Digging Up History in Prague

Scientists to exhume remains of Danish astronomer – USATODAY.com

Is it good to be a celebrity? It certainly seems that way when they’re alive. They have it all: good times, fame and fortune. Tycho Brahe was no exception to this rule. The brilliant Danish astronomer was man of considerable stature in his time, and he used his intellectual cachet to live an extraordinary life of privilege and accomplishment by making himself the most desired guest to the most power kings who ruled continental Europe.

And, that’s how he ended up in Prague. After falling into disfavor with the king of Denmark, Brahe accepted the invitation of Rudolf II, the king of Bohemia, to move his unrivaled research facilities to Prague. In Prague, Brahe continued to excel as the world’s best astronomer and trained the next great name in astronomy, Johannes Kepler, until his untimely death at the hands of a bladder infection, a demise documented thoroughly by Kepler. (The infection may have resulted from Brahe’s refusal to leave the royal dinner table to relieve himself, from his insistence on “holding it in”, as it were.) Now, some of Brahe’s compatriots from the University of Aarhus wish to verify that it was, in fact, a bladder infection that claimed the life of this most famous of Danes. They suspect that kidney disease or mercury poisoning might have been the culprit, and because Brahe is so famous and they are so curious, they have obtained permission to exhume Brahe’s 409 year-old remains from the Our Lady Before Tyne cathedral in the old city square in Prague in order to investigate this celebrity death.

So, is it good to be a celebrity? Are modern celebrities damned to this same fate? Will we exhume Marilyn Monroe’s body to reexamine her death? Is Elvis Aaron Presley’s corpse guaranteed any sort of restful, eternal sleep? Will Michael Jackson ever rest in peace?

The answer might depend on your perception of celebrity. Some might reduce it to the adage “there is no such thing as bad press”, not even exhumation.

But, what is definitely cool about this particular celebrity death is the location. Prague is an awesome city. The old city square is magnificent and magical, and the mystique that surrounds Tycho Brahe is but a small part–yes, really, a small part–of all the intrigue, mystique and history that are alive in Prague.

And, that’s why you should go to Prague. And, we have you covered. Our Lady Before Tyne cathedral is stop number 8 on the walki-talki tour of Prague. Get it now from our online store, or get it from The App Store for your iPhone or iPod Touch.

This much is for certain. Tycho Brahe’s grave is among the most exciting celebrity graves one could visit.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 6:21 am and is filed under Destinations, General, Payam's Corner, Prague, Sites in the News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.