Every street in Prague, one by one.
U kempinku was built in 1981.
I’ve mainly grown out of giggling at certain Czech transliterations of English words, but my ability to laugh when the English ending ‘-ing’ turns into ‘-ink’ hasn’t quite fizzled out yet. Think brífink, mítink, etc, and my personal winner, dispečink.
But it’s time to, erm, carry on, and here, we are talking about kempink, better known as camping. And this decidedly non-residential area is the site of Intercamp Kotva, a campsite right by the Vltava.
Vostrý was built in 1952.
Another day, another character from a Jirásek novel.
Actually, no, another day, another character from Temno by Jirásek (see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/12/03/prague-4-day-248-machovcova/).
In said novel, Vostrý is a Protestant priest – a big no-no to the Habsburgs – and distributes non-Catholic literature. And he’s also the one who tries to get Machovec’s children to join their father abroad (success rate: one out of two).
It turns out that Vostrý was (based on) a real person, first name Jiří, born in 1702. He lived in exile in Zittau, now in Germany. He later moved to Berlin, specifically to Rixdorf (do check out https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/11/20/prague-3-day-63-rixdorfska/ – you won’t regret it).
Vostrý came back to Bohemia during the Seven Years’ War, but was arrested for being a spy, and died under torture in 1760.
Skaláků was built in 1975.
The Alois Jirásek (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/01/prague-2-day-154-jiraskovo-namesti/) series continues.
Skaláci (1876) is Jirásek’s novel about the Peasant’s Uprising which took place 101 years earlier. I won’t go into huge detail on that (spoiler: the peasants were still peasants after it), as it’s sure to come up in other posts.
For the title of the novel, we have to rewind to 1628, when a character called Jíra Skalák had taken part in a peasant rebellion in the Náchod region.
After being arrested and physically punished, he moved to a farm which subsequently became known as ‘Na skalce’. The family endured, and the novel then follows his descendants during the events of 1775.
Skaláci was Jirásek’s first novel; he would write another five novels about the post-Bílá Hora period of Czech history, including Temno, as discussed two days ago (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/12/03/prague-4-day-248-machovcova/).
Mikuleckého was built in 1973.
The Pražský uličník tells me that we’re staying with Alois Jirásek’s 1915 novel Temno (Darkness), first discussed yesterday (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/12/03/prague-4-day-248-machovcova/).
It also tells me that the novel had a character called Jakub Mikulecký. However, the long summary I read yesterday (full disclosure: I haven’t read Temno) doesn’t mention anyone called either Jakub or Mikulecký.
The internet is not helping either, and the only reference I can find is to a Jakub is on page 74 of a 1916 edition available on the Czech Digital Library. Without surname.
Hmm.
To make up for this, here’s a pic of Kobra Prague Winter Stadium, located on this street. It was opened in 1977; Okbra play in the country’s second ice hockey division.
Machovcova was built in 1935.
Until 1952, the street was called Pod myslivnou II, after a myslivna (gamekeeper’s lodge).
As with yesterday, we’re spending some time in Jiráskova čtvrť, and so this is another street named after a character from a novel by Alois Jirásek (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/01/prague-2-day-154-jiraskovo-namesti/).
This time, the novel is called Temno (Darkness), and it was published in 1915.
The novel itself starts with the coronation of Charles VI in 1723 (so, just over a hundred years after the Battle of Bílá Hora), and ends in 1729, with the canonisation of Jan Nepomucký. The title represents the state that the Czech nation found itself to be in at the time.
Much of the action is set in an estate called Skalka, where the inhabitants include a hunter called Machovec. He has two children, Helenka and Tomáš, who are close to Lhotský, the chief administrator of the estate.
However, Machovec doesn’t get on with the local administrator, Čermák, who happily reports him and the kids to the authorities for not having converted to Catholicism. Machovec escapes, but can’t take Helenka and Tomáš with him.
Considered heretics, they are expelled from the lodge and are eventually sold into serfdom for a brewer, Březina.
Although Machovec manages to get Tomáš to escape and join him abroad, Helenka has fallen in love with one of Březina’s relatives and starts to lean towards Catholicism.
Eventually, she realises they will never be happy together, and, when her love is revealed, she is banished, eventually managing to flee to join her family.
Temno was a huge success, especially with Czech soldiers fighting on the front lines in World War I; the first edition sold out within three weeks, and, by November 1918, the novel was already on its sixth edition.
Temno was made into a film in 1950, although it was inevitably adapted to suit the Communist ideology.
