What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on Twitter on 15 September 2022.

Škroupovo náměstí was built in 1910.

Until 1940, and again from 1945-7, this was Smetanovo náměstí, after Bedřich Smetana (1824-84), composer of Má vlast, and often called the father of Czech music.

From 1940-5, it was Sukovo náměstí, after Josef Suk (1874-1935), composer and son-in-law of Antonín Dvořák.

František Škroup was born near Hradec Králové in 1801. Music was in the family – father Dominik and brothers Jan and Ignác were also composers.

By the age of 12, František was already performing in the Loreta and in Týn Church in Prague. He moved to the city in 1818 to study philosophy.

Music took priority over studies, though, and in 1823 he founded the first Czech opera society.

Škroup would write the first Czech opera, Dráteník, first performed in 1826.

In 1827, he became a bandmaster at the Stavovský Theatre. One of his compositions for Josef Kajetán Tyl’s farce Fidlovačka was first performed there in 1834.

Its name was Kde domov můj.

In 1857, due to the lesser success of some recent operas and disagreements with the Theatre’s director, Škroup left to open a singing school. In 1860, he became bandleader at the German Opera in Rotterdam.

He died there two years later.

The first verse of Kde domov můj became half of the Czechoslovakian national anthem in 1918; the other half was the first verse of Nad Tatrou sa blýska.

In 1993, it became the Czech national anthem; while the Slovaks added a second verse to to theirs, the Czechs decided not to, even though the second verse does exist.

Fidlovačka was adapted for the silver screen in 1930; here’s the full version of Kde domov můj from that:

In December 1988, Škroupovo náměstí was the scene of the first officially permitted opposition demonstration of the normalisation period. This is a story that deserves its own thread, but the footage here (including Havel) is amazing:

Marta Kubišová leads a singalong of Kde domov můj around six minutes in, and again about 90 seconds before the end.

Also incredible is this picture from https://babylonrevue.cz/na-skroupove-namesti-10-prosince-1988/….