What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on X on 31 January 2023.

Nuselský most – Nusle Bridge – was opened in 1973.

The first discussions about building a bridge here occurred at the start of the 20th century, but it took over sixty years – and the appearance of the high rises of Pankrác – for its construction to become a priority.

The bridge was to include an underground tramline, which ultimately became the C line of the Prague metro.

If you’ve ever wondered why Hlavní nádraží metro station has adjoining tracks, much like a regular tramline, it’s because its construction started in 1966, before the decision to make this change occurred.

Interestingly, this isn’t why Vyšehrad station has the same setup – that one is apparently because of the station’s location / shape, for reasons I understand in my head but am too scientifically challenged to explain coherently.

Here’s a video of some houses in the Nusle valley being destroyed in 1965 to make way for the bridge, accompanied by some inappropriately jaunty music:

And here’s a brief 1968 piece about the construction:

Other victims of the bridge’s construction included the Czech Children’s Hospital, destroyed in 1971 (https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budovy_%C4%8Cesk%C3%A9_d%C4%9Btsk%C3%A9_nemocnice#/media/Soubor:%C4%8Cesk%C3%A1_d%C4%9Btsk%C3%A1_nemocnice_Karlov_(%C4%8CS,_1905).png…), and which was SK Nusle’s playing field.

The bridge – known as Most Klementa Gottwalda, after Klement Gottwald (1896-1953), first Communist leader of Czechoslovakia and murderous old bastard – opened in 1973.

Vyšehrad metro station, opened a year later, was named Gottwaldova.

Both received their current names in 1990.

Sadly, the main thing many people in Prague will think of when they think of the bridge is its popularity as a suicide spot.

In 2011, a statue by Prague sculptor Krištof Kintera was erected in Folimanka (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/19/prague-2-day-77-na-folimance/) to remember people who took their lives here. It’s called Z vlastního rozhodnutí (By (one’s) one choice) – Memento mori.

It takes the form of a street lamp whose light is directed upwards, towards the bridge.

@BBCRobC’s 2003 piece for Radio Prague about the bridge is still accessible: https://english.radio.cz/nusle-bridge-concrete-giant-which-fell-victim-politics-cold-war-8080048