Vrbova was built in 1935.
Originally, it was two streets – one called Pod myslivnou (Under the gamekeeper’s lodge), and one called Ve studeném (a name we’ll get on to before we leave Braník). They were joined and renamed in 1973.
The villa district covering parts of Braník and Hodkovičky (which is up next in this series) was built during the First Czechoslovak Republic, i.e. between the World Wars.
Several of its streets – all of which will be coming up in the next few weeks – were named after fictional characters from works by author of historical novels (and Staré pověsti české / Ancient Bohemian Legends, a mainstay of many bookshelves and many of the stories in these posts), Alois Jirásek.
You can find much more on him here: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/01/prague-2-day-154-jiraskovo-namesti/.
The area with all the villas became known as (and is still known as) Jiráskova čtvrť – Jirásek’s district.
One of Jirásek’s most famous works is the five-part F. L. Věk, ‘a picture from the history of our national awakening’, published between 1888 and 1906. It’s set during the Czech National Revival, specifically between 1769 and 1816, and is named after its lead character, the merchant František Ladislav Věk.
One of the characters – and the one who has given his name to this street – is Matouš Vrba, a priest who decided to travel Bohemia and promote the Czech language, which he said was ‘not dead but sleeping’.
He’s characterised as a kind type who cares about the common people… but also with something of an obsessive dislike of the French and their Revolution.
F.L. Věk was made into a television series in the early 1970s; here’s a playlist of clips.
U ledáren was built in 1981.
Quick one today, as we’re talking about the same ledárny – icehouses – as we were yesterday (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/11/30/prague-4-day-245-ledarska/).
Ledařská was built in 1998.
A ‘ledař” is someone who works with ice (and so you’d most likely hear the word, these days, in connection with ice hockey). A ‘ledárna’, meanwhile, would be an ‘icehouse’ or an ‘iceworks’.
At the turn of the 20th century, the innkeepers of Prague were using the icehouse on Štvanice Island (which gets a mention on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/23/prague-1-day-214-siroka/).
They needed ice, taken from the Vltava, to cool beer. But, by 1909, they needed somewhere where ice could be stored all year round, irrespective of whether there was any in the Vltava or not.
Therefore, a group of them formed a company and, between 1909 and 1911, saw to the construction of what became known as the Branické ledárny. It (or rather, the horses pulling the carts) were able to deliver ice across Prague in all four seasons.
The complex included stables for the horses, a villa (used as the works’ office), and a house for the building manager. The area was so lively that the local trams had their terminus here.
However, between 1949 and 1955, the Slapy Reservoir / vodní nádrž Slapy was constructed about 22 km south of Prague. The construction of various dams and weirs keeps the temperature of the Vltava above freezing (its last significant freeze was in 1978).
This wasn’t great news for the icehouse, which no longer had much, or any, ice from the Vltava to accommodate. Operations came to an end in 1954; the trams no longer passed by the icehouse after 1959.
The area has been considered for a museum (in the 1980s), a brothel (in the 1990s – there isn’t really anyone living round here to object, at least compared to other proposed locations), and luxury apartments and a hotel (in the 2010s).
Instead, the buildings are in something is a state of neglect.
There’s still a functioning stable for horses, though.
The area was the location of concerts as part of the Prague Open Air initiative for a few years, but these have since been moved to Holešovice, as locals weren’t too thrilled with the sound levels: https://www.prahain.cz/zivot-ve-meste/iniciativa-bojujici-proti-koncertum-v-arealu-ledaren-branik-zvitezila-22445.html.
Skálové was built in 2021.
Dagmar Šimková was born in Plzeñ in 1912. She joined a scout troop in 1934, where the other members nicknamed her Rakša.
Rakša is Raksha – the Mother wolf in The Jungle Book who raised Mowgli as her own cub. Raksha (रक्षा) is Hindi for ‘protection’.
She and her husband, Karel Skála, moved to Prague and founded a new scouting centre (which was attended by one Václav Havel). Dagmar Skálová was the leader of the girls’ troop.
After 1948, both became involved in the anti-communist resistance. In February 1949, the Prokeš coup, initiated by the retired major Květoslav Prokeš, was planned for mid-May, but the plan was revealed before it could happen, and the main plotters were arrested.
Interestingly, the main commander of the coup was meant to be Karel Kutlvašr, although he had already been in detention since December 1948. Take a look at his story on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/02/09/prague-4-day-29-namesti-generala-kutlvasra/ (square is in Nusle) – it’s an interesting story of riches to rags.
