Prague to Munich - Part 1 Great Continental Railway Journeys

'I'm embarking on a new railway adventure that will take me

'across the heart of Europe.'

I'll be using this - my Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide,

dated 1913, which opened up an exotic world of foreign

travel for the British tourist.

'It told travellers where to go, what to see and how to navigate

'the thousands of miles of tracks criss-crossing the Continent.

'Now, a century later,

'I'm using my copy to reveal an era of great optimism and energy,

'where technology, industry, science and the arts were flourishing.'

I want to rediscover that lost Europe that, in 1913, couldn't know

that its way of life would shortly be swept aside by the advent of war.

I'm in the Czech Republic,

but my 1913 Bradshaw's guide lists my first stop, Prague, under Austria

and then tells me that it's the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia.

This trip will take me through two former kingdoms,

Bohemia and Bavaria.

But even by 1913, each had been absorbed into a Reich -

the German word for Empire.

'On this journey,

'I marvel at Prague's stunning Art Nouveau architecture,...'

Well, this is really glorious, on such a scale.

'..attempt a Latin dance with a Bohemian twist...'

Don't look at her.

LAUGHTER

She's MY wife!

LAUGHTER

NOW you tell me!

'..take a peat bath fit for a British king,...'

It looks filthy!

-I get in there?

-Mm-hm.

-Mm-hm!

'..hear of Britain's influence on German railway history...

Where did the original locomotive come from?

Stephenson Locomotive Works, Newcastle upon Tyne.

So, it was Mr George Stephenson?

It was George Stephenson, yes.

'..and take on the toughest opponent of my career.'

If you're having trouble with a dragon, call a dragon slayer.

This leg of my 1913 European adventure

begins in Bohemian Prague,

stops for a noble spa break at Marianske Lazne,

takes on imperial armaments in Pilsen before crossing

the German border into fire-breathing Bavaria to visit

the birthplace of the German railway, Nuremberg,...

..alighting finally in the region's scientifically superior capital,

Munich.

Bradshaw's tells me that "in Prague, German is generally understood,

"but the current language is Bohemian."

Bohemian - there's a word to conjure with!

The Oxford English Dictionary reminds me that it

came to mean "one who leads a vagabond or irregular life,

"not being particular about the company he keeps

"and despising conventionalities generally." Bohemia

sounds like the perfect place for a man in a luminous pink jacket.

'The year after my 1913 guidebook was written,

'the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne,

'Archduke Franz Ferdinand, set the world on the path to war.

'But on the Empire's western tip in Bohemia,

'the decades leading up to that conflict were filled with

'the affluent, carefree spirit

'which spilled out of Le Gay Paris's Belle Epoque,

'and Prague, capital of the Czech lands,

'became renowned for its culture, art and architecture.'

The British traveller, arriving here in 1913, would have been

treated to this glorious new roof, completed just in 1906.

The station was named Franz Joseph after the Austrian Emperor.

The traveller, in 1913, could have had little idea that both

the emperor and, indeed, the empire were about to become history.

Situated either side of the Vltava River, Prague's famous

10th century Old Town has long been a draw to European travellers.

In 1913, the city of 100 spires was a cultural melting pot,

home to three main ethnic groups - Czechs, Germans and Jews.

Bradshaw's tells me that from the Franz Joseph Station,

the broad Wenzelsplatz, or Wenceslas Square, leads north west.

This beautiful elongated square, more of a boulevard, really,

is where my tour of Prague begins.

'The city is festooned with the natural lines,

'whiplash curves and vibrant details of Art Nouveau,

'the artistic movement that used nature as its inspiration.

'Heavily influenced by Britain's Arts and Crafts school,

'Art Nouveau swept through late 19th and early 20th century Europe.

'Its best-known Czech exponent was Alphonse Mucha,

'whose exceptional work adorns the Municipal House opened in 1912,

'where I'm meeting my guide, Iva Karlickova.'

What are the elements of Art Nouveau?

It was about shapes and forms and the natural motifs, especially colours.

Like here, around the walls, for example, you see this is

typical Art Nouveau - these little motifs with the stucco.

But it was not only about architecture.

It was about jewellery,

pieces of furniture, cutlery, fabrics.

What started Art Nouveau in Prague?

Well, the beginning, actually,

was the year 1891 when they organised

a jubilee exposition for the Kingdom of Bohemia.

Thank you very much.

-Tell me about this beautiful building that we're in here.

-Yes.

