Statues - Hither & Thither

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Praha
Hlavní mĕsto

Plavecká 11, Nové Město
(U Tří božích bojovníků)

Tři božští bojovníci

The Three Divine Warriors

Jan Hus, Jan Žižka, and Karel Havlíček Borovský

František Josef Heidelberg
date?

Description

Three busts depict the following figures: Jan Hus, Jan Žižka and Karel Havlíček Borovský. These tributes to the great figures of Czech history were linked to the struggle for the Czech Republic’s independence. The restaurant in the building opposite is also called ‘U tří bojovníků’ (At the Three Warriors), though it lost the ‘božích’ (of God) from its name during the communist era.

Praha - Tři božští bojovníci
Jan Hus
(Husinec c. 1369 - Konstanz 1415)
Czech priest, philosopher, reformer, and master at Charles University in Prague. After John Wycliffe, the theorist of ecclesiastical Reformation, he was, before Luther, Calvin and Zwingli, the first actual Church reformer (Wikipedia). Praha - Tři božští bojovníci
Jan Žižka z Trocnova a Kalicha
(Trocnov c. 1360 - Přibyslav1424)
Czech general and Hussite leader (Wikipedia).
Karel Havlíček Borovský
(Borová 1821 - Praha 1856)
Czech writer, poet, critic, politician, journalist and publisher
(Wikipedia).

The busts of Jan Hus and Jan Žižka belong to the so-called Heidelberg busts. These were popular portrait busts which the sculptor František Josef Heidelberg began creating as free-standing sculptures from around 1870. They were subsequently mass-produced and sold to patriotic associations and private individuals.

Artist

František Josef Heidelberg (Praha 1844 - Praha 1919), Czech sculptor and woodcarver (Info).

Sources & Information

Encyklopedie Prahy 2, Dům U Tří božích bojovníků čp. 399/11.
Daniel Abazid, Pamětihodnosti spojené s osobností Jeronýma Pražského na území Prahy. Husitský Tábor 27 (2022), p. 51-82 (there note 46, p. 63) (PDF online).
Mapy.com, Plavecká 11.
CapTour Pája, Sochy a fresky v Podskalí.

Location (N 50°4'9" - E 14°25'3") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

Item Code: czpr126; Photograph: 8 July 2026
Of each statue we made photos from various angles and also detail photos of the various texts.
If you want to use photos, please contact us via the contact form (in Dutch, English or German).
© Website and photos: René & Peter van der Krogt

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