What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on X on 12 February 2024.

A havíř is a ‘coal miner’, or, in ‘I didn’t realise that was a specifically British word’ news, a ‘collier’.

It’s actually a borrowing from the German Hauer, which is also how we get the English profession name, and surname, ‘hewer’.

This house, at number 2, is called U Havíře.

Take a look at the corner, and you’ll see a sculpture of a miner: https://www.turistika.cz/mista/praha-stare-mesto-dum-u-haviru/detail. Hence the street name.

On the corner of Havířská, you’ve also got the functionalist U Sedláků (1929-32). It used to be a shopping centre, but nowadays, if you want a shopping centre, you should turn around and face the other way: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/22/prague-1-day-137-na-prikope/.