What's in a Prague street name

Podolské nábřeží has existed in its current form since 1990.

From 1904 to 1906, the part of the embankment leading from the Vyšehrad Tunnel (mentioned on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/26/prague-2-day-122-podskalska/) to Podolská (which will get its own post in a couple of days) was called Vyšehradské nábřeží, ie the Vyšehrad Embankment.

From 1906 to 1924, it was named Libušino nábřeží, and for the mythical figure of Libuše, see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/23/prague-2-day-93-libusina/. This is how Vyšehrad, where Libuše supposedly predicted the future existence of Prague, looks while you’re waiting for the tram here.

Then, from 1924 to 1951 (with a break – see below), it was called Rašínovo nábreží, as the embankment directly to the north was/still is – see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/28/prague-2-day-125-rasinovo-nabrezi/.

Like Rašínovo nábreží, it was named Karl-Lažnovský-Ufer during World War II, after a journalist sympathetic to the Nazi occupation.

In 1951, Rašín Embankment was again separated: present-day Rašínovo was called Nábřeží Bedřicha Engelse (Bedřich = Friedrich), and present-day Podolské was named Nábřeží Karla Marxe. Probably not much need for me to explain who they were.

Just to make things more complicated: in 1935, the part of the embankment south of Podolská had already been named as Podolské nábřeží.

In 1990, the already-existing Podolské nábřeží and the pre-existing Nábřeží Karla Marxe became one street. Given the latter was not exactly flavour of the month in 1990, the whole street took on the name of the former.

As a main road in a scenic location, Podolské nábřeží is not without its sights and places that you may have wound up at previously. These include the maternity hospital discussed on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/07/04/prague-4-day-136-u-podolskeho-sanatoria/ yesterday.

There’s also Žluté lázně (‘Yellow spa’), a waterside sports facility that has a lot going on in the summer months: https://www.zlutelazne.cz/en.

Then, there’s the Podolí Swimming Stadium, where you may have been recently if these temperatures are too much for you. It was opened in 1965 on the site of a former quarry (see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/06/17/prague-4-day-120-nad-cementarnou/).

Princess Diana secretly managed to pop in for a swim in 1991: https://praha.rozhlas.cz/princezna-diana-si-zaplavala-v-podoli-trenerka-si-ji-spletla-se-zavodnici-7604503. The indoor pool was reserved for training only, and Diana, as a good swimmer, was only detected as an intruder towards the end of her session.

Finally, there’s this stunner, but to say any more about it right now would do me out of material for an upcoming post.

On 24 August 1968 – three days after Soviet troops had invaded Czechoslovakia – two 15-year-olds, Karel Paríšek and Karel Němec, were in a car on Podolské nábřeží, being driven home after distributing leaflets condemning the occupation.

A Soviet patrol shot at the car repeatedly. The driver survived; the two boys did not.

A plaque at number 14 commemorates this senseless event.