What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on X on 2 February 2024.

‘Jindřich’ is Henry, and the two don’t seem so different once you realise that one of the German versions of ‘Henry’ is ‘Heinrich’.

And one famous German Henry was Henry II (973-1024), Holy Roman Emperor, also known as Saint Henry the Exuberant.

He essentially incorporated Bohemia into the Holy Roman Empire, and had a profound fondness for fighting for Poland.

Saints get churches dedicated to them – such as the Church of St. Henry and St. Cunigunde / Kostel svatého Jindřicha a svaté Kunhuty, consecrated in 1351, a few years after the New Town was founded.

(Cunigunde of Luxembourg (975-1040) was Henry’s wife)

The Hussites were in control of the church for about two hundred years from the early 1400s onwards. In the 1470s, they built a new bell tower.

Those of you who pass through central Prague on a regular basis will recognise it.

What you see these days of the church these days is largely the result of a major renovation in 1879; the tower, meanwhile, was done up in the 1970s, and gained new floors, a lift and a viewpoint.

It’s also got a ‘romantic unique’ restaurant, because what doesn’t spell romance like the possibility of a very large bell going off in your ear while you’re eating.

The tower is owned by the Prague Archdiocese, who clearly like the idea of a bit of cash entering their bank account, because they want to sell the tower to the city of Prague for a mere CZK 100 million: https://czechdaily.cz/prague-archdiocese-to-sell-jindrisska-tower-to-the-city-for-100-million-crowns/. The City of Prague is less up for it.

Jindřišská is also home to Prague’s main post office (more main than ever after so many local ones were closed last year). It was built between 1871 and 1874 in Neo-Renaissance style.

I might have gone off on a Twitter rant about the waiting times when I was there on Tuesday evening, but I can’t deny that its interior is stunning.

Proving that Jindřišská is basically Monopoly played by institutions that lots of people feel let down by, Česká pošta wants to sell the building for a mere CZK 1.325 billion, and only keep on using parts of it: https://www.seznamzpravy.cz/clanek/domaci-politika-posta-v-jindrisske-je-na-prodej-zajemce-musi-dodrzet-podminku-232497

Meanwhile, the post office that was ten minutes from my flat until last summer remains empty, and I hope the people who worked there have found something new.

Just down the road, Harrach Palace was built in 1770 but is named after its owner around the 1850s, František Arnošt, Count of Harrach. It contains the Museum of Senses, which I’ve just spent ten minutes trying to come up with a pun about. And failed.

Jindříšská has also given its name to one of the New Town’s multiple shopping arcades.

I would say that Jindřišská is a key thoroughfare on the Prague tram network, but, given the current roadworks near the train station and the amount I’m having to use Bolt lately, that is, for some of us as at 2 February 2024, a lie.

Looks nice though.

Update: Czech Post called off its plans to sell the post office building in May 2024, although one could argue that, as no bids were received, the decision was really made for them.