The Wenceslas Bible -
About the first German deluxe Bible manuscript

At our hotel, you can see unique pages from the Wenzelsbibel, Germany's oldest deluxe Bible manuscript. All pages were written by hand and decorated with countless illuminations and ornaments.

First German Deluxe Bible Manuscript
Almost 150 years before publication of Martin Luther's translation of the Bible, the oldest deluxe Bible manuscript was created in what is seen by some as the most fascinating medieval school of book illumination, in Prague.
The Bible was created between 1390 and 1400 and features a total of 646 miniatures. The artists, having created the often symbolic and narrative illuminations for King Wenceslas IV of Bohemia, sadly remain anonymous.
The more than 2,400 pages most likely represent the most important and linguistically most beautiful witness of pre-Reformation Bible translation practice. However, of the three volumes that were originally planned (including two volumes for the Old Testament and one for the New Testament), only the first two were completed as a result of the massive amounts of text, and later on the two volumes were spread across six smaller volumes in the 18^th century. Via inheritance, the books left the Bohemian Court and came into ownership of the Habsburg Court.
Today, parts of the huge volumes are kept in the Austrian national library (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek).

The Fascinating World Of The Drôlerien
The marginal ornaments are as fascinating as the Wenzelsbibel's main miniatures, featuring an obvious playful and humorous touch and known as Drôlerien ("drolleries").
One of the main characters is the bathing maiden in her short, shirt-like garment, who is characterised by the attributes of bucket and sponge. She appears with a male figure (probably King Wenceslas himself), who is frequently portrayed captured in the letters W and E. In addition, large numbers of allegorical creatures appear throughout the books, including a wild man and a kingfisher.