What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on X on 10 March 2023.

Na hrobci was built around 1890.

Hrobec is presumably a no-longer-used diminutive of hrob, or ‘grave’. And it’s theory time.

Theory number one is that, back the the olden days when things were decidedly pagan, there was a burial ground here.

Theory number two is that this was where various (possibly fictional) Přemyslids were buried, specifically Přemysl, Nezamysl, his wife Hruba and their son Mnata (see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/25/prague-2-day-103-neklanova/ for a list of princes).

Na Hrobci was also the name of a house where the street is now, which included images of six Přemyslid princes – the three listed above, plus Vojen, Vratislav (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/25/prague-2-day-99-vratislavova/) and Good King Václav.

For language fans, Czech expressions involving hrob include obracet se v hrobě (to be turning in one’s), kopat si vlastní hrob (to dig one’s own) and stařec nad hrobem (‘coffin dodger’).