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In Europe, very few medieval coronation crowns have survived which actually served their purpose. Czech St. Wenceslas Crown, a jewel of incalculable value and one of the symbols of Czech statehood, stands out among them. And not only the size of the gems, but also the overall quality of the art work. The crown is a symbol of our state and our currency. You can admire one of the few replicas of the St. Wenceslas Crown at the headquarters of the Prague Mint.

St. Wenceslas Crown



Current location of the Saint Wenceslas Crown replica: Municipal House, Prague


PRAGUE
Entrance from Celetná Street, next to Blanka Matragi

Prague Mint
Municipal House Building
U Prašné brány č. 2
110 00 Praha 1

tel.: (+420) 222-322-122
e-mail:prasna-brana@prazska-mincovna.cz

Mo-Fr: 10.00 - 17.00
Sa: 10.00 - 17.00

 

ST. WENCESLAS CROWN IN PRAGUE



St. Wenceslas Crown in the gallery of the Prague MintThe Prague Mint sales gallery is located in the Municipal House.

It was opened on Monday, May 6, 2013. Visitors can see the gold and silver production of the Prague Mint, which was created for seven years from the start of the minting.

In addition, visitors who come to explore the art of minting are rewarded by viewing the exact replica of the Saint Wenceslas Crown, a symbol of our statehood, but also a symbol of our currency and coinage.

The entrance to the crown is located next to the Powder Tower.

St. Wenceslas Crown was made by Charles IV. for his upcoming coronation to the Czech King. Archbishop Arnošt of Pardubice settled the crown on the head of this exceptional monarch on September 2, 1347 in St. Vitus Cathedral and thus confirmed him as the head of the kingdom.

"1347 A.D. …Mr. Charles, King of the Romans, returned from Tyrol to Prague and was greeted with great joy by the princes, nobles, prelates and also clergy and the people, and the next Sunday before the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary (September 2) was along with his wife, Mrs. Blanka, the Honorable Mr. Arnošt, the first Prague Archbishop, crowned happily and solemnly, he on the king and she on the Queen in the Kingdom of Bohemia. And there was a house for a feast in the city of Prague, in the marketplace of St. Havel, hanged with tapestries and silk cloths, and everyone was beautifully served. On that day, the Lords of the Kingdom of Bohemia came, according to their own condition, and carried out their offices to the new king on the covered steeds, and served the table as usual. And after the grief they had for the death of King John, great joy came among the people from this coronation.

The King then donated the crown, the one he was crowned, to St. Wenceslas, to be put on his head on the appointed days at the Prague Church and established that all Czech kings, his successors, should be crowned with this crown and be used only on the day of a coronation and on the same day, to put it in the Prague sacristy for the night, under the punishment of being excommunicated from the Church, that the Pope would bring to it.."

 Beneš Krabice from Weitmile to the year 1347

Svatováclavská korunaThe St. Wenceslas crown weighs exactly 2358 grams and its torso is made of 21 to 22 carat gold. There is a theory that this is a redesigned Premyslid headband, because research has confirmed that the crown is a of much earlier date.

The chapter itself is the decoration and shape of this valuable relic. At its top is placed a cross in which the thorn of the crown of Jesus Christ was allegedly located. Charles IV. himself was known as a connoisseur of mystic traditions and therefore, the selection of stones attributed to specific qualities was not accidental. We can assume that the king was personally involved in it.

The crown is decorated with sapphires, red spinels, pearls, rubies, and emeralds, placed in such a sophisticated way that they resemble Buddhist mandalas. The central stone on the front of the crown was considered a ruby for centuries, but research with the help of modern technology brought a surprising finding in 1998 that, in fact, it was a rubelite. It remains a mystery how this stone came to Prague in the 14th century. Experts do not exclude that it comes from the area of today's Afghanistan. Other stones seemed to travel to Europe from the Orient as well. The gems are modified only minimally and essentially retain their original shape.

St. Wenceslas Crown“Every gem on the St Wenceslas Crown has its symbolism. For example, spinels have brought protection to the monarch, the ruby is a distinctive masculine energy, and the struggle against evil, the emerald is the messenger of wisdom and unconditional love, ” explains the experts who deal with the meanings of stones. Many people believe that the crown radiates harmonic healing energy: thanks to the composition and thoughtful placement of precious stones.


