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: Nusle
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Na úspěchu was built in 1934. ‘Úspěch’ is ‘success’. It can also be translated as ‘achievement’ or ‘attainment’. And, yes, once again, the building of all the streets around here was indeed seen as an achievement. We have to assume the street namers were being positive, and not quietly considering that the work had been…
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Spolupráce was built in 1938. ‘Spolupráce’ is cooperation, or collaboration. Synonyms for that include the very recognisable ‘kooperace’, and the less recognisable ‘součinnost’. A ‘spolupracovník’ (male) or ‘spolupracovnice’ (female) is another way of referring to your ‘kolega’ (male) or ‘kolegyně’ (female), ie your co-worker. And you know what took cooperation? Building all the houses and…
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Nad Jezerkou was built in 1934. Remember how yesterday’s street (LINK) was above Jezerka? Well, today’s is quite literally called… Above Jezerka. So here’s a link to that again: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/03/19/prague-4-day-51-na-jezerce/. I do promise these are going to get more varied soon, although I’ve not given much evidence of that for at least three weeks now.
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Nad studánkou was built in 1934. A ‘studánka’ is a spring or a well, and ‘nad’ means above – and what this street is above has been discussed before. We’re talking about the ancient spring called Jezerka, where Libuše, the mythological founder of Prague, is said to have bathed. For the full story, check out…
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Na lepším was built in 1934. That literally translates as ‘on the better’… something. ‘Note’ would fit in quite well. One theory has it that this once a name for the local land, so called because its soil was superior to that of neighbouring areas. However, if you’ve been following the last batch of street…
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Zdařilá was built in 1938. If something is ‘zdařilý’ (feminine: zdařilá), it’s successful, well done or just plain good. The adjective derives from the reflexive verb ‘zdařit se’, which means to succeed or to turn out well. And, in 1938, whoever was in charge of names of streets decreed that the building job done over…
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Zdaru was named in 1941. ‘Zdar’ translates as ‘success’ or ‘luck’. If you were to say ‘Mnoho zdaru!’ to someone, you’d be wishing them good luck. It derives from ‘dar’, which means ‘gift’ or ‘present’. It’s also where we get ‘nazdar’, which takes third place to ‘ahoj’ and ‘čau’ in the ‘how to greet your…
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Na výsledku II was named in 1947. Remember yesterday’s very ‘OK, let’s give this street a name, but let’s not waste our imagination’ story? Well, just to show even less imagination, the name was given to not one street, but two.
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Na výsledku I was named in 1947. A ‘výsledek’ is a result, outcome, score, etc. It’ll be (extremely) clear to anyone following these recent posts that there was a lot of construction of residential buildings around here in the 1930s and 1940s. A lot. By 1947, this street didn’t have a name yet. Not feeling…
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Družnosti was built in 1934. ‘Družnost’ would typically be translated as ‘sociability’ or ‘gregariousness’. Both of which are fine qualities. However, the street name comes from that which has been discussed a lot in recent posts: this area, formerly part of the Jezerka farmstead (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/03/19/prague-4-day-51-na-jezerce/), was sold to construction cooperatives (družstva) so that they could…
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U Slovanské Pojišťovny was built in 1934. In 1920, Viktor Rašín, a financier and economist, founded Slovanská pojišťovna a záložna (Slavic Insurance and Savings Bank). Its headquarters were at 66 Wenceslas Square (sadly not one of the many buildings covered on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/17/prague-1-day-123-vaclavske-namesti/). The Rašíns were quite high-profile in the early days of Czechoslovakia: Viktor’s brother,…
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U družstva Život was built in 1934. Another day, another case where a construction cooperative built the homes in the street: its name, ‘Život’, translates as ‘life’. Which makes it pretty damn unsearchable, but at least we can compensate today with some phrases. ‘Posmrtný život’ is ‘life after death’, or the afterlife; a ‘příběh ze života’ is…
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U družstva Repo was built in 1938. As discussed on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/03/28/prague-4-day-60-druzstevni-ochoz/, everything in this (just about) circle is all about the družstva, or cooperatives. In this case of this street, all the homes were built by a construction cooperative called Repo. The word ‘repo’ relates to a lending rate, but it seems there’s nothing about…
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U Jezerky was named in 1952. We’re entering repetition territory again: U Jezerky is located next to Jezerka, which we gave due attention on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/03/19/prague-4-day-51-na-jezerce/. And which is also the source (pun intended) of the stories behind https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/02/27/prague-4-day-47-pod-pramenem/, https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/03/22/prague-4-day-54-pod-lazni/ and https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/03/26/prague-4-day-58-u-libusinych-lazni/.
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Rovnoběžná was named in 1952. ‘Rovnoběžná’ is the feminine version of ‘rovnoběžný’, which translates as ‘parallel’. And, because everything is about Družstevní ochoz (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/03/28/prague-4-day-60-druzstevni-ochoz/) round here, this street is parallel to that one. Such is the importance of The Ochoz that the two addresses on Rovnoběžná, located between Družstevní ochoz 30 and 36, are numbered…
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K ochozu was given its name in 1952. It leads to (k) Družstevní ochoz, which we discussed yesterday: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/03/28/prague-4-day-60-druzstevni-ochoz/. Yes, that was incredibly brief, but that feels quite fitting for a street which has a grand total of one address on it.
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Družstevní ochoz was built in 1941, and has an excellent shape. ‘Družstevní’ is the adjective deriving from ‘družstvo’, which means ‘cooperative’. Everything within that circle of sorts consists of residential homes built by cooperatives. ‘Ochoz’, meanwhile, would translate as ‘gallery’, but not in the art sense: it’s a ‘a space allowing longitudinal passage through walls’.…
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Sdružení was given its name in 1938. A ‘sdružení’ is an association, a group, or a club. And the name of the street commemorates the cooperative association that was involved in its construction. This will be something of a running theme for the next couple of weeks, or more; to avoid repetition (or deflect from…
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U Libušiných lázní was built in 1934. Libuše has been discussed in some detail before – see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/23/prague-2-day-93-libusina/ – but the short version is that she was a legendary ancestor of the Přemyslid dynasty. She is also said to have predicted the future existence of a city you might have heard of. It’s called Prague.…
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Soudní was built in 1931. ‘Soudní’ would typically be translated as ‘judicial’, from ‘soud’ (‘court’, but also ‘trial’). In 1850, the High Provincial Court in Prague (Vrchní zemský soud v Praze) was established, replacing the General Court of Appeal. It was responsible for dealing with appeals in Bohemia (not Moravia), as well as checking up…