1889
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Prague 2, day 60: U Zvonařky
Originally published on Twitter on 5 January 2023. U Zvonařky was built in 1889. Zvonařka (English: bellfoundery? Or something that’s actually a word) is a homestead that was one located here. There were probably vineyards in this spot as early as the 12th century. It’s documented that the vineyard, in the mid-16th century, was owned Continue reading
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Prague 2, day 31: Sázavská
Originally published on Twitter on 7 December 2022. Sázavská was built in 1889. Sázava is the name both of a river in the Vysočina and Central Bohemian regions, and of a town of 3,700 people on its banks, in the Benešov district. The proto-Slavic verb sázeti means something like ‘to depose a lot of sediment’. Continue reading
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Prague 2, day 27: Moravská
Originally published on Twitter on 3 December 2022. I know I’m falling behind with reposting these on here, partly because I’m writing a new one every day on that place while it still exists. Moravská was built in 1889. You know where Moravia is. I know where Moravia is. I also don’t want to turn this Continue reading
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Prague 2, day 26: Šumavská
First published on Twitter on 2 December 2022. Šumavská was built in 1889. Šumava is a mountain range covering the borderlands of the Czech Republic, Germany (Bavaria) and Austria. Many German speakers refer to it as the Böhmerwald – (the Bohemian Forest), although Bavarians, clearly wanting to take full credit, like to call it the Continue reading
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Prague 2, day 25: Chodská
Originally published on Twitter on 1 December 2022. Chodská was built in 1889. From 1940 to 1945, this was Grimmova, after Jakob Grimm (1783-1863), co-author of the Deutsches Wörterbuch, co-editor of Grimms’ Fairy Tales, writer of Deutsche Mythologie and the elder of the Brothers Grimm. Chodsko is a historical area in the Domažlice region, named Continue reading
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Prague 2, day 16: Budečská
Originally published on Twitter on 22 November 2022. Budečská was built in 1889. From 1940 to 1945, this was Humboldtova, after Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767-1835), Prussian philosopher, linguist, diplomat and founder of the Humboldt University of Berlin. Budeč, the remains of a castle, is a national cultural monument located 17 km north-west of Prague in Continue reading
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Prague 2, day 15: Blanická
Originally published on Twitter on 21 November 2022. Horní (Upper) Blanická was built in 1889; Dolní (Lower) Blanická was built in 1896. They became one street in 1948. From 1940 to 1945, this was Schlözerova, after the aristocratic von Schlözer family, which included August Ludwig (1735-1809, a historian) and Dorothea (1770-1825, the first woman in Continue reading
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Prague 2, day 11: Mánesova
Originally published on Twitter on 17 November 2022. Mánesova was built in 1889. From 1934 to 1940, and again from 1945-7, the road was Barthouva, after Louis Barthou, who had served as PM of France in 1913, and became Minister of Foreign Affairs in February 1934, only to be shot and killed while meeting Alexander Continue reading
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Prague 2, day 7: Na Smetance
Originally published on Twitter on 13 November 2022. Na Smetance was built in 1889. Smetanka (translation: ‘Dandelion’) is a homestead and vineyard that used to lie in this spot. It’s old enough for it to be unclear when it was built. What we do know is that it housed a pub, and, from 1859, was Continue reading
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Prague 3, day 187: Korunní
Originally published on Twitter on 27 October 2022. Korunní was built in 1889. From 1956 to 1990, this was Wilhelma Piecka, after Wilhelm Pieck, first president of the GDR from 1949 until his death in 1960 (i.e. this is a rare case of somebody getting a street named after them during their lifetime). The rest Continue reading
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Prague 3, day 185: Nitranská
Originally published on Twitter on 25 October 2022. Nitranská was built in 1889. Nitra, located 95 km east of Bratislava, is the fifth-largest city in Slovakia, with a population of 79,000. It’s also the oldest Slovak city, first mentioned in 828, but archeological items found there have been dated back more than 25,000 years. A Continue reading
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Prague 3, day 184: Řipská
Originally published on Twitter on 24 October 2022. Řipská was built in 1889. Říp is a hill, 461 metres high, located just south of Roudnice nad Labem, in the Ústí Region. According to legend, Forefather Čech (Praotec Čech) arrived here with his people and climbed the hill. He then told his brothers that this was Continue reading
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Prague 3, day 183: Perunova
Originally published on Twitter on 23 October 2022. Perunova was built in 1889. Perun is a Slavic god and quite the multitasker, being the god of the sky, thunder, lightning, storms, rain, law, war, fertility and oak trees. He’s analogous to Thor and Mars. There are multiple potential origins for his name – for example, Continue reading
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Prague 3, day 174: Slezská
Originally published on Twitter on 14 October 2022. Slezská was built in 1889. Silesia (Slezsko in Czech, Śląsk in Polish, and Schlesien in German), is a historical region of Central Europe (translation: this might not be the briefest of threads). Czech Silesia is one of the three historical Czech lands, though it’s significantly smaller than Continue reading
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Prague 3, day 167: Šrobárova
Originally posted on Twitter on 7 October 2022. There is no day 166, because day 166 on the Twitter version was a spoof post which… well, I don’t feel it particularly landed at the time, and you *really* had to be there for it to even start landing. Anyway, moving on. Šrobárova was built in Continue reading
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Prague 3, day 115: Husinecká
Originally published on Twitter on 16 August 2022. Husinecká was built in 1889. In 1898, a nearby street, Ambrožova (not the current one which is discussed under https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/11/21/prague-3-day-68-ambrozova/) was merged into Husinecká. Husinec (current population approx. 1,400) is a village in the Prachatice district in South Bohemia. It’s best known as the supposed birthplace of… Continue reading
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Prague 3, day 113: Kostnické náměstí
Originally published on Twitter on 14 August 2022. Kostnické náměstí was built in 1889. Kostnice is the Czech name for the German town that we’re allowed to call either Konstanz or Constance in English. It lies on Lake Constance, which you’ll hear many people calling Bodensee instead. Konstanz became a major spiritual centre in the Continue reading
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Prague 3, day 102: Trocnovská
Originally published on Twitter on 3 August 2022. Trocnovská was built in 1889. Trocnov, population 112, is a village in the České Budějovice district. Before 1949, the name ‘Trocnov’ only referred to the court there, and the village itself was called Záluží (approx. ‘Behind the Floodplain’). Jan Žižka was born less than two kilometres from Continue reading
What's in a Prague street name 