated only to Saint Vitus, and is still commonly named only as St. Vitus Cathedral.
This cathedral is an excellent example of Gothic architecture and is the biggest and most important church in the country. Located within Prague Castle and containing the tombs of many Bohemian kings and Holy Roman Emperors, the cathedral is under the ownership of the Czech government as part of the Prague Castle complex. Cathedral dimensions are 124 × 60 meters, the main tower is 96.5 meters high, front towers 82 m, arch height 33.2 m.
St. Nicholas Church (Malá Strana)
The Church of Saint Nicholas (Czech: Kostel svatého Mikuláše) also called the Saint Nicholas Cathedral (Czech: Chrám svatého Mikuláše) is the Baroque church in Lesser Town, Prague. It was built between 1704-1755 on the site where formerly stood a Gothic church from the 13th century also dedicated to Saint Nicholas. It has been described as "the most impressive example of Prague Baroque" and "without doubt the greatest Baroque church in Prague and the Dientzenhofers' supreme achievement".
It was built by Christoph Dientzenhofer, later by his son Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer. The temple excels not only in the architecture, but also in the decoration, mainly by the Jan Lukas Kracker's frescos and inside the 70 m high dome by František Xaver Palko's. The interior is further decorated with sculptures of František Ignác Platzer. The Baroque organs has over 4,000 pipes up to six metres in length and were played by Mozart in 1787. Mozart's spectacular masterpiece, Mass in C, was first performed in the Church of Saint Nicholas shortly after his visit.
The 79 m tall belfry is directly connected with the church’s massive dome. The belfry with great panoramic view, was unlike the church completed in Rococo forms in 1751-1756 by Anselmo Lurago.
St. Jacob church in Prague - Church of St. James the Greater
The Church of St. James (Hungarian: Kostel Sv. Jakuba) in Prague-Old Town, Czech Republic. The church is home to the Madonna Pietatis and the tomb of Count Vratislav of Mitrovice.
The church was built in the 13th century for the Franciscans presbytery. It was built in the Gothic architecture style. The church was destroyed in a fure in 1689. The fire is believed to have been started by people working for Louis XIV of France. When it was rebuilt, it was rebuilt in the Baroque architecture style. The rebuilding included the addition of over 20 altars. Artists such as Jan Jiří Heinsch, Václav Vavřinec Reiner, and Petr Brandl created paintings for the altars. In 1702, an organ was installed.
The church is the final resting place for Count Vratislav of Mitrovice. He was accidentally buried alive in the tomb. The tomb was created by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach. There is also a mummified forearm to the right of the tomb entrance, dating back over 400 years. The arm is the arm of a jewel thief who tried to steal from the high altar, which has a statue of the Virgin Mary. It is believed that when the thief tired to steal the jewels, Mary grabbed his arm and would not let go, therefore his arm was cut off by monks.