For example, do you remember what it looked like in Karlín some time ago? In the place where modern administrative and residential houses are now located? Or how the police checked for speeding in the 1980’s? Which scandal was the talk of Prague pubs ten or twenty-five years ago? Has the Old Town Clock changed in some way? In Prague, do we drink water from the Vltava or not? Do the younger generation know what ‘Pacul’, ‘Fučpark’ or ‘Grey plague’ used to mean? Are today’s newlyweds aware of the fact that the house they are moving to stands on a place where sixty years ago there were only open fields?
We want to devote this section to issues that cannot always be found via internet pages. That’s why two facets of Prague’s Metamorphoses project are devoted to the safety of our city. They deal with cases that were investigated by Prague police and also an explanation as to how and why the municipal police originated. Nowadays the police are part of everyday life and it is hard to imagine the city without them. Also crime and its various forms have changed as has the attitude of police officers towards citizens. After all it is not such a distant memory when the police represented only repression whereas crime prevention was simply shrugged off.
Other Prague organizations that ensured the functioning of the city were also changing. Do you remember how the dustmen and disposal of rubbish worked? Or what the gas and water supply was like? These organizations changed from being inflexible monoliths, which made the lives of Prague citizens more difficult, into companies which try to offer comfort and to save your time and energy. On the other hand there are things in Prague that have not changed but are still interesting to Praguers, for example the time keeper, the Old Town Clock, which has been looked after by the same people for decades.
Even the cultural institutions have undergone development. The City of Prague Gallery has become a serious rival to the National Gallery. The City of Prague Museum ranks among the best regional museums as its exhibitions attract thousands of visitors every month. What about Prague Congress Centre, which turned from being an embarrassingly passé Palace of Culture into an institution that is a leading light on the congress scene. What about Prague ZOO? Who can remember the old unsatisfactory cages imprisoning the animals?
Prague’s metamorphoses is not intended to be, and cannot be the history of individual Prague institutions. It aims to be a showcase of particular examples of the way the citym has changed year by year. It offers a retrospective look at a quarter of a century, which is not a bad idea. It is a period in which a new generation can grow up. However, Prague’s Metamorphoses and the view of changes over the last 25 years are not only intended for the younger generation. .