Klementinum v Praze

Identity of the complex and spatial distinctions

Klementinum is a historic complex in Praha 1 — Staré Město, among Czechia’s most important Baroque architectural ensembles. It is used by the Národní knihovna České republiky; the library’s main public address is Mariánské náměstí 190/5, 110 00 Praha 1. R0084 denotes the building complex, rather than the National Library itself as a legal institution or every individual library collection. [KL01; KL02]

The Slovanská knihovna (Slavonic Library), a research department working within the Klementinum, is important to the project. It cares for materials on the history of Slavic literature, particularly books and periodicals of Russian and Ukrainian emigration. This is a direct archival and research connection between Ukrainian heritage and an actual Prague institution, without needing to attribute the printing of all Ukrainian books in Prague to the Klementinum. [KL03; KL04]

Early stages: Saint Clement and the medieval school

According to the National Library’s official history, a chapel of Saint Clement existed here as early as the eleventh century, and a Dominican monastery was founded in 1232. Monastic teaching developed in the fourteenth century within medieval Prague and its university environment. The present Baroque complex is not an eleventh-century building, so dating the site’s origins must be distinguished from dating the present buildings. [KL01]

For the digital atlas, this exemplifies historical layering: an early religious site, a college, a university library, a state book-storage complex and a contemporary space for scholarly work. These stages must not all be turned into one static name without dates and functions. [KL01]

The Jesuit college and construction in 1556–1726

In 1556, the Jesuits arrived in Prague and developed a college on the site of the older monastic complex. The National Library dates the main period of Baroque construction to 1578–1726; the architectural history mentions Carlo and Francesco Lurago, Giovanni Domenico Orsi, František Maxmilián Kaňka and other masters. [KL01; KL02]

These facts describe the buildings’ history, rather than the beginning of the present Slavonic Library. It is important to avoid the anachronism “the Slavonic Library operated from 1556”: the specialist department emerged only in the twentieth century. Different cultural functions occupied one complex successively, rather than being founded simultaneously. [KL01; KL03]

University libraries, 1622–1777

After 1622, Charles University’s holdings were placed in the Jesuits’ care at the Klementinum, and in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries library collections and educational centres developed alongside the university tradition. In 1727, the holdings were moved into the new Baroque library hall, which became one of the complex’s best-known interiors. [KL01; KL06]

The decisive institutional moment was 6 February 1777, when Maria Theresa’s decree united several library holdings into a public university library headquartered at the Klementinum. It could serve its first visitors from 30 October 1777. This is the history of the library system itself, rather than the archive of twentieth-century Ukrainian emigration. [KL06]

Scientific practices: astronomy and meteorology

Mathematical and astronomical studies took place at the Klementinum; a mathematical museum was founded in 1722, and the observatory began operating in 1748. The library’s official chronology links 1775 to the start of systematic meteorological observations. The complex thus had a natural-science function alongside its library role. [KL01]

However, the history of meteorological measurements at the Klementinum does not prove that Ivan Puluj worked in these very rooms. Puluj (R0001) belonged to a different technical university environment in Prague, and his memorial plaque (R0075) is a different location. General terms such as “Prague science” do not justify merging institutions without a document. [KL01]

Twentieth century: modernisation of the library

In 1918, the Czechoslovak Republic inherited the state library. In 1924, the state began a major adaptation of the Klementinum for the national, university and technical libraries; the adaptation project is associated with architect Ladislav Machoň, and work continued in several stages into the 1950s. [KL01]

This period overlaps with Ukrainian scholarly institutions’ and publishers’ activities in Czechoslovakia, but chronological coincidence does not mean they all rented premises in the Klementinum. Evidence that a particular archive or book collection was physically present requires a specific holdings record. [KL01; KL04]

Foundation of the Slavonic Library in 1924

The Slovanská knihovna was founded in 1924 as a specialised research library for Slavic studies. It systematically collects and describes books and periodicals on the history, philology, political thought and literatures of different Slavic peoples. Its name is not synonymous with the historic Jesuit library and does not mean its collection consists solely of Ukrainian materials. [KL03]

In the Ukrainian-Czech story, the very creation of a specialised Slavic-studies institution in interwar Prague during the development of émigré intellectual life is central. The correct database linkage is Slavonic Library founded 1924, located_in Klementinum from 1929, rather than founded_in Klementinum 1556. [KL01; KL03]

The Slavonic Library’s move to the Klementinum in 1929

The official history of NK ČR states that the Slavonic Library was founded in 1924 and moved to the Klementinum in 1929. This supplies a dated located_in relationship between the specialist department and the historic complex. The institution’s current page lists its reading room on the third floor, entrance A, at Mariánské náměstí 190/5. [KL01; KL03]

A public route can include the complex and reading room under current access rules, but this does not mean unrestricted access to all historic book repositories. The reading room, museum and tour premises, and staff collections with restricted access should be distinguished. [KL03; KL07]

Ukrainian émigré books and documents

The National Library separately describes books of Russian and Ukrainian emigration after 1917 as a particularly important part of the Slavonic Library’s holdings. They contain fiction, political journalism, scholarly and memoir works, particularly the output of interwar publishing organisations. [KL04]

This is one of the most valuable research resources for the whole Česko × Ukrajina project: copies of Prague School works, Ukrainian Free University publications and émigré periodicals can be sought. However, a general description of the holdings does not attest the existence of a specific copy of a particular book. A claim such as holds_copy_of(R0094) or holds_copy_of(R0086) requires a catalogue record with a shelfmark. [KL04]

Manuscripts, periodicals and thematic diversity of collections

A separate NK ČR page describes the Slavonic Library’s manuscript materials, including fragments of Lesia Ukrainka’s correspondence and documents of Ukrainian émigré organisations. This is evidence that some cultural heritage is preserved in a specific institution, but the phrase “Lesia Ukrainka’s manuscripts” alone does not mean her complete archive or a right to publish reproductions. [KL05]

The diversity of political and cultural tendencies is particularly important in interwar émigré periodicals. The official library description stresses different kinds and forms of journals in dozens of countries. The website must describe periodicals by specific titles, years and issue numbers, rather than merging them into one “Ukrainian journal in Prague”. [KL09]