Prague: Recent Past, Near Future
37 Days and Counting
I recently got an email from a friend about a large “book sculpture” in Prague called the “Tower of Infinity.” Our friend thought it might be something Mary and I might want to see in our upcoming return to that beautiful next Month. As I told her, however, Mary and I had already seen it in our first trip to Prague in March of 2024.
We would not have known about this biblio-artwork, but our AirBnB landlady texted the previous day recommending a visit to the library where it stands. We never had the opportunity to meet the owner of our lovely apartment face-to-face, but her recommendations from start to finish were impeccable, so we took her up on it. Especially in this case she spoke from a position of authority: she is the senior curator a lovely museum, the “City Gallery,” that takes up the entire 2nd floor of the library. She informed us that it was the opening day of a new exhibit of the “Between the Wars Czech Art,” and said that from the many messages we had exchanged across the 15 days we stayed in her apartment, she believed we would enjoy it.
We took her up on the recommendation, and were very glad we did. It was a great insight to the mindset of the educated and liberal mid-20th century Czech society, which in 1918 found independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire for 20 years before sliding right back into oppression for another 60 years, first under the Nazis until the end of World War II, and then under the Russians until the 1989 “Velvet Revolution.” It was a remarkable and moving history lesson, especially coming, as it did, on the heels of our visit the day before to The Museum of Communism, which told the story of Russian oppression of Czechoslovakia.
So we took Tram #9 from our apartment in the Žižkov district to the stop closest to the library, in the Virgin Mary Plaza (Mariánské náměstí ), strolling down the very interesting 6 or 7 short blocks past down-scale, fringy tourist shops, and a beautiful old Dominican Church with a sign just inside the entrance that said “The Monks are Not Monkeys, No Photography During Services.”
When we arrived at the library we found a dauntingly long line out the door out of the library, which itself is one of those stately old buildings for which Prague is justifiably considered one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. The line was not moving very fast, making us jump to the conclusion that it must be a hell of an art exhibit, and trade comments about whether we were willing to wait in line that long to see between-the-war art. I went in a side door to see what the deal was, and quickly discovered that there was no problem … the line was not to the art exhibit at all, but to another exhibit, a tower of books that runs from the floor to the ceiling … which is maybe 20 feet high.
A stern-looking docent and a bullet-proof vest clad segurity agent stood to the side of the turnstile, ensuring that nobody crowded the tower, and individually or in very small family groups people came up to the tower, peered into it, usually holding a phone inside of it to take a photo, before unhurriedly looking up and down both the interior and exterior before ambling away with the expression of having just participated in a transformative experience. Bypassing the line, we turned away from the tower and headed for the second floor, spending a minute figuring out how to operate the ancient elevator before an amused middle-aged woman showed us the trick of pushing two rather than one button, and entered the exhibit.
We were two of less than a dozen people in the museum the whole time we were there, which was fine. It is a beautiful space, with several large galleries, wonderful lighting, and as already indicated, we greatly enjoyed it. Spent at least a couple of hours there. When we came down the funky old elevator, the line had dissipated and we got to see the book tower with only a few minutes wait. Nice enough to spend a few minutes there, and quickly understanding why it is called “The Infinity Tower” because as the photos linked here show. Mirrors arranged inside make the tower seem endless in both directions.
ANYWAY, we both assumed when we saw that long line of people that the tower was a recent exhibit. But only from the email sent by our friend recently did we discover that it has actually been there since 1998. That amazed us, because the vast majority of the people in the line seemed to be Czech … I can't know that for a fact, I mean, but it sure seemed that way from the way they looked. And I think that says something very nice about the Czech people. Because yeah, the optical illusion of infinity inside the tower is nice. But what's really cool is that it's made of BOOKS. Eight thousand of them! The Czechs clearly seem to revere books. And that's a truly admirable reverence to preserve, and to make the tower a star local attraction for the last 26 years.
We loved Prague, spending two weeks in the city. Too much of that time was spent just trying to figure out how to get around, where to eat and drink and what to see other than the major attractions. So we decided to do it again this year, and in just over a month we'll land in Prague again, 364 days after the last time we landed there. I don't know if we'll get back to the library, but if we should, that will be OK, because the building itself and the magnificence of the main book shelves have the feel of a sacred space, and are definitely worth the time.
