About the Hunger Wall

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One year, during the reign of Charles IV, a great drought struck the land, causing crop failure and a shortage of food. Especially in the cities, the prices of flour and bread rose so high that the poor could not afford them. As a result, many began to steal and rob so their families would not starve to death. Soon the prisons in Prague were full.

When Emperor Charles IV heard about this, he summoned the poor to Prague Castle, where he had pots of soup and loaves of bread prepared for them to eat their fill. Then he stood before them and said: “My officials will take you to a place where you will get a job. I will not pay you with money, but you will receive clothes and food for yourselves and your families.”

The Hunger Wall | Source: cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hladová_zeď

Royal officials led the people to Petřín Hill and showed them where to begin building new city fortifications, which were to stretch from Strahov along the slopes of Petřín Hill down to the Vltava River. The long and strong wall, which still stands today, took more than two years to build and provided livelihoods for dozens of poor families. They started calling it the Hunger Wall even then, because of its jagged battlements reminiscent of the teeth of the poor, who, thanks to the wise emperor, had something to bite into.

 

Based on the book 77 pražských legend by Alena Ježková (77 Prague Legends).

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