sucharda was the founder of prague's ríše loutek ("puppet empire") theater in 1920, and he is known for restoring the wooden figures of the apostles on the prague astronomical clock, which had been heavily damaged by enemy fire in mid-may 1945. sucharda wrote a letter detailing the difficult conditions in prague at the time, which he hid in a metal case inside the restored statue of the apostle st. thomas. his hidden message was discovered 70 years later in 2018, when restorers noticed that one of the statues was heavier than the rest and an x-ray revealed the hidden message.