What's in a Prague street name

Originally posted on X on 19 March 2023.

Viničná was first mentioned in 1869.

This is a remarkably quick one: a vinice is a vineyard, and readers of the Prague 2 posts won’t be too surprised to know that there were once several of these round here.

Once upon a time, pre-Viničná, there was another street just to the west of here, called Větrník, and named after the local hill: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/25/prague-2-day-113-apolinarska/.

Nowadays, Viničná is best known for hosting part of Charles University’s Faculty of Science (Unit 7, built in 1879).

In 1911, a certain Albert Einstein occupied the chair in theoretical physics at the German Charles-Ferdinand University (as opposed to the Czech one – the two had separated in 1882).

He and his wife, Mileva, lived at Lesnická 1215/07 in Smíchov. Apparently, they didn’t enjoy Prague very much, and, after 16 months, they moved to Zürich instead. Nevertheless, their brief stay is commemorated by a plaque at number 7, the entrance to the Faculty.