What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on Twitter on 5 May 2022.

Pod Krejcárkem was built in 1962, and translates as ‘Under Krejcárek’.

Krejcárek was an emergency colony (i.e. a residential area, akin to a shanty town, built to deal with a large influx of workers moving to Prague).

It was established as a garden centre in 1922 (when emergency housing wasn’t yet permitted), until landowner Václav Stome began renting family lands of the nearby Pražačka farm to those who couldn’t afford other housing.

Over the years, 150 houses were built in the area. Unlike many other colonies, it had water, electricity and telephone access, which may be why it lasted longer than most – until the 1970s.

Here it is in 1956, from https://bahnoprahy.cz/kolonie-na-pravem-brehu/nouzova-kolonie-na-krejcarku/…. Do check out the aerial photos of the same spot over the decades.

In the 1970s, it was razed to the ground and replaced with a grove, which is the only forested area in Prague 3, and is connected to the park on Vítkov Hill.

The project was part of ‘Akce Z’, unpaid employment of the population during communist Czechoslovakia (basically civic conscription), carrying out tasks which the state or municipal administration hadn’t managed to do.

In terms of trees, its main inhabitants are Scots pines, heart-shaped lindens and red oaks. It’s also a refuge for blackbirds, thrushes, finches, shrews, hedgehogs and weasels, among others.

More practical advice than history, but want to give Krejcárek tram stop a try? Then you’ll have to wait until summer 2023: https://prazsky.denik.cz/zpravy_region/krejcarek-palmovka-zizkov-tramvaj-koleje-oprava-doprava-omezeni-praha.html