The Czech Struggle for and against Religion in Public Space: The Case of Re-Erecting of Marian Column in Prague from the Perspective of the Media

Abstract

Over the course of the last thirty years, that is from the fall of the Communist regime and the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe, sociologists of religion and religious studies scholars have been attempting to characterize the attitude of Czech society to religion. This article consequently attempts to deal with religion in public space, in Prague and specifically in place perceived as purely Czech and national. The most significant case of iconoclasm in modern Czech history – the demolishment (1918) and re-erection (2020) of the Marian Column on the Old Town Square in Prague – was consequently chosen as the example of Czech national narrative template. The re-erection of this column has become an interesting media topic. This article therefore attempts to define the basic ideological frameworks of this debate, which was most intense in 2020, the time of the re-erection of the column.