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 3 June 2024. Svatý Haštal is Saint Castulus, chamberlain to Emperor Diocletian. He sheltered Christians in his home, converted many people to Christianity, and also arranged for people to be baptised by Pope Caius. He was thanked for this by being being buried alive in a sandpit in 286. His…
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Originally published on X on 2 June 2024. Originally, the street was known either as U svatého Kříže – after a now-defunct church of the Holy Cross – or as U svaté Anežky (see yesterday: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/11/05/prague-1-day-243-anezska/). Around 1350, a hospital was built here, founded by one Bohuslav z Olbramovic, and completed at the instigation of…
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Originally published on X on 1 June 2024. Přemysl Otakar I was Duke of Bohemia from 1192 to 1193, and again from 1197 to 1198. In the latter year, he became the third King of Bohemia, and would stay as such until 1230. He was the first ruler of Bohemia who inherited the title of…
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Originally published on X on 31 May 2024. For this one, we’ve got to start with a writer, Jaroslav Fogler, who was born on Benátská (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/28/prague-2-day-127-benatska/) in 1907, although the family moved out of Prague shortly afterwards. After his father’s death in 1914, he moved back to Prague with his mother, living on Korunní (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2023/12/23/prague-3-day-187-korunni/).…
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Originally published on X on 30 May 2024. Around here, we’re near the end (or start) of one of the oldest trade routes between Prague (specifically Old Town Square), Bohemia and Germany. Therefore, around the 15th century, the Obecní dvůr (Municipal Court) was built here, as a yard owned by the Municipality of Prague. However,…
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Originally published on X on 29 May 2024. Until the 14th century, this was known as Starý uhelný trh (Old Coal Market), or Forum carbonum antiquum, after a market which was here but later moved to, yes, Uhelný trh: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/26/prague-1-day-147-uhelny-trh/. After that, it became known as Hrnčířská, thanks to its local craftsmen (a ‘hrnčíř’ is…
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Originally published on X on 28 May 2024. We’re still in ‘we’ve covered this, haven’t we’ territory: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/12/prague-1-day-189-tynska/. So far, we’ve had Týn, Týn Street and, now, Little Týn Street (or Týn Lane, if that’s how you’re feeling). But we’re not without things to talk about. For a start, U Černého jelena (The Black Stag)…
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Originally published on X on 27 May 2024. When I first drafted my post about Týn / Ungelt (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/12/prague-1-day-189-tynska/), I didn’t realise that the courtyard is also treated as its own street, and therefore has its own street sign. So it was quite nice to pop in and get some proper pictures of Týn, too.…
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Originally published on X on 26 May 2024. Two possibilities here. The first one is that the street is named after number 4, U Modrého rámce (The Blue Frame). It’s pictured, and, at least in 2024, not noticeably blue. The second theory is that the street is named after the frames (Czech: ‘rámy’) used by…
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Originally published on X on 24 May 2024. Originally, the street was called Za masnými krámy, on which see yesterday: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/11/03/prague-1-day-235-masna/. However, before the meat shops (probably – I can’t say for certain when those appeared), there was also the Church of St Benedict, built at some point between 1150 and 1175. The Teutonic Knights…
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Originally published on X on 23 May 2024. In the early 1300s (we’ll call this the ‘John of Bohemia era’), there were already meat shops around here. The local butchers formed their own guild in 1359, and regarded St Jacob’s as their place of worship (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/11/prague-1-day-185-jakubska/). The street (which was smaller at the time) therefore…
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Originally published on X on 22 May 2024. ‘Kolkovné’ is stamp tax or stamp duty; I would explain in detail what that is, but it’s been fifteen years since my tax exams, and stamp duty was one of the chapters that I don’t think I fully understood at the time. We believe stamp duty originated…
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Originally published on X on 21 May 2024. Dlouhá is also popularly known as Dlouhá třída, and there’s still at least one street sign with that variant. ‘Dlouhá’ means long, and the map in the previous post confirms that this name is appropriate. The street is first mentioned in writing in 1310. It understandably became…
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Originally published on X on 20 May 2024. In 1610, a Protestant nobleman, Jáchym Ondřej Šlik, bought a plot of land for the construction of a German Evangelical church; the foundation stone was laid a year later, and the church (Kostel svatého Salvátora / St Salvator’s Church) was consecrated in 1614. Salvátor is a Czech…
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Originally published on X on 17 May 2024. You know what a kostka is. Six sides. Numbers from 1 to 6 totalling 21. An item which may indirectly lead you to realise which of your friends gets seriously competitive about Monopoly. Reminds you of that shopping place near the airport. Or, if you’re feeling like…
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Originally published on X on 16 May 2024. A ‘vězení’ or a ‘věznice’ is a prison, and apparently there was once one here. The name can be traced back to the 18th century, but the prison… sorry, I’m drawing a blank. Across the country, there are ‘vazební věznice’ (remand prisons, i.e. prisons in which people…
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Originally published on X on 15 May 2024. The oldest Jewish settlements in Prague were probably on Malá Strana and near Vyšehrad. The Vyšehrad one disappeared around the end of the 11th century. The one in Malá Strana, meanwhile, was burned down in 1142, when Conrad III of Germany laid siege to Prague Castle. The…
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Originally published on X on 14 May 2024. A relatively quick one today, as I can just point you towards https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/31/prague-1-day-227-u-svateho-ducha/ (with an update: I’ve seen a website saying the church was built between 1346 and 1348). Originally, the southern part of the street was called U sv. Ducha (like yesterday’s street), and the northern…
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Originally published on X on 13 May 2024. Duch svatý, or svatý Duch, is not an obscure saint, disappointing as that is for those of us who were hoping Duch was a Celtic missionary or something. He’s the Holy Spirit. The Church of the Holy Spirit was built at some point between 1325 and 1350;…
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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…
What's in a Prague street name 