The insurgents were supposed to include scouts; Skálová had agreed to provide them with medical assistance and facilitate communication between them.
While under interrogation, Skálová stated that the scouts involved just thought they were taking part in a regular scheduled activity; her statement stopped most of those scouts from getting arrested. It might have saved Karel from the death penalty, too.
In August 1949, Skálová was sentenced to life imprisonment; the six main plotters were sentenced to death and were executed at Pankrác Prison in December 1949.
Dagmar and Karel were ultimately freed in 1965. While in prison, she Dagmar wrote to the UN Secretary-General to make him aware of the dire human rights situation in Czechoslovakia. By that point, the scouts were no longer autonomous, and had been absorbed into the Pioneer Organisation.
During the Prague Spring in 1968, the Scouts were revived; Karel Skála was asked to lead the Prague section, but declined, although he was involved in some scouting activities until they were absorbed into the Pioneers yet again in 1970.
Karel died in 1973, and was buried in the family grave in Plzeň. Dagmar lived to see the revival of the Scouts after the Velvet Revolution, and was awarded the Order of T. G. Masaryk in 1997.
She died in 2002, and is buried with her husband. She had been a resident of nearby Na usedlosti (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/11/05/prague-4-day-220-na-usedlosti/), making the decision to name this new street after her all the more appropriate.
Vinohradská 12 did an episode on her in 2024:
Tiché was built in 2021.
Michaela Tichá was born in Šumperk in 1993. She joined the army in 2017, specifically the 242nd Transport and Special Squadron of the 24th Transport Air Force Wing of the 24th Transport Air Force Base Prague-Kbely.
She also served in the voluntary fire brigade in Braník: https://prazska.drbna.cz/zpravy/spolecnost/3989-vojacka-ktera-zemrela-pri-padu-vrtulniku-patrila-k-hasicum-z-braniku-jeji-telo-dnes-prileti-do-prahy.html.
Her first mission abroad, starting in August 2020, was to the Sinai Peninsula, where she served in the 8th Task Force of the Czech Army and in the USA-led Multinational Force and Observers, which monitors the Egyptian-Israeli peace accord.
On 12 November 2020, during a routine monitoring mission over Tiran Island, the helicopter Tichá was in crashed due to a technical malfunction. Seven passengers, including Tichá, were killed.
Tichá was the 30th Czech soldier – and the first female Czech soldier – to be killed on a foreign mission; she was buried in Prague, with full military honours, on 20 November: https://praha4.cz/posledni-rozlouceni-s-rotmistryni-michaelou-tichou/.
In 2021, she was posthumously awarded the Medal for Heroism in Battle: https://inmemoriam.mo.gov.cz/stabni-praporcice-memoriam-bc-michaela-ticha.
Nad strouhou was named in 1926.
A ‘strouha’ is an artificial or natural flow of water. It can be used to drain water, or to power a mill. I’m going to go with ‘gully’ as a reasonable English translation.
I’m also going to assume it comes from the same Old Slavic source as Struga in North Macedonia. Here’s a photo from a rather fraught day in August 2008 when I was trying to go from Ohrid to Albania (for the first time) from there. I succeeded.
Back in Prague, the ‘strouha’ that this street is above is Kunratický potok, as discussed on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/11/23/prague-4-day-238-za-mlynem/.
Bezová was built in 1935.
‘Bez’ translates as ‘Sambucus’, a genus of about 20-30 flowering plants which are commonly referred to as ‘elder’.
In Czechia, there are three native species: the black elderberry (Sambucus nigra / bez černý), the Sambucus ebulus / bez chebdí) and the red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa / bez červený). And, obviously, this is, or was, an area filled with them.
For those wondering, yes, ‘Sambuca’ can be spiced with elderflower, but isn’t required in its legal definition.
Branické náměstí was built in 1911.
Until 1947, the square was named after Jan Hus (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/05/prague-1-day-169-husova/).
Branické náměstí is pretty small, and currently feels even smaller, because it’s fenced off (pics of Jan Hus behind bars below).
It was recently given a facelift which was completed in August 2025 (about a year later than intended), but the square has several private owners who have to comment on the works by a certain deadline, and only after that can it be opened to the public.
One rather wonders what would happen if one of them chose to object.
Nad malým mýtem was built in 1935.
A ‘mýto’ is a toll. We’re near the Vltava, and, historically, this is where tolls were collected.
By the mid-19th century, the entire area was called ‘Za malým mýtem’, literally ‘Behind the small toll’.
