What's in a Prague street name

Za mlýnem was named in 1938.

‘Za mlýnem’ translates as ‘Behind the mill’, and so we need to talk about Kunratický potok.

In Praha-Kunratice (south-east of here, and a separate urban district from the Prague 4 urban district, but part of the Prague 4 municipal district – it’s complicated), a stream (potok) originates.

Eleven kilometres later, it flows into the Vltava, near Barrandov Bridge and the Pobřežní cesta (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/11/20/prague-4-day-235-pobrezni-cesta/) tram stop.

Around here – specifically where the street intersects with Nad strouhem – a water mill once stood; there’s a written record from 1734 referring to both it and a water miller called Josef Vrabec.

From 1910, a bakery also operated here.

Publicly available sources about the mill seem very limited indeed, but the fact that I’ve found a list of owners up until 1938 suggests that the construction of the street led to the destruction of the very thing it was named after. Which is a bit dispiriting.

To make up for that, here are some pictures of how the stream looks round here.