So the Municipal House in Prague was finished 1912

and it was built for the Czech people because at that period,

we were living in Prague in three ethnical groups - Czechs,

Germans and Jews.

And another very important thing, our national independence,

the new Czechoslovak Republic

was proclaimed from this building on 28th October, 1918.

'The Municipal House boasts an enormous

'and pleasingly flamboyant Art Nouveau concert hall named

'after Czech composer and nationalist Bedrich Smetana,

'who died in 1884.'

Well, this is really glorious, on such a scale.

-Such attention to detail. So elaborate.

-It is fantastic, yes.

And the Mayor's Hall, decorated by Alphonse Mucha,

is just as eye-catching.

'Mucha had lived in Paris, creating posters for actress

'Sarah Bernhardt and designing Georges Fouquet's celebrated

'Art Nouveau jewellery shop before returning to Prague,

'where his artistry lives on...'

-Hello.

-Hello.

'..in the work of his granddaughter, Jarmila.'

Now, your grandfather was a painter, a designer, a jewellery maker,

-all sorts of things. How many of those things do you do?

-Me?

I have many, many products - jewellery, glass,

metal pieces, scarf of silk.

Very, very beautiful.

-And are you, by any chance, a member of the family?

-I am.

It's my daughter, Kathryn.

Do you think Art Nouveau is of interest again?

-Is it back in fashion?

-Now, there is an explosion of interest.

You can find Mucha beer mats and key rings and all sorts of things.

How do you think he'd feel about that?

I think he would approve of his art reaching as many people as possible

and...because that's what he wanted all his life,

to make his work accessible to everyone.

I'm using a guidebook 100 years old,

so somebody using this guidebook a century ago could have come

and seen the work of Alphonse Mucha

and now, 100 years later, we can see the work of Jarmila Mucha.

In 1900, Prague's population consisted of

just over 400,000 Czechs,

10,000 Germans and 25,000 Jews.

Their 13th century ancestors

had been forced to live in a ghetto near the Old Town.

Here, some of the oldest relics of European Jewry

can still be seen today.

Bradshaw's has brought me to the Josefstadt, the Jews' quarter,

"where much that was squalid has been demolished for improvements".

And this building here is rightly referred to in Bradshaw's

as "the sombre-looking Alt Neu Shul, an old synagogue dating from 1338."

Clearly the Jewish population of Prague was long-established,

as well as being numerous and very important in the city's history.

Jews first settled in Prague in the 10th century and despite

repeated persecutions, a community survives today with a rich heritage.

Two names, separated by centuries, stand out.

The first, a late 16th century rabbi named Judah Loew,

who was a renowned religious scholar,

feted by Bohemian royalty for his knowledge of astronomy

and Jewish mysticism.

The second, born in 1883, was an author.

By the time of my Bradshaw's guide,

Prague's Jewish quarter produced one of the most influential

writers in Europe - Franz Kafka,

who gave his name to the word Kafkaesque,

a nightmarish situation in which a man struggles helplessly,

for example, against the idiocies of bureaucracy

and is commemorated here by a statue that look likes a bad dream.

For centuries, the influences on Prague,

capital of the Czech lands,

yet ruled by the Austro-Hungarian Empire,

were Bohemian, Jewish and Germanic.

But by 1913, the city's architecture and artists

were also following trends from the French capital, Paris,

and nowhere more than at the Cafe Montmartre.

As the day draws to a close,

I'm going to wet my whistle at a place which,

since its opening in 1912, became the haunt of artists

and writers of the Bohemian crowd,

but sometimes above the sound

of the scratching of the authors' nib on paper,

could be heard a more insistent Latin beat.

'Cafe Montmartre had gained a Bohemian reputation.

'To understand why, I'm meeting British expat Richard Drury

'and locals Marek and Radka.'

If I'd come here in 1913, searching for celebrities,

who might I have come across?

You would have met possibly on your travels

a small, unassuming-looking man,

compact, thoughtful, dark-eyed

and he was called Franz Kafka.

-Kafka came here.

-He did.

This place was a meeting point for all members

of this incredible polemical Prague society.

They would come to this cafe and enjoy their differences.

-By the way, what is this you've so kindly bought me?

-Becherovka.

Czech liqueur.

Well, cheers. Will I write and paint better after one of these?

I can't guarantee that but you'll be all the merrier for it.

-Mmm.

-Cheers.

-Oh, that is lovely.

So I come to this place in 1913, I order myself a Becherovka,

I'm sitting next to Franz Kafka, I look around, what else do I see?

