What's in a Prague street name

Originally posted on Twitter on 7 May 2022.

Domažlická was built in 1904, which counts as old compared to what we’ve covered so far.

Domažlice, population 11,000, is a town in the Plzeň region, converted into a fortified royal town in 1265 by Otakar II of Bohemia. Its German name is Taus.

At the Battle of Domažlice in 1431, Prokop the Great (a Hussite General) defeated the crusaders of the Holy Roman Empire.

The city declined in importance in the 1600s, but bounced back in the 1770s thanks to its textile industry.

Domažlice was a pivotal location during the Czech National Revival.

Of its most famous sons and daughters, you’re most likely to know author Božena Němcová and philosopher Ladislav Klíma.

It was also the scene of a large protest demonstration against the German occupation in August 1939 (the St. Lawrence pilgrimage).

In 2005, a mass grave was found on the town’s outskirts, mainly containing members of the Sturmabteilung.

I have a vague memory of Domažlice being the most COVID-ed town in the Czech Republic at the very beginning of the pandemic, but I may be wrong.

*checks old copies of Respekt*: ah, correct.

Domažlice looks nice. But that’s all the spring 2020 talk I’m willing to engage in.