A marionette is a living work of art, an animated statue, a timeless rendition of the way the world used to be, brought to life by its creator, so as to re-tell tales sadly forgotten. Marionettes are created to capture traditional forms, shapes and symbols of living art. Indeed, if one looks close enough this timeless magic is reflected in each and every marionette.

Prague, the so-called "City of One Hundred Spires" looks distinctly surreal, it is a dreamlike hallucination of times past, a shadow which dances joyously in and around the burning bright lights of the twenty-first century. Prague's duality is a thing of unique beauty. On the one hand, it is a bustling capital city in the heart of Europe. It stands on the threshold of EU ascension, indeed, leading the charge for its fellow former "eastern block" countries. Twenty-three pairs of golden arches adorn twenty-three street corners, providing Big Mac's for all. Trams and busses dissect the city's cobblestone heart with amazing efficiency, and deep in the bowels of the earth steel subway tubes send passengers hurtling from destination to destination, on time and out of sight.

Yet, on the other hand, Prague is a mystical, magical city, a town rich with legends of sorcery, wizardry and alchemy. Europe's forgotten focal point, where Emperor Rudolph II and a court full of alchemists toiled sleeplessly in search of magical formula's, and where Rabbi Loew's legendary Golem lumbered through Prague's shadowed alleyways. Prague is also a crown jewel in the center of Europe, which has nurtured such artists as Antonin Dvorak, Franz Kafka, Alphons Mucha, Milan Kundera, and President Vaclav Havel, to name a few. Walking through its cobblestone streets one can still hear the centuries of life and death echoed timelessly in a horse's clodden footsteps, in a hawkers foreign cry or in the barking of a dog. It is a city whose history is still with us and can be felt everday.

In 1583, Emperor Rudolph ruler of the then mighty Austro-Hungarian Empire moved his capital from Vienna to Prague. Why? Some believe that Rudolph was so consumed with finding the Philosopher's Stone that he moved his capital to Prague, then acknowledged as a vortex of magic and energy, to aid in his endless search. Indeed, Rudolfine Prague was a city full of alchemists, mathematicians, magicians, astrologists, artists, musicians, and religious zealots. Unfortunately, it didn't matter how many magical formulas were proudly presented or extravagant theories endlessly documented each and every one was shattered by the cruel hard reality of scientific law. Nonetheless, Prague was a city crackling with energy and great discoveries seemed to loom on the horizon.

These shadows of times past, traces of mysticism, and ripples of magic still abound, they can easily be seen throughout history and even felt today. Some say, "Prague, was Franz Kafka's city - a town where nothing is quite as it appears and illusion lurks behind every corner." Others say, it is the city that spoke to Mozart's wild soul - where the shadows fervently dance to the winds whispered sonatas. If a trace of Prague's magic is reflected in the works of these two great artists, it is indeed, a mystical place. Prague's magic is also reflected in its blossoming marionette culture.

Puppetry is a mechanical extension of one's imagination, a cabalistic blend of solid engineering and creative mysticism - a way of controlling other worlds while critiquing one's own. Early scientific discovery in Rudolfine Prague, for example, was considered magic and its creations like early marionettes were surely viewed with similar auras of uncertainty and disbelief.

No one really knows where the first marionette took the stage, but the first forms of puppetry probably developed in early Chinese culture where shadow puppets made from dried skins danced for spellbound masses. The puppeteer would control the creature with longs rods and perform in front of a screen. When illuminated from behind the figures would appear like defined shadows. Imagine the effect giant dragon shadow puppets had on early Chinese farmers.
But when did marionettes arise in Prague's history? Czech marionette history dates back to roughly 1563, around the time of Rudolph's fascination with Prague.
Just for a moment, close your eyes and erase the slender white strings, which hold every marionette captive to its creator - open them again and a magical creature moves in front of you. A jester dances his dance, a musician lovingly plays his violin, or a king exhorts his battle deeds. By defintion a marionette is:
" A jointed puppet manipulated from above by strings or wires attached to its limbs. 2. A small figure of a person operated from above with strings by a puppeteer
Often times the word is used interchangeably with puppet, which indeed is its synonym.
String marionettes actually originated in Italy, but they quickly captured the imagination of Prague's public and artisans. Marionette artists would travel from town to town and city to city, spreading joy, fear, love and laughter to all. Indeed, in this time puppetry was an extension of the oral tradition of history. These traveling artists would literally bring life - movement, personality, expression, and physical interaction to age-old folktales, poems, and battles. By performing across the land they perpetuated the same morals, ideals, history and lessons. It is true, that most stories or performances were based on folk tales and legends passed down from generation to generation. This in itself is a shining example of a marionette's true power - the ability to withstand the test of time, to preserve and perpetuate the past in an easily understood and exciting fashion.

Today, marionette making has, indeed, withstood the test of time; as it has grown into a highly respected form of art. Marionettes adorn the walls of some of today's most respected museums and are avidly collected by young and old alike. Puppetry has also been incorporated into modern forms of visual entertainment; the Muppets, for example, are probably the most widely acknowledged form of modern day puppetry. The critically acclaimed, Being John Malkovic is another example.

Basic Historical Outline

• End of the 5th and beginning of the 6th century - arrival of Slavs in present-day Moravia and Slovakia
  
• Second half of the 9th century - arrival of Christian missionaries
  
• 9th century - 1306 a gradual strengthening of the Czech state during the reign of the Premyslid dynasty
  
• 1346-1378 - the peak in the prestige and power of the kingdom of Bohemia during the reign of Charles IV
  
• Beginning of the 15th century - a crisis of state leads to the Hussite movement
  
• 1526 - the Habsburg dynasty succeeds to the throne of Bohemia - the formation of a multi-national empire
  
• 1563 - first forms of puppetry and marionette magic are documented
  
• 1583 Emperor Rudolph moves his capital from Vienna to Prague
  
• 1620 - the defeat of the Bohemian Estates at the Battle of White Mountain, continued centralization of the Habsburg Empire
  
• 28.10.1918 - foundation of an independent state of Czechs and Slovaks
  
• 15.3.1939 - 9.5.1945 - German occupation
  
• February 1948 - Communist takeover
  
• August 1968 - Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact countries brings an end to the "Prague Spring" and the Communist Party's attempt to build "Socialism with a human face"
  
• November 1989 - fall of the Communist regime
  
• 1.1. 1993 Czech Republic founded after the split of Czechoslovakia