THE MANUFACTURE OF THE CROWN REPLICA
Using original medieval tools, techniques and procedures.

„Gilded silver was used as the basic material of St. Wenceslas crown replica. Stones that are unmistakable in their uniqueness were replaced with faithful glass composition. At first glance, the ST. Wenceslas Crown is simpler than the Roman imperial crown, which I also worked on it, but appearances are deceptive. There is a large share of manual work on the crown, the placing of the amount of stones itself takes a lot of time. But the reward for me will be mainly a spiritual experience. The work on this copy (replica) was accommodated a little bit different in order to an existing copy. It has some detachable holders from the lilies. This allows easier correction in case of damage. The holders are riveted firmly, it is mostly polished with smoothers and then gilded. This embodiment is identical with the embodiment of the original crown. Our aim was mediation of authenticity of small craft imprints and defects arising from the various versions of the crown until the present form. Coronation Jewels should act with natural persuasiveness.“


Jiří Urban, Author of St. Wenceslas Crown replica

The jeweller Jiří Urban from Trutnov, while working on replica of St. Wenceslas crown.

The jeweller Jiří Urban from Trutnov, while working on replica of St. Wenceslas crown.

Proportional bending details and manufacture of hollow cross shell with holder for sapphire engraving of the crucified Jesus.

Proportional bending details and manufacture of hollow cross shell with holder for sapphire engraving of the crucified Jesus.

Bottom pot holders decorated with fine indentations and placing.

Bottom pot holders decorated with fine indentations and placing.

Even today, the crown is formed by traditional methods of medieval jewellers. Only using basic simple tools.

Even today, the crown is formed by traditional methods of medieval jewellers. Only using basic simple tools.

Completion of the cross with embedded engraving.

Completion of the cross with embedded engraving.


Completion of the top holders and embedding of stones.

Completion of the top holders and embedding of stones.


Compared to the original a replica of the crown is made of silver, and precious stones are replaced in detail by faithful glass composition.

Compared to the original a replica of the crown is made of silver, and precious stones are replaced in detail by faithful glass composition.
Fixation of pearl pots with studs on the tops of lilies.

Fixation of pearl pots with studs on the tops of lilies.


Loops decorated with emeralds for attaching pearls. Cornet wrought holders for arrangement of stones on lily.

Loops decorated with emeralds for attaching pearls. Cornet wrought holders for arrangement of stones on lily.

Work on making replica lasted for six months.

Work on making replica lasted for six months.



Decorative articles studded with precious stones and pearls.

Decorative articles studded with precious stones and pearls.

The back part of the crown with a group of spinels.

The back part of the crown with a group of spinels.



„We devoted a lot of effort trying to create the most perfect starting material for all the stones of the crown. For example, if a future red spinel should have "strawberry coloring at the lower third with a hint of purple," we were able to imitate it here. To imitate similarly the stone which is “heavily cracked with turbidity caused by numerous inclusions" needed a number of experiments, but eventually it is possible with glass. We used a variety of foreign particles which were sealed up into glass until we got the desired result. Additionally, winding of enamel on wire also allowed to imitate the faithful imperfect medieval drilling, which is used for large sapphires in the crown. A wide range of colors for glass production allowed to seal up the most faithful shades into the stones, and to imitate irregular, zonal coloration typical for natural sapphires. With my son Ondřej, we were cutting, engraving and differently shaping the glass material, into the final precise shapes and sizes, to fit the originals. We managed to imitate faithfully secondary defects caused by imperfect technologies while working, or various damages resulted perhaps later in the course of history. Some of the stones are scratched, partly battered or cracked. On the crown, it is therefore 30 green emeralds, 18 blue stones, mostly sapphires (1 aquamarin) and 46 red stones mostly spinels, but also rubies. The largest is rubellite, rare red variety of tourmaline + one stone is colorless and an engraved sapphire cross. Additionally, there are 16 smaller and 4 large pearls on the crown. For each of the 96 stones we had accurate drawing or model with dimensions, and obtainable photographic documentation of the original. ““


Academic painter Václav Zajíc, Head of grinding and engraving of precious stones SUPŠ Trutnov

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