What's in a Prague street name

Roháčova was built in 1872.

A ‘roháč’ is a stag beetle. Sadly, this is not the insect section of Žižkov, and Roháčova is named after – who else? – a Hussite.

Jan Roháč z Dubé / Jan Roháč of Dubá was a Taborite, appointed as a hetman by Jan Žižka in Lomnica nad Lužnicí in 1420.

After Žižka’s death, he became head of the Orphans, a radical Hussite sect.

In the Battle of Lipany (1437), he was captured, but soon released. He then retreated to his castle, Sion, where he created the last focus of resistance against Emperor Sigismund.

After four months, the castle defences were breached by Bohemian and Hungarian troops. Roháč was led to Vítkov Hill, where he was hanged on the highest rung of the gallows.

Bonus material: Roháčova was shorter until 1898, when it gobbled up a street called Kališnická (whose name I will explain at a later date, as there’s another street called that in the area, built in 1910).

This happened yet again in 1947, when Harantova (which was Kalvinova from 1940 to 1945) was incorporated into the street.

The Harants were a Czech noble family (so the liquidation of a street named after them in the early days of communism totally makes sense).

Kalvínova, the name given to the street during the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, came from the French theologian, pastor and reformer John Calvin (1509-1564).