At the crossroads of the Renaissance and Baroque, Holy Roman Emperor and Bohemian King Rudolf II of the Habsburg dynasty, as an educated and cultured patron, transformed Prague into the capital of Europe, still famous today for its unique combination of art, natural sciences, magic and occultism. He was born in Vienna and raised in Madrid, but chose Prague as his seat and thereby the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, where he spent most of his adult life from 1583 until his death. Prague offered Rudolf more tranquillity than Vienna, which was constantly threatened by the Turks. It was located in the heart of his hereditary lands, while offering a refuge where he could cultivate his hobbies in art, science and collecting. Rudolf developed a very personal relationship with Prague – he admired its magical atmosphere, captivating beauty and the majesty of Prague Castle on its rocky promontory overlooking the Vltava River. The arrival of the imperial court and envoys from the powers of the time – the Spanish and French kingdoms, the Republic of Venice and the Holy See – transformed the previously quiet town of Prague into a bustling cosmopolitan city where world politics was shaped. Artists, scholars, astrologers and alchemists from all over Europe came to the imperial court. Aegidius Sadeler, after Hans von Aachen, Portrait of Emperor Rudolf II with the Order of the Golden Fleece, 1603, Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague The most important creative personalities of Rudolfinian Prague included the painters Bartholomeus Spranger, Hans von Aachen and Giuseppe Arcimboldo, the sculptor Adrian de Vries, the copper engraver Egidius Sadeler and the Miseroni family of engravers and gem cutters. Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler, the most prominent experts of their time, worked here as court astronomers and mathematicians. Inside the massive cylindrical Mihulka Tower, which still stands today in the northern wall of Prague Castle between St. Vitus Cathedral and the steep slope of the Deer Moat, Rudolf ordered the construction of perfectly equipped alchemical laboratories, where leading alchemists of the time searched for the Philosopher’s Stone, among them John Dee, Edward Kelley, Hieronymus Scottus, Michal Sendivoj and many others. Rudolf had his residence – Prague Castle – generously rebuilt and expanded to meet the needs of the imperial court. This resulted in the building of the New Royal Palace, in which Rudolf housed his famous Kunstkammer – a unique collection of works of art, rare books, gems, natural products, instruments and all sorts of curios, personally arranged by the emperor in the form of a cosmological metaphor for the diversity of the world. The Ball Court in the Royal Garden is also associated with the Rudolfinian era, serving for court entertainment and sports in the form of a Renaissance predecessor of tennis. Although Rudolf II. surrounded himself with his beloved collections in Prague, his life was not a very happy one. One of the most powerful rulers in the world at the time, he suffered not only from attacks of crippling melancholy, but also from a morbidly protruding lower jaw, which made it impossible for him to chew food, so he had to swallow it whole, merely cut into small pieces by servants. Nor did his reign end very happily. The intrigues of his ambitious younger brother Matthias gradually deprived Rudolf of power in all his lands. In 1611, he had to abdicate, leaving him with only Prague Castle and the formal title of Holy Roman Emperor. Portrait of Emperor Rudolf II, by Hans von Aachen, circa 1590 | Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria The Turkish Sultan Murad III once gave the emperor a lion named Mohammed as a diplomatic gift. Rudolf fell in love with the majestic beast, which is also featured on the coat of arms of the Bohemian Kingdom. He had a special menagerie built for it called the Lion’s Court and personally fed it meat there. The astronomer and astrologer Tycho Brahe compiled a horoscope according to which the fates of the emperor and the lion were linked by a constellation of celestial bodies. Mohammed the lion died at the beginning of 1612, and indeed the emperor succumbed just a few days later. His body, placed in a richly embellished tin sarcophagus, was buried in the crypt of St. Vitus Cathedral. A mere six years after Rudolf’s death, an uprising of the estates broke out in Prague against the new emperor and king Matthias. This led to the devastating Thirty Years’ War, at the end of which the Swedish army treacherously captured Prague Castle, plundered its treasuries, and transported the vast majority of Rudolf’s Kunstkammer on wagons as loot. Fortunately, the plundering soldiers could not take away the most valuable treasure – Rudolf’s Prague itself. The unique atmosphere of the city, the stories of its artists, scientists and alchemists and the time when Prague was the cultural centre of Europe, cannot be loaded onto any wagon, which is why Prague remains the city of Rudolf II forever.