Sokol
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Prague 4, day 151: Nad sokolovnou
Nad sokolovnou was named in 1906. However, the first name – in place until 1947, except during the Nazi occupation – was Strossmayerova, after Josip Juraj Strossmayer (1815-1905), Croatian prelate, politician and benefactor. More on him when we get on to Prague 7. For the current name, you may want to start with the story Continue reading
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Prague 4, day 125: Doudova
Doudova was built in 1925. Václav Douda was born in Podolí in 1886. He qualified as a teacher, while also training, and acting in a management capacity, at the Podolí Sokol (guide to the Sokols on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/26/prague-2-day-114-sokolska/). In 1913, he was part of the Czech team at the 6th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, which took Continue reading
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Prague 4, day 28: Pod sokolovnou
Pod sokolovnou was built in 1933. Its name translates as ‘under the Sokol’, which had been opened eight years earlier. For the story of the Sokols, see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/26/prague-2-day-114-sokolska/. In communist times, the powers-that-be decided that the Sokols should be replaced with the joyful-and-spontaneous-as-they-sound Czechoslovak Union of Physical Education. From 1948 until the end of the Continue reading
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Prague 4, day 27: Na Květnici
Na Květnici was built in 1925. ‘Květnice’ is a now-obsolete word used to denote a flower garden. There’s a settlement in Prague East called this, complete with a castle with the same name. It also seems that there was a local settlement with the name here in Nusle. Na Květnici is the present-day location for Continue reading
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Prague 4, day 4: Mužíkova
Another super-new street, only this time with an adequate picture of the street sign. Progress. Jaroslav Mužík was born in Nové Strašecí, near Rakovník, in 1858, but moved to Nusle shortly after. At school, one of his teachers was Petr Mužák, husband of the writer Karolina Světlá (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/28/prague-1-day-153-karoliny-svetle/). He then went to university in Vienna. Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 150: Bartolomějská
Originally published on X on 21 February 2024. In the 1200s, this area was a poor neighbourhood; one of its most well-known buildings was called ‘Benátky’ (Venice), and so the street’s first name was Benátská. In 1372, Jan Milíč from Kroměříž (Hussite Prague 3 flashback on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/12/26/prague-3-day-121-milicova/) founded a preacher’s school and refuge for ‘repentant Continue reading
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Prague 2, day 132: Tyršova
Originally published on X on 22 March 2023, when I also forgot to take/add a photo of the street sign. Maybe I’ll go out and take one now. Tyršova was built in 1893. Fridericus Emanuel Tirsch was born into a German-speaking in Děčín in 1832. By the age of six, he had lost both parents Continue reading
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Prague 2, day 114: Sokolská
Originally published on X on 4 March 2023. Until 1867, the street was called Horní Hradební, due to its location in the upper part of Novoměstské hradby, i.e. the New Town Walls. From 1978 to 1990, the street was called Vítězný únor (Victorious February), after the Communist coup d’état of 21 to 25 February. In Continue reading
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Prague 2, day 58: Fügnerovo náměstí
Originally published on Twitter on 3 January 2023. Fügnerovo náměstí was built in 1893. Jindřich Fügner was born in 1822 on Růžová in Prague’s Old Town, as Heinrich Anton Fügner. He held jobs in trade and industry, but was more interested in education, music and sports. When he met Miroslav Tyrš (coming up within this Continue reading
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Prague 3, day 144: Pospíšilova
Originally published on Twitter on 14 September 2022. Pospíšilova was built in 1904. It was called Dvořákova until 1930. Explanation probably not needed. Karel Pospíšil was born near Chotěboř in 1867, and was taught music by both his grandfather, Josef Pospíšil, and his uncle, the famous pianist Karel Slavkovský. He became a teacher in a Continue reading
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Prague 3, day 22: Zelenky Hajského
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 Continue reading
What's in a Prague street name 