One of the more curious sights on Prague’s Charles Bridge is that of Hebrew script on a Roman Catholic crucifix. The crucifix is a religious symbol that points to the break between the Jewish faith and Christianity so the story behind this is intriguing indeed.

History of the statue

The current crucifix dates back to the 17th century¹. In 1629 a Dresden sculptor designed the figure of Christ for a bell-maker to cast¹. Someone bought it for Prague in 1657 and it hung from a wooden cross at first¹. For a long time it was the only statue on the bridge¹.

I explain the esoteric significance of the Charles Bridge itself in my article about its construction.

You can see a double-sunset from this point on the bridge if you know where to look.

So what led to the Hebrew script?

The event

In 1696 Praguer Elias Backoffen was walking across the bridge¹. Prague’s Jewish quarter has a long history; some reckon Jews settled there as early as the 10th century². Various religions lived side by side in Bohemia over the centuries.

Backoffen was not a peaceful sort.

He saw a few Catholics praying in front of the cross and, in a stage whisper, said, “Yeah, right; as if this is the son of God.”¹

Shocked by his statement, the faithful reported him to the authorities. It didn’t take long before the authorities charged Backoffen in a Royal Court with blasphemy¹.

On 14 September 1696, the judge found Backoffen guilty and fined him¹. His punishment was to pay for Hebrew text to be displayed in golden letters² on the cross¹. The text reads, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Hosts.”^{1 3} This is a traditional Jewish prayer taken from the book of Isiah³.

The punishment was a symbolic humiliation and hardly in the spirit of peaceful cohabitation³. In 1707 Prague added a tri-lingual inscription on the pedestal to translate the Hebrew script.

Hebrew text on a Roman Catholic statue confuses many people¹. In 2000, Prague added a set of plaques explaining the story behind all this³. They added that these “improper court proceedings” humiliated the Jewish community.³.

The Hebrew script is almost still there today. One of the letters in the name of God disappeared despite the bridge being under 24/7 surveillance. The text now reads “Holy Holy Holy YHH of Hosts” rendering it nonsense².

So a nonsense sentence led to a nonsense phrase …

References

1. Statuary of the St. Cross with Calvary; Kralovska Cesta; (Retrieved 2019-12-03) [↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
2. The Vav from the Charles Bridge; Jewish Magazine; 2003-11[↩][↩][↩]
3. Symbol of reconciliation hung in Prague; Jewish Telegraphic Agency; 2000-03-09[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]

Remember: links were correct at time of publication.