On the tower of St. Vitus Cathedral rests the largest of Prague’s bells—the majestic Zikmund. Its voice is heard only on the rarest of occasions, but its heart beats in rhythm with the fate of the entire nation. It is said that whenever a great misfortune threatens the Czech land, the bell’s heart cracks. This happened before the devastating flood in 2002, as if Zikmund wanted to warn Praguers of the approaching destruction.

The very hanging of this colossus in 1549 was accompanied by a miracle. The bell was so heavy that it could not be lifted into the tower, and every rope used for the task snapped. Despair spread through Prague until the daughter of King Ferdinand I of Habsburg took action. Together with other Prague girls, she decided on a supreme sacrifice—they all cut off their long, groomed braids.

From these thousands of strands of maidens’ hair, they wove a strong and flexible rope that surpassed even the coarsest hemp ropes in strength. When hundreds of hands were applied, the colossus finally moved, and the rope of hair carried it safely up beneath the tower’s vault. Since then, it has been believed that Zikmund’s voice carries both the tenderness and strength of all those girls who said goodbye to their beauty so their city could have its most beautiful voice. It is a bell connected to Prague not only by metal but by the very blood and hair of its daughters.