What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on X on 24 October 2023.

In the Middle Ages, there was a path here, known as ‘Myší díra’ (Mouse hole) due to its winding nature.

In the 1600s, a certain Albrecht z Valdštejna (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/08/prague-1-day-46-valdstejnske-namesti/) had the path converted into a proper road, capable of being used by heavy goods vehicles.

The name ‘Pod Bruskou’ was first used in the 1700s. It’s named after the Brusnice stream – see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/07/prague-1-day-12-u-brusnice/ – although the street is surely above the stream, at least in part.

The street has been a pedestrian zone since 2007, and if you want to thank somebody for that, you should get in touch with the owners of this hotel, who arranged it at their own expense: https://www.archiweb.cz/n/home/ze-slepe-ulice-pod-bruskou-v-praze-1-je-pesi-zona

Since February 2022, number 2 in the street has hosted Kunsthalle Praha, a private art gallery that has a pretty great selection of exhibitions: https://www.kunsthallepraha.org/en

Housed in a former transformation station for the city’s electricity works – named the Zenger Transformation Station after Czech meteorologist and physicist Václav Zenger (1830-1908), its reconstruction won the 2022 Czech National Architecture Award.