St Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle with Protective Measures
St Vitus Cathedral stood at the centre of Protectorate events in Prague Castle, where key political figures had their offices and important political acts occurred. One of the most significant of these was the signing of the decree establishing the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia by Adolf Hitler in March 1939. The state president of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, Emil Hácha, resided in the castle permanently, the Reich's protector had an office and private apartment in the southern wing. In addition to audiences, state visits or appointments of Protectorate politicians, another important event relating to the Castle during the Protectorate was Heydrich's secret speech on 2 October 1941 about solving the “Czech Question”. It included a plan of total Germanisation of the Czech territory after the victorious campaign in Europe.
The photographs show protecting walls around valuable stone monuments in the cathedral, the most dominant being the brick wall around the Royal oratory from the late 15th century. Similar shielding walls, which were meant to protect the cathedral from the effects of air raids, were also built over the princely tombs and busts in the triforium – Gothic sculptures from the 14th century, original works of art preserved in the cathedral.
Photographs of St Vitus Catheral play a unique role in Sudek's oeuvre. First he was taking pictures of the interior in an impressionistic style in the 1920s, which he later published in a photographic publication with fifteen original bromo-silver enlargements through the publishing house Družstevní práce.