What's in a Prague street name
Every street in Prague, one by one.
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I could talk about myself for ages, or I could point out that https://english.radio.cz/ed-ley-englishman-recording-stories-pragues-streets-one-one-8806941 is over two years old but still largely stands (other than the Twitter links).
Category: Braník
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Na usedlosti was built in 1935. An ‘usedlost’ is a homestead, a farmstead or an estate. In English, the difference between a homestead and a farmstead is that the former intends to feed its own inhabitants, whereas the latter’s role is agricultural production. Czech makes no distinction between the two, which is why I’ve been…
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Nad Křížkem was built in 1938. In the late 1800s, a Neo-Renaissance chateau, with quite an irregular form, was built round here on the site of an earlier building; it was named Na Křížku (‘At the small cross’). It originally served as a farmstead. However, in the early 20th century, it was turned into a…
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Ve dvoře was built named around 1900. As mentioned yesterday (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/11/02/prague-4-day-217-na-mlejnku/), the Dominican Order of Saint Giles was given part of Braník in 1625, as part of Emperor Ferdinand II’s re-Catholicisation drive. However, Braník was outside the Prague city walls, and therefore suffered quite badly during the Thirty Years’ War. By 1650, reconstruction was sorely…
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Na Mlejnku was named in 1938. In 1625, the Dominican Order of St Giles (see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/06/prague-1-day-171-jilska/ for a bit more about him and them) came to Braník and acquired the local fortified manor. At some point, they had a water mill – a vodni mlýn – built. It lasted a good while, being purchased by…
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Nad kostelem was built in 1934. And that’s a particularly satisfying street sign pic. ‘Nad kostelem’ translates as ‘Above the church’. The church in question is Kostel svatého Prokopa v Braníku (the Church of St. Prokop in Braník), the tower which you can see in this picture. The single-nave, Romanesque Revival-style church was consecrated in 1901;…
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U Šálkovny was built in 1935. Vineyards existed around here at least as far back as 1400. About four hundred years later, a farmstead was set up here by an owner called Mr Šálek. Šálek was Jewish and, for a time, the farmstead included a synagogue. After World War One – by which time the…
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Mezivrší was first given a name in 1911. Until 1947 (other than during the Nazi occupation), it was called Kateřinská, supposedly an old name for the immediate surrounding area. One has to assume there was a church or other institution named after St Catherine. For a still-existing street called Kateřinská to the north of here,…
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V malých domech III was built in 1935. You know the drill by now (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/10/27/prague-4-day-211-v-malych-domech-i/). You may also be happy to know that there is no V malých domech IV, and so we can talk about something new tomorrow.
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V malých domech II was built in 1935. I can’t give new information today (which, as I’m on holiday, is fine by me), but I can point you to https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/10/27/prague-4-day-211-v-malych-domech-i/ and give you a picture of the street and its supposed small houses.
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V malých domech I was built in 1935. You’ll often hear it mentioned how the First Czechoslovak Republic was (after 1933) the only democratic country in the region, and how it was one of the world’s ten most industrialised countries. Cue nostalgia (also, it seems it was ‘only’ 14th). One of the facts that this…
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Nad přívozem was built in 1926. A ‘přívoz’ is a ferry. Czech Wikipedia lists 17 current ferry routes across the Vltava – and 85 which are no more. Of the 17 remaining ones, only six are in Prague, and one is just for tourists. Two ferries used to cross the Vltava to/from Braník: one, sailing…
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Školní was built in 1911. Školní is named after the elementary school at number 3, which, as implied by its website, has been operating since 1894: https://www.zsskolni.cz/. It seems things have come full circle, and the school is now named after the street. The school got a significant makeover in 2018: https://praha4.cz/rekonstrukce-zs-v-braniku-konci/. This street got…
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Zemanka was built in 1968. I’ve got an early start tomorrow, so it’s quite nice to be able to just put you in the direction of https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/10/23/prague-4-day-207-na-zemance/ and head to bed.
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Na Zemance was built in 1935. A vineyard was probably in place here as far back as the Middle Ages. It survived several centuries, but took a bit of a beating in the War of the Austrian Succession (1740 to 1748). Reduced from being a vineyard to just being a field, it was purchased by…
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Zelený pruh was built in… read on. In 1941, a street, intended to be called Weilburgova, was built. It was named after Jan Weilburg z Widy, who, in the late 1400s, was the highest scribe in the Old Town. We have to assume he was a German speaker, not only because of his name, but…
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Na rozhledu was built in 1934. A ‘rozhled’ is a ‘view’ or an ‘outlook’. And this is a good reminder that we are currently overlooking the Branické skály, or Braník Rocks (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/10/02/prague-4-day-187-nad-lomem/). There are some pretty great views round here, and I need to add some pictures of them to these posts. Stand in the…
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Jasná II was built in 1938. I’m going to point you towards https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/10/18/prague-4-day-202-jasna-i/ and remind you that I write about these street names, but I don’t get to decide how varied they are(n’t).
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Stará cesta was named in 1911. Which may also be when that street sign was last cleaned. Goodness. ‘Stará cesta’ translates as ‘old path’, and this is exactly what you have here. A bit further down the path, you’ve got the Marold Villa, where the painter Luděk Marold (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/02/23/prague-4-day-43-maroldova/) was brought up here by his…
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U dubu was built in 1925. A ‘dub’ is an oak tree. Once upon a time, Slavs venerated oak trees which were dedicated to Perun, who was the god of the sky, thunder, lightning, storms, rain, law, war and, yes, oak trees (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2023/12/23/prague-3-day-183-perunova/). But oaks aren’t just important to the Slavs – the oak is…
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Roškotova was built in 1990. Kamil Roškot was born in Vlašim in 1886; as a teenager, he studied at the gymnasium on Křemencova (Bohemia’s first Realgymnasium – see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/13/prague-1-day-100-kremencova/). From 1904 to 1910, he studied civil engineering at Prague’s German Technical University, while taking part-time architecture classes at the Czech counterpart. This was followed by further…
What's in a Prague street name 