What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on X on 30 January 2023.

Pod Karlovem was built in 1896.

Pod Karlovem is literally under Karlov, which is an area in Prague’s New Town, directly north of the Nusle valley.

In 1350, Karel IV ordered the building of the Klášter augustiniánů kanovníků / Monastery of Augustinian Canons (located on what is now Boženy Němcové), as part of his efforts to raise Prague’s international prestige.

It was consecrated in 1377, and, somewhat predictably, got abandoned during the Hussite wars. Canons returned in 1437.

Further renovations took place in 1498 and 1575, although the building was then severely damaged by lightning in 1603.

During the Passau Invasion of Bohemia in 1611, the abbot and several canons were murdered.

For a period after the Thirty Years’ War, the buildings were used as an armoury, but later reverted to their previous use.

When Joseph II cancelled the monastery – and many others – in 1785, it became a mental health hospital.

The City of Prague turned the premises into a depository in 1948, into the Museum of the Border Guard into 1960, and into the Museum of the National Security Corps in 1973.

Since 1990, it’s been the Museum of the Police of the Czech Republic: https://muzeumpolicie.cz