Personalities of the Rudolf II Era.
One of the most prolific and popular Czech authors, Jan Bauer, says of his new book: “Prague has been an imperial city twice. The first time was during the reign of Charles IV, the second during the rule of the art-loving eccentric, Rudolf II. This Habsburg moved his residence from Vienna to Prague in 1583, making the Czech metropolis the cultural centre of Europe for a long twenty-eight years. Under the emperor's protection, artists, scholars and adventurers from many countries flocked to Prague. Gold-makers, as alchemists were called, who dreamt of producing gold from less noble metals, and stargazers, i.e. astrologers, seeking to foretell human destiny in the world of stars, planets and celestial spheres, came to us.
