The Hunger Wall ( cs, Hladová zeď) is a medieval defensive wall of the

Lesser Town Lesser, from Eliezer (, "Help/Court of my God"), is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adolf Lesser (1851–1926), German physician * Aleksander Lesser (1814–1884), Polish painter and art critic * Anton Lesser (born 1952), Bri ...

of Prague, today's Czech Republic. It was built on

Petřín Hill Petřín () is a hill in the centre of Prague, Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the w ...

between 1360 and 1362 by order of Charles IV.

Marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, clays, and silt. When hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. Marl makes up the lower part o ...

from quarries on Petřín Hill was used as construction material. The purpose of the construction was to strengthen the fortifications of Prague Castle and

Malá Strana Malá Strana (Czech for "Little Side (of the River)", ) or more formally Menší Město pražské () is a district of the city of Prague, Czech Republic, and one of its most historic neighbourhoods. In the Middle Ages, it was a dominant center o ...

against any attack from the west or south. Originally the wall was 4 to 4.5 metres high and 1.8 metres wide and was equipped with battlements and (probably) eight

bastion A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...

s. The wall was repaired in 1624, further strengthened in the middle of 18th century and repaired or modified several times later (in modern era in 1923-25 and 1975). One of preserved bastions serves as a base for the dome of Štefánik Observatory. A well preserved part of the wall may also be found in the interior yard of the 19th-century house in Plaská Street No.8.

The name and associated myths

The wall was originally called ''Zubatá'' (toothed) or ''Chlebová'' (built for bread). The adjective ''Hladová'' (hungry) appeared after a 1361

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...

, when the construction works on the wall provided livelihood for the city's poor. According to

myth Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...

, the purpose of the wall was not strategic but to employ and thus feed the poor. Another myth, recorded in writings of

Václav Hájek z Libočan Wenceslaus Hájek of Libočany ( cz, Václav Hájek z Libočan; german: Wenzeslaus Hagek von Libotschan; la, Wenceslaus Hagecius, Wenceslaus Hagek a Liboczan; died 18 March 1553) was a Bohemian chronicler, author of famous '' Czech Chronicle'' (15 ...

Bohuslav Balbín Bohuslav Balbín (3 December 1621 Hradec Králové (German: Königgrätz) – 29 November 1688 Prague) was a Czech writer, historian, geographer and Jesuit, called the "Czech Pliny". He became well known also as an advocate of the Czech language i ...

, is that the Emperor Charles IV himself worked on the wall several hours every day "to help his beloved people".

Sources

* Julius Košnář: ''Staropražské pověsti a legendy'' (= Myths and legends from old Prague). Vincentinum, Praha 1933, Chapter: O Hladové zdi, p. 268 (Czech
available online
.
Hladová zeď
on turistika.cz (in Czech)
Hladová zeď
on praguecityline.cz (in Czech) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hladova zed Buildings and structures completed in 1362 Buildings and structures in Prague Walls Petřín