What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on X on 8 March 2023.

Vyšehradská was created in 1869 by joining the roads from Karlovo náměstí to Trojická and from Trojická to Botič.

We’ve covered quite a lot of the history of Vyšehrad already – see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/23/prague-2-day-93-libusina/, https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/24/prague-2-day-94-k-rotunde/ and https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/24/prague-2-day-95-v-pevnosti/ for the goods.

And, even though it’s not on this street, poor old Vyšehrad Train Station is appearing a lot in my news alerts lately, so let’s take a look at that.

In 1872, the Prague connecting railway was opened, linking what we now know as Hlavák (then Franz Josef Station) with Smíchov. Vyšehrad Station was opened at the time too. Vyšehrad and Smíchov, at this time, were both outside of the city limits.

The building was initially pretty basic, but, in 1904, it was replaced by a more sophisticated version. Despite 1904 not being that far back, we don’t know who the architect was, although Antonín Balšánek has been suggested.

In 1960, the station was put out of use for passengers and became a passing loop (výhybna), i.e. a place on a single line railway where trains travelling in opposite directions can pass each other.

Renovation of the building started in the 1980s, but water damage which occurred during these renovations left it in a worse state than ever. You can see some of the insides here.

In 2000 and 2001, České dráhy engaged in talks with companies that, had they worked out, could’ve seen the building turned into an art house, an antique bookshop, or a full-on cultural centre with a cinema, restaurant, gallery and bookstore.

These plans fell apart due to disputes about whether the building belonged to České drahy or to the Railway Administration (SŽDC). In 2007, Prague 2 also offered to build a cultural centre here, but, again this (clearly) didn’t happen.

My main memories of the station from that year – my first stint of living in Prague – were ‘that looks really neglected’ and ‘sh*t, why do I always take this tram by accident after drinking too much’.

A company called TIP Estate – itself owned by a bank in Oregon – purchased the building in 2007… and, a year later, demolished the waiting room without telling anyone. Despite its being an official cultural monument. https://www.lidovky.cz/domov/nadrazi-vysehrad-celi-zkaze.A080306_084346_ln_praha_mtr

Prague 2 is interested in purchasing the building so that it can host the Slavic Epic by Alfons Mucha, but it seems that they don’t have the resources to do so without a good bit of help from the City of Prague itself.

A 2022 petition by the Pirates, Zachráníme nádraží Vyšehrad, doesn’t seem to have led anywhere either: https://zachranimenadrazivysehrad.cz/

Meanwhile, in February of this year, landslides meant that some of the plaster from the building fell onto the street in front of it: https://nasregion.cz/nadrazi-vysehrad-se-dale-rozpada-reseni-ostudy-prahy-je-v-nedohlednu-320099/

This is all a bit dispiriting, isn’t it? So let’s look forward to a time when the station can maybe, just maybe, host Mucha’s epic. which… wow.

YouTube has many well put together pieces about the station, such as this one.