Marie Terezie – Prague, Maria Theresa Monument and Park

Fact of the Czech figure „Culture in the Era of Renaissance and Baroque”

Part of the „Legacy of the Jagiellonians and Habsburgs dynasties” topic

In 2020, a monument to Maria Theresa was unveiled in a park near the baroque fortifications known as the Mariánské Hradby in Prague’s Hradčany district. The statue’s abstract silhouette faced criticism, though the concept of honouring the Habsburg empress was generally well-received, likely aided by the popularity of the grand television series co-produced since 2017.

The reign of Maria Theresa (1740–1780) is surprisingly not generally associated with the turbulent military events that accompanied her rise to power, some of which took place in the Czech lands, such as the secession of most of Silesia to Prussia or the declaration of Charles Albert of Bavaria as King of Bohemia in Prague in 1740. Instead, she is remembered chiefly as an education reformer, and even the strongly anti-Habsburg interpretation of Czech history in the 20th century acknowledged her contribution to the introduction of compulsory schooling.