As you enter the tranquil narrow passage leading to the doorstep of the Golden Well, the live feel of the past centuries with their deeds and history stand out and surround you in a contemplative embrace. The feeling is not merely a product of imagination which is easily awoken by the Prague’s atmosphere, but has a meaning and background to reveal.
Fame, envy, intrigue and a possible murder – that is what some suspect surrounded the mysterious life and death of the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546-1601), who died in Prague as one of the most distinguished scholars of his time. His cosmological theory claimed the Earth to be the centre of the Solar system, circled by the Sun, around which the other planets rotate, and was widely used in the 17th century as an alternative to the Copernican system condemned by the Church. Being in disgrace with the rulers of his own country Tycho moved to Prague is 1599 to build an observatory in Benátky nad Jizerou, 50 km away from the capital city, being sponsored by the Emperor himself and a few of the noblemen of Prague. In return for their support, Tycho’s duties included preparing astrological charts and predictions for his patrons on events such as births, weather forecasting, and astrological interpretations of significant astronomical events, such as the supernova of 1572 (sometimes called Tycho’s supernova) and the Great Comet of 1577. Tycho considered alchemy and astrology to be a subject of great importance. In addition to his contributions to astronomy, he was famous in his own time also for his contributions to medicine; his herbal medicines were in use as late as the 1900s. However regarded as incorrect nowadays, Tycho’s astronomical calculations were shockingly precise for a scholar of his time and have laid a fundamental base for the future of astronomy. From 1600 until his death in 1601, he was assisted by Johannes Kepler, who would later use the information received by Tycho to develop his own theories of astronomy.
Astronomer only spent two years in Prague in the imperial service of Emperor Rudolf II before he died in October 1601. His death was never properly explained: according to popular legend, he died after his bladder burst, as his good manners did not allow him to leave the table before Emperor Rudolph the II did, for it would have been a breach of etiquette. Several theories exist about the cause of his death, and some experts actually claim he was given a lethal dose of mercury – that could have appeared in his body either unwillingly considering that no reliable precautions were taken during that time for those working with it, or that the astronomer fell a victim of a well-thought murder. Danish scientists have now obtained a permission from the Czech authorities to exhume his grave in Prague in the Tyn’s Church on the Old Town’s square to once again study the cause of his death. But whatever the cause of the end of his life might have been, the course of it was a worthy way of a human to do, as the astronomer had hoped himself with the his last words being “Ne frusta vixisse videar” or “Do I hope I did not live in vain”.
This way or the other, Tycho Brahe had left remarkable footprints in the world of men – for instance, the crater Tycho on the Moon is named after him, as is the crater Tycho Brahe on Mars. At the Golden Well, we are proud to have the honour of being named so due to the vision of Virgin Mary that Tycho Brahe had by a well in the middle of the house that used to once be a private residence of Rudolph the II. After that, he bade to gild the well, which is how the house came by the name of the Golden Well. To honour the memory of this event and the esteemed owner of the house we even have a very special Suite named after the famous astronomer – and it lushes in the atmosphere and the authentity like no other.
