One of the most renowned stories associated with Prague’s Charles Bridge will be brought to life.
The Vajkobran assembly, a medieval costumed parade of peasants handing over a cartload of boiled eggs from the municipality of Velvara to the Prague mayor, will take place there on Sunday 2 April at 13:00.
According to tradition, the bridge’s architects chose to use eggs, milk, and wine to the mortar to increase its strength of the bridge (just like raw egg is added to meatballs to make them firmer).
Since there were not enough eggs in Prague, all towns in Bohemia and Moravia had to contribute. Apparently, the instructions gave rise to misunderstandings: some cities sent cheese and cottage cheese.
The city of Velvary was so wise as to boil the eggs first so they wouldn’t break in transit.
The parade will begin at 13:00 from the Malostranská tower. Radim Volak, the present mayor of Velvar, will also take part.
The Charles Bridge Museum is in charge of organizing the event. The goal is to keep Prague’s historical customs alive and to keep residents informed about old Prague tales.
On that day, visitors can also see the Easter display at the Charles Bridge Museum. More information is available on its main website.
In 2008, the mystery was unraveled, and the egg story did indeed make sense. During renovation work, scientists from VSCHT, the Prague Institute of Chemical Technology, took samples of the original mortar.
They were delighted to find that their analysis showed that the fourteenth-century mortar contained egg proteins.
The euphoria did not last long. Questioning the outcome, scientists from the Faculty of Science at Charles University, re-examined the mortar again in 2010 and found that it showed no traces of organic additives.
They believed that hydraulically binding lime similar to modern Portland cement had been used in the construction of the Charles Bridge.
