What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on X on 20 January 2023.

Sarajevská was built in 1896.

Until 1940, and again from 1945 to 1947, this was Vyšehradská.  I won’t explain that one any further for now, as: a) you’ve already guessed; b) there’s a current Prague 2 street called that anyway (spoiler alert).

During the Nazi occupation, it was Pribinova, after Pribina (died 861), a Slavic prince who was the first Slavic ruler to build a Christian church in the region (in Nitra – https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2023/12/23/prague-3-day-185-nitranska/).

Sarajevo, of course, is the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and deserves to be known for much more than 1914 and 1992-6.   Cue some photos of mine from my visits there.

And some more.

And, while I said it deserves to be known for more than 1914 and 1992-6, when you walk around a cemetery like this and see so many graves with ‚1992‘ on them (including people who were younger than you, and you were 10 at the time)… it really, really hits you.

In terms of Czech(oslovak) connections, I once read that Czechoslovak experts were responsible, or partly responsible, for the city’s urban planning immediately after WW2.

Also, the current-day Faculty of Islamic Sciences was built by a Czech architect, Karel Pařík, who was from Jičin but died in (occupied) Sarajevo in 1942: https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%A0ar%C3%AD%E2%80%98atsk%C3%A1_soudn%C3%AD_%C5%A1kola

Regarding Bosnians of Czech origin, Dražen Ričl, first singer of legendary rock band Crvena jabuka (and also a comedian), was born in Sarajevo in 1962, apparently to a Czech father (says English Wikipedia).

While the band still exists, Ričl died tragically young in a car crash – in 1986, when he was 24 – just six months after their debut album was released.

And Milan Gorkić, General Secretary of the Yugoslavian Communist Party from 1932 to 1937, was actually born Josef Čižinský in Sarajevo in 1904, to a Czech family.  He was executed by the NKVD in 1937.

I hope there’s a time when I can write Sarajevo-related stories with happier endings than these.  The place deserves them.