The Hermeticist’s Tomb

The famous Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546–1601) is buried in Týn Church. He came to Prague at Rudolf II’s invitation as an already respected scholar. He had built his own alchemical laboratory at his Uraniborg observatory, and the science of Hermes was his second love. He arrived in Prague in June 1599, received a generous welcome and was promised 3,000 guilders a year. The emperor offered him a choice of several castles around Prague. Tycho chose Benátky nad Jizerou (see entry) for its favourable position for observing the stars. The emperor later urged Brahe to be as close to him as possible and asked him to move to Prague. He generously bought him a house at Pohořelec formerly belonging to Vice-Chancellor Curtius. It was demolished during seventeenth-century fortification works; its remains are now marked in the courtyard of Kepler Grammar School in Parléřova Street at Pohořelec. Meanwhile, Brahe lodged at the Golden Griffin inn in Nový Svět, now house no. 76 beside the Golden Pear wine bar. In October 1601 he attended a feast at Petr Vok of Rosenberg’s. Legend says his bladder burst there. More probably he developed uraemia and died a few days later at his Pohořelec house, on 24 October 1601. He is buried by the first church pillar to the right of the altar, marked by a tombstone of Slivenec marble.