Nativity scenes celebrating the birth of the baby Jesus have a long
tradition in the Czech lands, dating back to 1560, when the first such
scene was introduced here by the Jesuits at their college, the
Clementinum, across from the Charles Bridge in Prague. Records of the
Nativity scene were lost so we will never be sure what it really looked
like, but it is fairly safe to assume the scene included traditional
elements including a grotto, the original manger, farm animals, and baby
Jesus himself. The scene, called "Betlem" in Czech, after
Bethlehem,