What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on 13 July 2024.

And today, we come to the end of the road(s).

For the story of the name Těšnov, see yesterday: TESNOV

Commissioned in 1980, the 360-metre excavated road tunnel connects Nábřeží Ludvíka Svobody (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/11/10/prague-1-day-284-tesnov/) with Rohanské nábřeží (on the other side, and therefore in Prague 8).

It’s near the Ministries of Transport and Agriculture, and therefore also near the former headquarters of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (there’s an interesting story on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/11/10/prague-1-day-279-holbova/).

Given its location, and the fact that it came into being during the presidency of Gustáv Husák, it’s colloquially known as Husákovo ticho (Husák’s Silence).

An unconfirmed story has it that the tunnel was built so that the sound of passing cars wouldn’t disturb the Communists’ meetings. This seems unlikely, but I can confirm that the cars are still pretty loud.

While we’re in the area, this nearby statue, created by Jiří Plieštik and unveiled in 2004, deserves a bit of attention.

Its location near the Ministry of Agriculture is anything but coincidental – it commemorates the people who were screwed over by collectivisation (i.e. the abolition of private ownership of agricultural land), which mainly happened in the 1950s.

95% of farms in Czechoslovakia were collectivised – with the process being more thorough here than in Slovakia – and nobody could own more than 50 hectares of land. Many left agriculture – and the countryside – altogether.

Hence the depiction of sheaves of corn surrounded by barbed wire.