Ss. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral
Encyclopedia
New Town, Prague
The New Town is a quarter in the city of Prague in the Czech Republic. New Town is the youngest and largest of the five independent towns that today comprise the historic center of modern Prague...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, is the principal church in the Metropolitan Council of the Czech Republic
Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia is a self-governing body of the Eastern Orthodox Church that territorially covers the countries of the Czech Republic and Slovakia...
. The existing structure had its origins as a Roman Catholic church built between 1730 and 1736 by Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer, dedicated to Saint Charles Borromeo, archbishop and cardinal of Milan in the 17th century.
In 1942, during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the cathedral was the scene of the last stand of a number of Czech and Slovak patriots who had assassinated
Operation Anthropoid
Operation Anthropoid was the code name for the targeted killing of top German SS leader Reinhard Heydrich. He was the chief of the Reich Main Security Office , the acting Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, and a chief planner of the Final Solution, the Nazi German programme for the genocide of the...
Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich , also known as The Hangman, was a high-ranking German Nazi official.He was SS-Obergruppenführer and General der Polizei, chief of the Reich Main Security Office and Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia...
, the Nazi SS Obergruppenfuhrer and General of Police. After a fierce gun battle, they reportedly committed suicide to avoid capture. Presently there is a museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
in the church dedicated to them as national heroes. Karl Fischer von Treuenfeld
Karl Fischer von Treuenfeld
Karl Fischer von Treuenfeld was a Gruppenführer and Generalleutnant of the Waffen SS during World War II and the commander of the VI SS Army Corps....
was in command of the troops that stormed the church on 18 June 1942.