King Charles IV, ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1355 to 1378, remains the most popular political figure in the Czech Republic. In fact, last year the Czech people elected him the greatest Czech to have ever lived.

Which could explain why so many people here are furious that the exhibition "Charles IV — Emperor by the Grace of God," which runs through May 21 at Prague Castle, has been sold out since early this month. The Prague Castle Administration offered tickets to school groups shortly after the show opened Feb. 16, and schools proceeded to snatch up every one.

The exhibition, seven years in the making and costing over 38 million Kč ($1.6 million), collects medieval artifacts — illuminated manuscripts, paintings, robes, ornaments and religious objects — that date to the rule of Charles IV and his sons Wenceslas IV and Sigismund of Luxembourg. Ninety-six institutions and private collectors from 11 different countries have loaned the 216 artifacts on display at the exhibition, making it the largest such exhibition in recent history.

It debuted to much fanfare at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City last fall, and has been eagerly awaited here ever since. As many as 170,000 people saw it in the Big Apple. Now ordinary Czechs seem to be out of luck and the castle looks like it won't capitalize on the floods of tourists beginning to stream into Prague who might have been interested in the show.

"I had no idea it would be sold out so soon," said Jana Pulkrábová, a 69-year-old pensioner from Prague who came to see the exhibition with her friend because she had heard about the show on television, her voice mixed with anger and resignation. "Nobody told us."

Dozens of visitors continue to arrive at Prague Castle daily, lured by big posters advertising the sold-out show that nevertheless remain plastered all over town. The massive advertising campaign for the exhibition alone cost 4.5 million Kč.

At the same time, thousands of elementary and high-school students tour the exhibition as a compulsory part of their study program. Many are clearly bored after an hour and a half of looking at ancient relics.

Some enterprising students have even tried scalping the tickets to desperate tourists eager to see the show, according to a recent report in the Czech weekly magazine Týden.

Placing blame

Did the castle royally mess up?

Ivo Velíšek, director of Prague Castle Administration, said offering tickets to schools is standard.

Curator Jiří Fajt, a Czech based in Berlin who organized the show along with Barbara Drake Boehm of New York's Met, said the castle has lost as much as 10 million Kč by selling most of the tickets to students.

At 40 to 80 Kč, student tickets cost a tiny fraction of the full ticket price, which is 270 Kč.

More importantly, though, Fajt says, it's unfortunate that so many people who want to see the show won't have the chance. He is outraged. "The Prague Castle Administration definitely underestimated the exhibition," he said.

Velíšek said the castle still expects the show to be a success. He said the public has been sufficiently informed that the exhibition was sold-out. "I'm surprised that anyone would come to Prague without informing himself ahead of time," he said.

The student scalpers, he said, were a matter of several isolated incidents from one school. "We have dealt with it."

Looking for solutions

But who will deal with the disgruntled visitors?

Kurt Knoepfler recently traveled to Prague from Munich just to see the show.

"I can't believe that. I saw a full page ad for this exhibit in Die Welt, came all the way here to see it, and they told me the tickets are sold-out till the end of the exhibit," he said. "Tourist authorities should solve this quickly; this has never happened to me anywhere in the world."

On a recent Sunday afternoon, several groups of people walked into the ticket office without even noticing the sold-out sign, only to leave minutes later empty-handed and disappointed.

"No more tickets," the woman at the cash register had to say over and over. "The only way you could get in is if someone cancels at the last minute."

At press time, the castle had no plans to extend the show.

"The artifacts are on loan for a limited amount of time, as determined by a contract," Velíšek said. Increasing the number of tickets, he said, is contingent upon ensuring that the climate in which the fragile artifacts are on display is stable.

But that's not what Fajt, the curator, says.

According to Fajt, Prague Castle had an opportunity to try to extend the exhibition but missed it. The institutions that loaned the artifacts would probably have been willing to extend the contracts, says Fajt. But now it's too late.

Fajt isn't giving up.

He was in Prague April 22 and 23 trying to get the castle to extend the exhibit's hours.

"If they extend the show by three hours each day, they could sell an additional 12,000 tickets," he said.

Velíšek responded in an e-mail that he hasn't been informed about any such possibilities yet and therefore cannot comment.