What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on X on 21 April 2023.

Odborů was built in 1897.

Until 1947, this was the eastern part of Na Zbořenci: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/01/prague-2-day-160-na-zborenci/.

Then it was Kleinova until 1952. This story deserves to be told in a bit more detail than I’ve done for other street names that are no longer in use – and it’s relevant to the street’s current name too.

Robert Klein was born to a Jewish family in Poděbrady in 1885.

Starting professional life as a merchant and private official, he worked in the regional educational centre in Plzeň and became editor of the Central Trade and Industry Association’s magazine.

He became the Union’s managing secretary in 1919, and also helped set up the United Union of Private Employees (Jednotný svaz soukromých zaměstnanců).

Entering Parliament in 1920 for the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Labour Party (ČSSD), he then moved to the Socialist Association, before rejoining the ČSSD in 1924. He would stay in Parliament until 1939 (switching to the National Labour Party upon its formation in 1938).

In 1935, he worked closely with German and Austrian anti-fascist trade unionists who had fled to Czechoslovakia. This earned him some time in prison as soon as Nazi Germany occupied Bohemia and Moravia in 1939.

He was released, but in September 1939 he was deported to Buchenwald, where he was forced to perform particularly hard labour.

Physically and mentally affected by this, he was placed in the sanatorium at Buchenwald, before being sent to Sonnenstein, an extermination facility, where he was murdered in July 1941.

An odbor is a trade union, and the Jednotný odborový svaz veřejných a soukromých zaměstnanců / Unified Trade Union of Public and Private Employees used to have its headquarters on this street.

Its communist replacement, the Revolutionary Trade Union Movement (Revoluční odborové hnutí) would also have its headquarters on the street, which got its current name in 1952.

However, in 1953, ROH would move to the House of Trade Unions, which was in Žižkov and which you can read about here: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2023/01/13/prague-3-day-126-namesti-winstona-churchilla/.