What's in a Prague street name

Starting off where it all began – this was originally posted on Twitter on 24 April 2022.

Here begins a series in which I walk along the very long street immediately to the north of my flat and examine the names of the streets leading off it, one by one.

We’ll start with the very long street itself, especially as its name is somewhat controversial (evidence included in second pic), so, without further ado, I give you Koněvova.

It was called Vídeňská silnice (Vienna Highway) until 1872-ish, Poděbradova (Poděbrady Street) until 1940, and again between 1945 and 1946. In the intervening years, under the Nazi occupation, it was known as Brünner Straße (Brno Street).

Ivan Konev (1897-1973) was a Soviet general and Marshal of the Soviet Union. He led Red Army forces on the Eastern Front in WW2.

He entered Prague with the Red Army on 9 May 1945, the final day of the Prague Uprising (which didn’t stop the Red Army for taking credit for the preceding successes of the Uprising either).

In 1956, Konev became commander of the Warsaw Pact armed forces, and led the suppression of the Hungarian Revolution and the Prague Spring. And yet this street is still named after him.

Which is why petitions sometimes happen: https://english.radio.cz/residents-seek-change-name-street-honouring-red-army-commander-8125346…. Though it could be a bureaucratic nightmare (it really is that long a street).

Continuing with a shorter street and shorter story tomorrow.