What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on Twitter on 27 November 2022.

Čerchovská was built in 1896.

Čerchov, 1,042 metres high, is the highest mountain in Český les (somewhat different English name: Upper Palatine Forest), as well as the 10th-highest in the country. It’s only two kilometres from the German border.

In German, it’s called Schwarzkopf, and yes, I did just get up and go to the bathroom to check if that’s who makes the stuff I put in my hair most mornings.

(Update: It is!)

In 1905, a watchtower was opened on the mountain. It’s called Kurzova rozhledna, after Vilém Kurze, a writer who helped raise funds for it to be built, but sadly died in 1902.

It was a popular tourist destination until it was taken over by the German army in 1938.

In 1950, Sbor národní bezpečnosti / National Security Corps set up a training facility here. Radars, a listening tower and other military installations were soon added.

The facilities were also used by the Soviet Army and the Stasi.

Just 20 km away, in Hoher Bogen, a NATO surveillance tower, Fernmeldesektor F, existed from 1965 to 2004.

The tower would remain closed to the general public until after the Velvet Revolution.

The Club of Czech Tourists regained ownership of the tower in 1999, and, using public funds, arranged for its renovation.

There’s a great video of Čerchov here from January 2017, when things were *really* snowy round these parts. Proper Winterfell stuff: