What's in a Prague street name

As the street is named after Nusle, this was going to be day one of the series, until I realised that telling the whole story of Nusle might leave me with very little to say about many of the surrounding roads.

Until 1892, the part of Nuselská that was in Nusle was called Michelská silnice, as it was the main road that led to the nearby district of Michle. Meanwhile, the part of Nusleská that was in Michle was called… Nuselská silnice, for equal and opposite reasons.

Then, it was called Havlíčkova until 1928 – see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/12/26/prague-3-day-122-havlickovo-namesti/ for a primer – and, for a time, the street with this name also incorporated https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/03/02/prague-2-day-40-belehradska/.

It was then called Táborská until 1947 – look at https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/02/06/prague-4-day-26-taborska/, which is still nearby. But part of the street was also named Leninova, after Lenin, from 1946 to 1967.

Anyway, Nusle-specific things on this street that we haven’t look at yet include the Národní dům / National House, which is currently annoying me no end because I know I’ve got a photo of it somewhere.

Here’s one from 1903 until I remedy this situation, complete with now-defunct castle wall (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/01/07/prague-4-day-7-na-zamecke/).

The Neo-Renaissance building, opened in 1898 when Nusle itself obtained town status, used to be a cultural and social centre, but is now mainly residential.

I’m also quite partial to number 59 – which I can find my photos of. It’s a residential Art Nouveau building, built in 1914.

Its highlight is the two musicians – a guitarist and a lutist – surrounding its front door.