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Prague 1, day 225: Náměstí Miloše Formana
Originally published on X on 11 May 2024. Miloš Forman was born as Jan Tomáš Forman in Čáslav (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2023/07/02/prague-3-day-178-caslavska/) in 1932. His mother, Anna, was arrested by the Nazis for lying about her involvement in the distribution of anti-Nazi leaflets, and died of typhus at Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1943. His father, Rudolf (actually not his biological Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 224: Elišky Krásnohorské
Originally published on X on 10 May 2024. Alžběta Dorota Pechová was born in Prague’s Old Town in 1747, the seventh of her father’s eight children (he was married twice). Her father believed that his family was from Krásná Hora, near Příbram – apparently, this wasn’t actually true, but it did result in the pseudonym Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 223: Náměstí Curieových
Originally published on X on 9 May 2024. Pierre Curie was born in Paris in 1859. He was educated at home by his parents (his father was a doctor), and took his baccalaureate in science when he was 16. Two years later – when he was just 18 – he would already have a degree Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 222: Čechův most
Originally published on X on 8 May 2024. Svatopluk Čech was born in Ostředek, near Benešov, in 1846; his father, František, was a patriot who worked as a journalist in 1848/9, when the Austrian Empire’s first elected parliament operated from Kroměříž. After finishing the Piarist grammar school in Prague (see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/22/prague-1-day-137-na-prikope/), Čech started to study Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 221: Dvořákovo nábřeží
Originally published on X on 7 May 2024. Antonín Leopold Dvořák was born in Nelahozeves, in Mělník District, in 1841, as the eldest of nine children. He started learning the violin at the age of six, also studying music theory, piano and organ during his schooldays. In 1857, he went to Prague to study at Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 220: Břehová
Originally published on X on 6 May 2024. A ‘břeh’ is a coast or shore (if you’re dealing with the sea), or a bank (if you’re dealing with a river, which we clearly are here). And the street is so called because it leads from the right bank of the Vltava to the Old New Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 219: U starého hřbitova (The Old Cemetery)
Originally published on X on 5 May 2024. This might be the Old (Jewish) Cemetery, but it’s not the oldest in Prague – we know that there was another one in the present-day New Town, dating back to at least 1254: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/14/prague-1-day-107-charvatova/. King Vladislav II had that one closed down in 1478. However, this cemetery Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 218: Červená
Originally published on X on 4 May 2024. I’m not in Prague today, but if you are, and have cleaning tools and a ladder, here’s an idea for a fun day out. ‘Červená’ means ‘red’. Jewish butchers had their shops round here, and these were painted red. Originally, the street was called Řeznická (a ‘řezník’ Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 217: Pařížská
Originally published on X on 3 May 2024. Paříž is the capital of Francie, and I’m now realising that I somehow haven’t been since 2016. Here are two photos from that day. I’ve mentioned the ‘asanace’ (rehabilitation) of Prague at the start of the 20th century several times, mainly to talk about things that were Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 216: Jáchymova
Originally published on X on 2 May 2024. According to Christianity, Joachim lived from about 100-75 BC to about 10 BC, i.e. not quite long enough to become the world’s braggiest grandparent, because his daughter was Mary, and his grandson was, therefore, Jesus. Among the more well-known variants of his name, we have Joaquín (Spanish), Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 215: Maiselova
Originally published on X on 1 May 2024. Mordecai Meisel was born in Prague in 1528 (the oldest mention of a member of the Meisel family living in Prague dates from 1425). Moredcai, meanwhile, is first mentioned in writing in 1569; he was a banker and businessman who eventually became a member of the court Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 214: Široká
Originally published on X on 30 April 2024. Starting this story a bit to the north: Štvanice is an island between Karlín and Holešovice; you’re most likely to know it for its tennis arena which hosts the WTA Prague Open. Anyway, once upon a time, there was a ford at Štvanice, and there was a Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 213: Na rejdišti
Originally published on X on 29 April 2024. A ‘rejdiště’ is a riding stable – in modern Czech, we would call this a ‘jízdárna’ – and one was inaugurated around here in 1660. More specifically, ‘around here’ means ‘number 2 Alšovo nabřezí’ (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/22/prague-1-day-210-alsovo-nabrezi-ales-embankment/), which, nowadays, is called Prádlo or Na Prádle, was built in the Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 212: 17. listopadu
Originally published on X on 28 April 2024. From the 16th century, this street was called Sanytrová, after ‘sanytr’, an Old Czech word for saltpetre, which is used to make gunpowder. In the 19th century (until 1870), it was known as V krechtách, after the nearby pits and ditches by the Vltava. Sanytrová was used Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 210: Alšovo nábřeží (Aleš Embankment)
Originally published on X on 26 April 2024. Mikoláš Aleš was born in Mirotice, in Southern Bohemia, in 1852. He started drawing at the age of four, later taking up painting. In 1869, he enrolled in Prague’s Academy of Fine Arts. He was later expelled (in 1876) after taking part in a demonstration against a Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 209: Veleslavínova
Originally published on X on 25 April 2024. Daniel Adam was born into a well-off family in Prague in 1546. After studying history at Prague University, he lectured there from 1569 to 1576. Also in 1576, he married Anna Melantrichová, daughter of the famous publisher Jiří Melantrich (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/14/prague-1-day-194-melantrichova/), and started to work at his father-in-law’s Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 208: Valentinská
Originally published on X on 24 April 2024. I think we can skip the part in which I explain what St Valentine is the saint of, and the date on which we celebrate him. But here’s some music. Anyway, from about 1253, St Valentine’s Church stood here, where, rather than the current-day street, there was Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 207: Žatecká
Originally published on X on 23 April 2024. Žatec is a town of approximately 19,000 inhabitants in the Ústí Region, named after a hillfort which existed there in the early 10th century. It was an important city in Hussite times – when preachers predicted that it was one of five cities which would survive the Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 206: Kaprova
Originally published on X on 22 April 2024. This is one of the oldest streets in Prague, originally connecting Old Town Square – the city’s main marketplace – with a ford across the Vltava, where the Rudolfinum is now. The street was originally called Svatovalentinská, which there’ll be more about in two threads’ time. Number Continue reading
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What's in a Prague street name 