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: Prague 1
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Originally published on X on 7 November 2023. A ‘most’ is a bridge. And this street connects a very, very well-known one with Malostranské náměstí (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/08/prague-1-day-38-malostranske-namesti/). This is the Malá Strana Bridge Tower at the end of the street, although your eye may be drawn more to the huge crowds. Mostecká connects Charles Bridge and…
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Originally published on X on 6 November 2023. You’ll know who St Joseph was. The kid in his arms ended up being a pretty big deal too. In 1655, the Discalced Carmelites, as founded by St Theresa of Avila, were called to Prague by Ferdinand III (a quick lesson about the Carmelites is here: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/08/prague-1-day-39-karmelitska/).…
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Originally published on X on 5 November 2023. Letná, originally called Leteň, or Letná pole (Summer Fields), was originally an area of vineyards and gardens, first mentioned in writing in 1261, when Přemysl Otakar II, who had just been crowned, held a banquet there. A future king, Sigismund of Luxembourg / Zikmund Lucemburský, would use…
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Originally published on 4 November 2023. Cihelná with an á is the feminine adjective from cihelna without an á, meaning ‘brickworks’. Once upon a time, there were two tanneries here, but, in 1781, František Antonín Linhart Herget, who had purchased them, had a Baroque brickyard built in their place. A later owner, Josef Zobel, had…
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Originally published on X on 3 November 2023. Before I get onto the seminar itself, here’s a (not terribly brief) guide to who would qualify as lužický: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/02/14/prague-2-day-28-luzicka/ If you don’t want to read that: Sorbs are a Slavic ethnic group who currently live in Lusatia, which is in Saxony and Brandenburg in Germany. They…
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Originally published on X on 2 November 2023. I’m going to be mildly lazy now and point you towards Vinohrady: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/01/18/prague-2-day-11-manesova/ The bridge was meant to replace Rudolf’s Footbridge (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/08/prague-1-day-56-u-zelezne-lavky/), and was meant to be named after him too. However, when it opened in March 1914, it was called the Archduke Franz Ferdinand Bridge, for…
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Originally published on X on 1 November 2023. Street name translates as ‘By the Iron Bridge’. Before 1868, Prague only had two bridges across the Vltava. Other than the very famous one which is still there, there was the Emperor Francis I Bridge, which isn’t. It was built in 1841, and replaced in 1898 (there’ll…
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Originally published on X on 31 October 2023. A plovárna is an outdoor swimming pool, or, for Brits of a certain age, a lido. Until the 1780s, this was the site of a Jesuit church and its garden, inevitably closed down as a result of Josef II’s reforms. Around 1810, one Arnošt z Pfuolu founded an…
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Originally published on X on 30 October 2023. Adolf Kosárek was born in Herálec, near (Havlíčkův) Brod, in 1830, and went to school in Kutná Hora before working as a clerk. He did drawing and painting in his spare time, eventually attracting the attention of Friedrich Prince zu Schwarzenberg, who had become Archbishop of Prague…
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Originally published on X on 29 October 2023. Eduard Beneš was born as the tenth of ten children in Kožlany, near Plzeň, in 1884. He attended the gymnasium in Vinohrady (on Londýnská – https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/03/03/prague-2-day-41-londynska/), then studying at Prague University, followed by the Sorbonne, Berlin and Dijon. In Paris, he became engaged to Anna (later Hana)…
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Originally published on X on 27 October 2023. Alois Klar (no á) was born in Úštěk in 1763. He went to school in Litoměřice, and then went to Prague to study languages, graduating in 1782. Four years after that, he became a professor back in Litoměřice, before returning to Prague University after being appointed professor…
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Originally published on X on 26 October 2023. These supposed ‘old castle steps’ have been around since the 17th century. Which, sure, makes them old, but doesn’t make them older than the supposedly ‘new’ castle steps discussed on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/08/prague-1-day-40-zamecke-schody/. They were given a reconstruction in 1835-7, and have had their current name since then. They’re…
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Originally published on X on 25 October 2023. An opyš is ‘a narrow ridge rising from a flat hill into a valley’. It’s not entirely clear how the word came about; there are those who believe that the word originally meant ‘tail’ (ocas in modern Czech). Anyway, Opyš has become the name given to the…
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Originally published on X on 24 October 2023. In the Middle Ages, there was a path here, known as ‘Myší díra’ (Mouse hole) due to its winding nature. In the 1600s, a certain Albrecht z Valdštejna (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/08/prague-1-day-46-valdstejnske-namesti/) had the path converted into a proper road, capable of being used by heavy goods vehicles. The name…
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Originally published on X on 23 October 2023. You can read the long, devious, side-swapping story of Albrecht z Valdštejna here: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/08/prague-1-day-46-valdstejnske-namesti/. But I’m also going to suggest that you take a look at the story of Johannes Kepler: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/08/prague-1-day-19-keplerova/. Because, in 1608, a young Valdštejn was in Prague and, as was customary for anyone…
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Originally published on X on 22 October 2023. Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna – usually called Albrecht von Wallenstein in English texts – was born in the Heřmanice Fortress, near Jaroměř, in 1583. His father was a nobleman who had fallen on hard times, and, by the age of eleven, Albrecht had become an orphan…
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Originally published on X on 21 October 2023. U Zlaté Studně translates as ‘At the Golden Well’. ‘So, where’s the well?’, I heard you ask. And, erm, it isn’t. Or, at least, not anymore, and I don’t know when/if it existed. Although an actual well isn’t here, if you zoom in on the façade of…
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Originally published on X on 20 October 2023. The earliest mention of a church round here dates from 1228. In 1285, King Václav II invited a group of Augustine monks to Prague and decided they needed a new, better church in the same location. It was devoted to Thomas the Apostle (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/07/prague-1-day-8-na-baste-sv-tomase/). The altar was…
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Originally published on X on 19 October 2023. Buckle up, kids, this one probably has a link to many of your least favourite Czechs. Because sněmovna is short for Poslanecká sněmovna, or ‘Chamber of Deputies’. In 1650, one Countess Markéta Anna Thunová purchased a building here, and the family bought two more in 1662 and…
What's in a Prague street name 