Those who think it may be unusual to name a place after a toll may do well to think of Vysoké Mýto, a town of 13,000 people in the Pardubice Region. It was founded by Přemysl Otakar II (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/01/06/prague-4-day-6-otakarova/) in the mid-1200s and, once upon a time, was a major trading centre. in the mid-1200s and, once upon a time, was a major trading centre.
The town is so-called because only the monarch was allowed to impose tolls there.
Za mlýnem was named in 1938.
‘Za mlýnem’ translates as ‘Behind the mill’, and so we need to talk about Kunratický potok.
In Praha-Kunratice (south-east of here, and a separate urban district from the Prague 4 urban district, but part of the Prague 4 municipal district – it’s complicated), a stream (potok) originates.
Eleven kilometres later, it flows into the Vltava, near Barrandov Bridge and the Pobřežní cesta (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/11/20/prague-4-day-235-pobrezni-cesta/) tram stop.
Around here – specifically where the street intersects with Nad strouhem – a water mill once stood; there’s a written record from 1734 referring to both it and a water miller called Josef Vrabec.
From 1910, a bakery also operated here.
Publicly available sources about the mill seem very limited indeed, but the fact that I’ve found a list of owners up until 1938 suggests that the construction of the street led to the destruction of the very thing it was named after. Which is a bit dispiriting.
To make up for that, here are some pictures of how the stream looks round here.
Zelinářská was built in 1935.
A ‘zelinář’ is a market gardener (as well as translating as ‘greengrocer’) – and this street reminds us that, while there’s been a lot of talk in recent posts about vineyards, the area was also once known for its vegetable gardens.
Pod svahem was named in 1911.
Until 1947, the street was called Pod vinicí (Under the vineyard), which takes us back to the trilogy of streets which started on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/11/13/prague-4-day-228-pod-vinohradem/.
The vineyards were located on a slope – or a ‘svah’. So, in 1947, the street went from being ‘Below the vineyard’ to being ‘Below the slope’.
Pobřežní cesta was named in 1938. I couldn’t find a street sign, so here’s the nearby tram stop instead.
‘Pobřežní cesta’ translates as ‘coastal road’ if you’re by the sea. We’re not. So I guess we can make do with ‘river bank road’. And this street – more of a path – does exactly what it says.
Nad vinohradem was named in 1911.
Until 1947, it was named ‘Horní’ (Upper).
These days, it’s part three of our vineyard street trilogy, after https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/11/13/prague-4-day-228-pod-vinohradem/ and https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/11/16/prague-4-day-231-na-vinohradu/.
(I’ve been resisting the urge to include a ‘Not everything in Prague is about Vinohrady, you know, expats’ in all three of these posts, and can hold it in no longer)
Branická was built in 1911.
Originally, it was three separate streets. The first one was called Hlavní, because it was the main street in, yes, Braník (which wasn’t yet part of Prague).
The second one was called Husova, after Jan Hus – see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/05/prague-1-day-169-husova/ for a bit more on him.
The third one was nameless. All three were consolidated as Branická in 1935.
The earliest mention we know of for Braník is from a charter dated 1088 which refers to ‘Branice’. It’s most likely linked to the defensive role the village played (‘branný’ translates as ‘defense’, as in ‘branná povinnost’ – compulsory military service.
In the 1300s, Braník alternated between belonging to royalty and to various monasteries; duty on driftwood collected here went to the canons of Prague Castle.
After the Hussite Wars, Braník belonged to Prague’s Old Town; it would be confiscated in 1547, although the Old Town would get it back twelve years later.
In 1625, Ferdinand II gave part of Braník to the Dominicans of the Old Town (who are mentioned on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/06/prague-1-day-171-jilska/).
The most obvious proof of their presence in Braník is discussed on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/11/03/prague-4-day-218-ve-dvore/.
Based on this painting by Bedřich Anděl, this is how the other side of Prague looked from Braník circa 1850.
By the time Braník was joined to Prague in 1922, it had 3,600 inhabitants (it currently has about 17,800).
In 1924, the foundation stone for the Braník Theatre was set; in 1925, the theatre opened. It’s a neoclassical building, created by Václav Šindelář, who would be responsible for some nearby residences a decade later (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/10/27/prague-4-day-211-v-malych-domech-i/).
It’s also my favourite building in Braník by a mile.
Turns out that Radio Prague has been walking round Braník recently too: https://english.radio.cz/branik-rocks-where-pragues-prehistoric-past-meets-todays-city-life-8867183.
