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 3
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Originally published on Twitter on 21 May 2022. Jeseniova was built in 1875. Jan Jesenius / Ján Jesenský (1566-1621) was a physician, politician and philosopher, born in Wrocław (then Breslau) to a father of Slovak origin. He studied in Wittenberg, Leipzig and Padua, becoming professor of anatomy at the first of these in 1594. In…
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Originally published on Twitter on 20 May 2022. Loudova was built in 1930. Matěj Louda z Chlumčan (died 1460) was commander of Písek, a Hussite warrior and diplomat, and owner of a farm in Chlumčany near Louny. He studied at Charles University. He didn’t complete his studies, but he did became aware of Jan Hus’s…
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Originally published on Twitter on 19 May 2022. Viklefova was built in 1930. It’s named after John Wycliffe (1320-1384-ish), an English theologian, and one of the first to translate the Bible into Middle English, though historians say he may not have done much of the translation himself. Wycliffe also wrote that papal claims of temporal…
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Originally published on Twitter on 18 May 2022. Buchovcova was built in 1930. Zbyněk Buchovec z Buchova (died 1436?) was a Hussite warrior and commander (hejtman). Coming from a peasant family, he was elected one of the four governors of the newly founded town of Tábor in 1420 (one of the other three being Jan Žižka).…
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Rečkova was built in 1930. The name has nothing to do with Greece, which is Řecko in Czech (sometimes when I’m whizzing past here on the tram, I mistakenly think it’s called Řeckova, and yes, that name would make no grammatical sense). Jan Reček z Ledče was a maltster and a well-to-do citizen of Prague’s…
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Originally posted on Twitter on 16 May 2022. Jana Želivského was built in 1931. It was originally named Mladoňovicova, after Petr z Mladoňovic (died 1451), a Hussite writer and scribe to Jan z Chlumu (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/11/19/prague-3-day-18-chlumova/). Jan Želivský (1380-1422) was a priest during the Hussite Reformation, with a taste for somewhat apocalyptic sermons. On 30 July…
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Zelenky Hajského was built, with a different name (see later), in 1908. Jan Zelenka (1895-1942), born in Kamenný Újezd, but spending most of his life in Prague, was a primary school teacher, and, later, member of the Czech resistance in WW2. From 1925, he worked in a newly-built school in Háj u Duchcova, where he…
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Originally posted on Twitter on 14 May 2022. Černínova was built before 1875. Diviš Černín z Chudenic (1565-1621) was a member of the Czernin family, one of the most prominent in the Kingdom of Bohemia. Diviš presumably converted to Catholicism to further his career, and became a commander (hejtman) at Prague Castle, maintaining the role…
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Originally published on Twitter on 13 May 2022. Ostromečská was built in 1896. Ostromeč is a former castle, located north of the village of Hrazany in the Příbram district. Its foundations were laid in 1424 under the Hussite leadership of Jan Hvězda of Vícemilice. It was raided and demolished just four years later, but was…
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Originally posted on Twitter on 12 May 2022. Rokycanova was built before 1875. Jan Rokycana, or John of Rokycany (c. 1390 to 1471), was a priest, archbishop and chief organiser in the Hussite church. He entered the Augustinian monastery in his hometown in his youth, then moved to Prague to study at Charles University and…
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Originally published on Twitter on 11 May 2022. We’ve reached the western end of Koněvova, so now we’re crossing the road and it’s time for Chlumova, built in 1872. Jan Kepka z Chlumu / John of Chlum (date of birth unknown) came from the Česká Lípa region (the modern village of Chlum has 259 inhabitants).…
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Originally published on 10 May 2022. Tachovské náměstí / Tachov Square, which has had this name since 1958. It’s home to the southern entrance to Žižkov Tunnel. Between 1875 and 1958, it was Žižkovo náměstí / Žižkov Square. There’s now another square called that instead, 800 metres away. The Battle of Tachov took place in…
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Originally posted on Twitter on 9 May 2022. Lukášova was built in 1875 or before. It’s named after Lukáš Pražský / Luke of Prague. Lukáš (d. 1528) was a bishop of the Unitas Fratrum (Jednota bratrská), otherwise known as the Moravian Church. He joined the UF shortly after graduating from Charles University in 1481, and…
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Originally published on Twitter on 8 May 2022. Hájkova was built in 1908. Václav Hájek z Libočan – or, if you prefer, Wenceslaus Hájek of Libočany (died 1553) was a chronicler and author of the Czech Chronicle (Kronika česká, 1541). Originally a Protestant, he converted to Catholicism in 1521; from 1524, he worked as a…
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Originally posted on Twitter on 6 May 2022. Pražačka was built in 1947. It’s named after *another* farmstead (and vineyard) that no longer exists. The origin of the name ‘Pražačka’ isn’t clear, but original maps list the name as ‘Brasatscha’ – so, surprisingly, the name probably doesn’t have anything to do with ‘Praha’. The vineyard…
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Originally published on Twitter on 5 May 2022. Pod Krejcárkem was built in 1962, and translates as ‘Under Krejcárek’. Krejcárek was an emergency colony (i.e. a residential area, akin to a shanty town, built to deal with a large influx of workers moving to Prague). It was established as a garden centre in 1922 (when…
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Originally published on Twitter on 4 May 2022. Built in 1975, Na Ohradě the newest street that I’ve written about to date. Like yesterday’s Vápenka, Ohrada is a former homestead, founded somewhere around the year 1400, and containing a large vineyard. An ohrada is a fence, a barrier or an enclosure. Presumably there was one…
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Originally published on 3 May 2022. Na Vápence was built in 1925. Vápenka translates as ‘lime works’ or ‘limekiln’; it was also the name of a farmstead lying where the street is now. Presumably there was formerly a limestone quarry in the area, hence the name of the settlement. Apparently it stretched across Židovské pece…
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Originally published on Twitter on 2 May 2022. Za Žižkovskou vozovnou was built in 1925. The name is fairly unambiguous this time: ‘behind Žižkov Depot’. Vozovna Žižkov / Žižkov Depot is one of Prague’s seven tram depots, and the second-oldest, as it was built in 1912. It’s the only depot to have a circular track…
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Originally published on Twitter on 1 May 2022. Na Hlídce was built in 1925. It’s the same story as yesterday’s: when this area of Prague (Balkán) was urbanised after World War I, many of the inhabitants were state employees and the street name reflected their jobs. Na hlídce means ‘on watch’ or ‘on guard’. The…
What's in a Prague street name 