DEFENESTRATION OF PRAGUE

The first room of the Castle was the scene of the famous “defenestration of Prague” on 23 May 1618, when a number of representatives of the Protestant aristocracy threw two Catholic imperial governors and their secretary out of the windows, where they fell over 10 meters onto the manure left below by the peasants. No-one was seriously injured, and indeed the survival of the unfortunate victims was seen by the Catholics as a sign from God. Guests were thrown from the Castle three times in the fortress’s history, but this particular event marked the beginning of a war between Protestants and Catholics that lasted for 30 years.