What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on Twitter on 13 May 2022.

Ostromečská was built in 1896.

Ostromeč is a former castle, located north of the village of Hrazany in the Příbram district.

Its foundations were laid in 1424 under the Hussite leadership of Jan Hvězda of Vícemilice.

It was raided and demolished just four years later, but was then restored. Only to be raided and demolished *again* in 1435, with its treasures being sent to Konopiště.

In 1450, Zdeněk Konopišťský of Šternberk rebuilt the castle as a military support point, from which he made successful raids in the region.

The Bohemian Diet, not appreciating these threats to its power, decided to destroy the castle in 1471 – but it survived this siege.

However, the castle ceased to be used around the year 1500, and records from 1542 describe it as ‘desolate’.

Relics of the buildings and the fortifications remain; they have been protected as a cultural monument since 1965.

Bonus previous name material: this was Šlikova until 1940, and again from 1945 to 1947 (the Šliks were a noble family, particularly prominent in the 15th and 16th centuries).

Under the Nazi occupation, the road was called Melanchtonova. Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560) was a German Lutheran reformer with (from what I can see) no obvious links to the Czech Lands.