What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on Twitter on 12 January 2023.

Nad Petruskou was built in the 19th century but not named until 1947.

It’s official: defunct vineyards are the new Hussites. I think I’m going to put that in my bio.

Originally, the homestead which included the vineyard was called Pelikánka; in the late 18th century, it was sold to Josef Wimmer, son of Jakub Wimmer (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/06/30/prague-2-day-51-belgicka/).

In 1865, a villa was built where the vineyard had been, and was owned by one Karel Hausschild, who had also owned Kleovka (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/07/07/prague-2-day-66-na-kleovce/). Later in the 19th century, it was purchased by the Perutz brothers (hence ‘Perucka’).

The villa underwent several reconstructions, and, in the 1970s, was an administrative office for the Supreme Court of Czechoslovakia. It’s uninhabited now.

And apparently, Petruska is a ‘garbled’ version of Perucka, but that’s the most I can find out about that name. For language nerds, the Czech for ‘to garble’ is zkomolit, and I’m going to try to crowbar this into at least five conversations next week.