By October 1913, word had got round in Prague

that a very, very sinful activity was going on here

and other cafes and restaurants banned it.

They said, "We are not going to do that."

TANGO MUSIC PLAYS

The very sinful activity was, of course, the tango -

a raunchy, Argentine dance which took Paris by storm in 1912

and Prague the year after.

The tango originated in booming 19th century Buenos Aires,

but theories vary as to how and why.

Some say the city's busy prostitutes danced it

with their clients, others that men awaiting boudoir bookings,

made use of the live music entertainment

and danced it with each other.

Rather than banning it, Cafe Montmartre embraced the first

improvised dance for couples that Europe had ever known.

Er, I don't know how to tango and, in fact, I can't dance,

so can you show me a few basic steps, please?

Basic step is just you walk and then what you do

-is to move your body forward and then you walk.

-Mmm.

-OK?

-Mmm, right.

-Yes, you can do less, not that much.

-OK.

-It's perfect.

-Right, OK.

-Rule number one, never step on her feet, never.

-Right.

-Are you the woman for these purposes?

-You want me as a woman?

-We have Radka here, take Radka.

-OK, Radka, please.

Better.

Don't look at her.

-She's my wife.

-Now you tell me!

Don't be afraid, go through, move through. Relax, relax, yeah.

-Don't think you're dancing, just walk. You can do it, no?

-Wow!

That's fantastic,

but would you mind showing me how it's done properly,

the two of you, please?

TANGO MUSIC PLAYS

MUSIC STOPS

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

I'm leaving Prague and heading west through Bohemia.

As in Britain,

the first Czech railways, built in the 19th century,

were owned by private companies, but by the time of my 1913 guidebook,

most lines in the Austro-Hungarian Empire

were owned by state companies.

My next stop is Marianske Lazne, better known to us perhaps

by its German name, Marienbad.

Bradshaw's tells me it's a pleasant watering place.

"The waters are successfully used in cases of heart disease, gout,

"arteriosclerosis, disordered stomach, liver and digestive organs

"and are often recommended as part of special treatment for ladies."

Marienbad became the king of spas and indeed the spa of kings.

At the end of the 18th century, a doctor from the local monastery

had researched the curative properties of Marianske Lazne H2O

and founded the spa.

By 1823, the valley had been transformed into a beautiful

park city.

In the 1870s, the railways arrived, bringing swathes of new

middle-class visitors to join the many luminaries already

seeking cures and recreation at the magnificently appointed resort.

Oh! Smells completely of sulphur, rotten eggs.

I literally do this.

It may have smelt bad but it tastes simply disgusting!

I'm sure that does amazing things from inside.

I think I'll pour the rest away.

To continue my health treatment, I'm visiting Nove Lazne,

one of the most luxurious spa hotels available to travellers

in the era of my guidebook.

I'm intrigued that during the sabre-rattling

years of the early 20th century,

the city was frequented by European royalty,

including Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Josef I,

Tsar Nicholas II of Russia

and British King Edward VII.

'Perhaps international diplomacy was conducted here

'by monarchs in bathrobes.'

Thank you very much.

'Historian Dr Peter Sobel knows more.'

Peter, my goodness. This is the most beautiful thing.

It's called the Roman Bath and it comes from the heyday of the town.

-When was the heyday? For example, in 1913, was that the heyday?

-Yeah,

it was just finishing, I would say.

We used to have lots of Russian nobility, German nobility,

-Austrian nobility.

-And what is this extraordinary thing here?

It's the CO2 bath.

-Please, be careful when you move in it, not to stir the gas.

-OK.

'Not a gas to be trifled with, carbon dioxide can cause headaches,

'dizziness, confusion and loss of consciousness

'if it's inhaled in high concentration.

'But this bath is said to improve lower limb circulation.

'I wonder how the spa clients knew in 1913 which treatment was

'right for them.'

We'll sit down nice and gently.

So what was the procedure? How did you get prescribed?

-Did you begin by going to see a doctor?

-You would first go to the doctor

and he would prescribe what should you do for the next three weeks.

Also, at that time,

it was very popular to treat yourself for obesity

and Edward VII came nine times in 12 years to get rid of his obesity.

The spa was used for treatment but also for political discussions.

For instance, he discussed the Russian-Japanese War of 1905 with

the American ambassador,

so this is just an example of what was happening here at that time.

The British king often stopped off on his way Marianske Lazne,

then known as Marienbad,

to visit his nephew, German Kaiser Wilhelm II.

He would stay at the resort for three weeks at a time.

The Uncle of Europe, as he was known,

underwent X-ray treatment for a facial ulcer, which was unsuccessful,

and also grappled with the problem which weighed most heavily upon him.

By sitting in this chair, the weight-conscious

British King Edward VII learnt the worst expressed in pounds or kilos.

And here, he took his bath.

But I'm afraid that his royal grandeur

and body politic might have caused the waters to overflow.

Marianske Lazne has been a gas so far,

but I'm told what is to come is muddy marvellous.

Hello.

-Er, what is this?

-You will take bath.

-You're going to put that in there?

-Mm-hm.

I might as well wallow in a Scottish bog. It looks filthy!

-Mm-hm.

-Mm-hm.

-More.

-Mm-hm.

-I get in there?

-Mm-hm.

-Mm-hm.

# Mud, mud Glorious mud

# Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood. #

I'm not usually one to wallow,

but it's time for another encounter with the brown stuff.

Nice and warm actually.

I feel as though I am being creosoted like an old garden fence.

-MACHINE WHIRS

-Ooh, that sinking feeling.

HE LAUGHS

If heads of state were conducting political business in Bohemian spas,

on this new day, I want to discover what drove the economy here in 1913.

And to find out, I'm heading 50 miles south east.

My next stop is Pilsen, which Bradshaw's tells me,

"is on the River Radbusa, near the Bohemian frontier."

It's a town I have always associated with Pilsner beer,

but I believe it is also connected to industries much less frothy.

Founded in 1295 on the crossroads of important north-south

and east-west trade routes, Pilsen grew quickly.

After being damaged by a fire in the 16th century,

the city's heart was rebuilt by Italian architects.

But modern Pilsen was shaped by the Industrial Revolution

and a tempestuous 20th century.

It's interesting coming to Pilsen

because in Prague you feel now as if you are in Western Europe

and in Marienbad it is kind of the smell of fresh paint everywhere,

but Pilsen is a little bit earthier, a little bit shabbier, a little bit

reminiscent of that Eastern Europe before the fall of the Iron Curtain.

I am in Pilsen to visit one of the best-known Czech companies.

In 1866, an ambitious 27-year-old named Emil Skoda

became the chief engineer of the Valdstejn ironworks.

Three years later, Skoda bought the company and set about building

one of Europe's greatest industrial complexes.

In 1886, Emil ensured that the Skoda works had access to

trains by building his own railway connection to the mainline.

In Britain, we know Skoda as a car-maker.

I want to know what the company did as the continent

teetered on the brink of the First World War.

Milan Tramik recently co-wrote the company's history.

At the beginning of the 20th century,

how important was this business?

It was one of the most important industrial companies

inside the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

What were his original products?

Original products has been cast iron items, machinery, components.

I think I came on the railway along there into Pilsen.

How important was the railway to establishing the business here?

It was one of the most important factors.

In the 19th century, you had no highways so the only

possible way to get coal here

and other items like iron ore has been railways.

Skoda also delivered goods by train

and by the turn of the 20th century, that included freighting

high volumes of armaments to the Austro-Hungarian military.

After the defeat of the Empire in the Great War, the company

needed a peace time product and turned to building locomotives.

In 1925, the company acquired a car manufacturer, which produces

the cars that we know.

After the Second World War, the firm was divided

and this company now produces state-of-the-art vehicles

which run not on roads but on tracks.

Beautiful, new locomotive. The most modern electronics.

200 kilometres is the maximum speed.

How fast can I go on this test track?

Right here, we will go, at best, 40 kilometres per hour.

So, how do I start?

You have to release the brakes. Now please activate the whistle.

WHISTLE

Whoa! Locomotive goes off so quickly.

It really has fantastic acceleration, doesn't it?

TRAIN WHISTLE

This track seems awfully short

and I appear to be approaching a tram at rather high speed.

Please brake.

OK.

I'm glad you're here, Milan.

'On the second part of my journey through Central Europe,

'I work my passage on Germany's first steam locamotive...'

OK. Do you want to fill the fire box now?

It would be my privilege.

It really is extraordinarily hot in there. Glowing coals.

'..learn how to eat white sausage, Bavarian style...

-Tutle.

-Sussle.

-Tutle.

Mmm.

'..fly by the seat of my pants at Munich's Technical University...

Little bit up, please.

It's going to be a hard landing.

I don't think I'd like to be a passenger.

'..and pit myself against an enormous, fire-breathing monster.'

En garde, dragon!