What's in a Prague street name

Every street in Prague, one by one.


Factories

  • Prague 4, day 120: Nad cementárnou

    Nad cementárnou was built in 1935. False friend alert: a ‘cementárna’ is not a cemetery, even though one is nearby and has given its name to a street in the area. It’s a cement factory. Such a factory was opened in Podolí in 1871. It soon ran into financial difficulties, as the Vienna Stock Exchange Continue reading

  • Prague 4, day 41: Kloboučnická

    Kloboučnická was nameless until 1920. Our starting point is ‘klobouk’, which means ‘hat’. A diminutive form of this is ‘klobouček’, which means ‘cap’ (i.e. a little hat). Meanwhile, a ‘kloboučnictví’ would either be a place where hats are made, or where they’re sold. Apparently, this trade is called ‘millinery’, which may be something everybody else Continue reading

  • Prague 1, day 226: Bílkova

    Originally published on X on 12 May 2024. Bělidlo’ is bleach, whitener or a bleaching agent. It can also be used to denote a bleachery, the part of a textile factory where chemical bleaching of textiles is carried out. If you recognise the word, it might be because you’ve read Babička (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/25/prague-2-day-110-bozeny-nemcove/), as part of Continue reading

  • Prague 3, day 92: Na Parukářce

    Originally published on Twitter on 24 July 2022. Na Parukářce was built in 1947. We explained Parukářka yesterday – see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/11/26/prague-3-day-91-pod-parukarkou/ – so today we can talk about people not quite agreeing what this area should be called. We know about Vrch svatého Kríže / Mount of the Holy Cross, named after a wooden cross Continue reading

  • Prague 3, day 90: V Kapslovně

    Originally published on Twitter on 22 July 2022. V Kapslovně was built in 1997. I’m about to go on annual leave from work for two weeks and have what I can only describe as a Kapsload of work to get through today, so I’m happy to keep this one brief and point you to https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/11/22/prague-3-day-74-ke-kapslovne/. Continue reading

  • Prague 3, day 74: Ke Kapslovně

    Originally published on Twitter on 6 July 2022. Ke Kapslovně was built in 1975, but was called U Stadionu (Stadium) until 2008. Louis Sellier and Jean Maria Nicolaus Bellot founded a company, Sellier & Bellot, in Žižkov in 1825, which made cartridges for infantry, as well as matches (up to 60 million per year). The Continue reading