The “Devil” has died. Or at least the one who lived on Prague’s Charles Bridge has gone to a better place. Or, a worse place. The Devil’s death adds another chapter to the dense history of Prague the bridge has been witness to. Before going into who the devil was, it is best to understand the bridge he made his home for years.

Twenty-eight statues, dating from 1628 and built by some of history’s most talented sculptors, overlook those crossing the Charles Bridge from their perches. At the end of the bridge rises the Mala Strana Bridge Tower, leading to a district of the same name. Since the bridge was ordered built by Charles IV in 1357, the bridge has connected Prague across the Vltata River. During it’s 600 years, it has seen good and bad, angels and demons. Of the 17 bridges connecting the river, it is the oldest, standing still because of the genius of its design.

The bridge has collected the dust of invaders and friends for centuries. It was once crossed by Catholic Hapsburgs from 1618 to 1648 as they battled and finally defeated disagreeing Protestants. The victors then crossed The Charles carrying booty as they plundered the collections of the recently diseased king, Rudolph II.

The bridge has also felt the steps of moved masses coming from Mozart’s premier of “Don Giovanni.” Perhaps the happy tempo of these steps felt similar to those that walked the bridge in 1918 when Czech people crossed it — citizens of a sovereign country for the first time in their long history.

In only two decades the light steps of freedom were replaced by the heavy steps of German troops, occupying the city for seven years until 1945. Freedom from Germany lasted only until 1948 when Soviet tanks left deep tread marks on the bridge and country. But as the light of hope dimmed across the country, the footsteps of plotters crossed boldly through the darkness, paving the way for The Velvet Revolution in 1989. Without bloodshed on that day, Czechoslovakia became the Czech Republic, as it remains today.

Then came The Devil to the bridge. No one knows when exactly he first came, but everyone seems to agree it was over 10 years ago. On the edge of the bridge he set up shop where he thought he belonged, next to the other artists selling their creations to eager tourists in front of the Mala Strana tower.

But The Devil, whose real name was Antonin, was clearly not of their cut. While other artists came selling pictures of Prague, Antonin painted pictures of himself depicted as the devil on the Charles Bridge. Every day he set up shop wearing red devil horns to paint and to sell. Though his pictures all carried subtle differences, his subjects never changed. Always himself, always as the devil, always set on the Charles Bridge.

The uniqueness of Antonin’s eccentricity led to his becoming quite known around Prague. His folklore has it that the “Devil Man” used to be a brilliant professor who one day left his old life behind and came to the Charles Bridge. Did he really believe he was the devil? Why the Charles Bridge? Was it all a ploy for the money or was their some higher reason for what he did? I don’t know. And I won’t know. When I set out to find him and ask him he was not there. I was informed by the other vendors that he had recently died. They all seemed to miss him.

Though gone, The Devil’s memory will not soon fade. In his own richly eccentric way, he left his mark on the bridge, the city, and on the millions of people who crossed the bridge and, upon seeing him in his devil horns, wondered, “What the hell?”

It reminds me of something a friend once posted on my Facebook wall. “Hundred of years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove, but the world may be different because I did something so baffling crazy that my ruins become a tourist attraction.”

So whether Antonin went to the bridge to escape some other life, or whether some strange force attracted him there, he certainly attracted tourists in a way few of us ever will.

Posted on April 02, 2010 by Matt Stabile