Originally published on Twitter on 1 November 2022.
Orlická was built in 1911.
The Orlické (‘Eagle’) Mountains are in north-east Bohemia; they’re named after the river Orlice, a tributary of the Elbe.
Part of one of the Orlice’s own tributaries, Divoká Orlice (Wild Eagle), forms the Czech-Polish border.
The three highest peaks in the range are Velká Deštná (1,116 m), Koruna (1,101 m) and Malá Deštná (1,090 m).
The majority of the range has been a Protected Landscape Area since 1969.
Popular spots for visitors include the Zemská brána nature reserve and nature trail, ruins of two castles (Litice and Potštejn), and the Hanička, an artillery fort that was secretly converted into a nuclear bunker in the 1970s.
Originally published on Twitter on 31 October 2022.
Velehradská was built around 1860.
Until 1896, the street was called U židovského hřbitova (At the Jewish Cemetery), as, until 1890, what is now Mahlerovy sady (which includes the Žižkov Television Tower) hosted the cemetery until it was moved (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/11/28/prague-3-day-99-izraelska/) due to overcrowding.
Velehrad, meanwhile, is a village in the Uherské Hradiště District (Zlín Region), with a population of 1,100.
Early mentions of the village are quite confusing – the name appears in 1141, but actually relates to Staré Město, a town about 5 km from Actual Current Velehrad.
Vladislav Jindřich, Margrave of Moravia, built a Cistercian monastery in the area in 1205.
(In brief, Cistercians are Catholic monks known for their commitment to manual labour)
In the least surprising news of all time, the Moravian Hussites burned the monastery down in 1421. It was almost 200 years before it was restored.
A restoration which was followed by the monastery being ravaged by Transylvanian troops in 1623, then Wallachian ones in 1626.
Reconstructed in the 1700s, it was closed in 1784 as part of Joseph II’s reforms.
It was acquired by the Jesuits in 1890, although their activities there were terminated in 1950 as part of Akce K (the communists’ campaign against monasteries).
The Communists liquidated the monastery and send the Jesuits to ‘concentration monasteries’.
They returned in 1990; John Paul II paid a visit in the same year.
The most famous part of the monastery is the Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and Saints Cyril and Methodius / Bazilika Nanebevzetí Panny Marie a svatého Cyrila a Metoděje.
Consecrated in 1228, it’s been one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the country since the 19th century.
Every July – on the 6th and the 7th – the National Pilgrimage takes place here, commemorating the arrival of Cyril, Methodius and Christianity in the Czech Lands.
I was looking for footage of the 2022 pilgrimage, but came across some incredible colour footage from the 1940 pilgrimage instead. Sadly, it’s now disappeared from YouTube.
Velehrad has also given its name to a charity in London whose chief objective is ‘provision of relief, whether financial or otherwise, and assistance of needy migrants from former Czechoslovakia’: http://en.velehrad.org.uk/intro/
Originally published on Twitter on 30 October 2022.
Milešovská was built in 1896.
Milešovka, 837 metres high, is the highest peak in the České Středohoří, the Central Bohemian Uplands, in northern Bohemia.
Bronze objects and ceramics from the Bronze Age have been found near the mountain; they suggest there was a mountain cult of sorts.
The mountain’s name is first mentioned in 1521, named after the village of Milešov.
Its German name, Donnersberg, means ‘Thunder Mountain’ and came about after the region became increasingly Germanised after the Thirty Years’ War.
By the 19th century, the mountain had become a popular spot for tourists, helped by the existence of spas in Teplice.
(Painting from 1808 by Caspar David Friedrich)
Famous Germans who climbed it include Goethe, Friedrich Wilhelm III and Alexander von Humboldt, who described the view as the third most beautiful in Europe (no idea what one or two were, of if this was actually a putdown of the ‘you’re my second best friend’ variety).
Karel Hynek Mácha also climbed the mountain shortly before his death in 1836.
It’s also the windiest spot in the entire country; one day in January 1967 was so windy that it was off the chart of the mountain’s measuring instrument.
Originally published on Twitter on 29 October 2022.
Náměstí Jiřího z Poděbrad was built in 1896.
It was called Krále Jiřího (King George) until 1948, and it’s fften known as Jiřák if you’re Czech, often known as J-zee-P if you’re a foreigner (guilty, and I’m from a country where we say ‘zed’).
George of Poděbrady / Jiří z Poděbrad was born in 1420; his father was the Hussite warrior Viktorín z Poděbrad, who we can assume was away from home a lot during those early years and died in 1427.
He became a governor in the Boleslav region in 1440, and became head of the East Bohemian Utraquists in 1444.
In 1448, when Bohemia was strongly divided between Hussites and Catholics, JzP marched on Prague, conquering the capital easily. A civil war followed, but Jiří won this without major difficulties.
In 1451, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III recognised Jiří as governor of Bohemia. The Czech nobility did the same at St. George’s Diet in Prague the following year.
When Ladislav Pohrobek (Ladislaus the Posthumous) died in 1457, it was clear to everyone that having a Catholic king ruling a largely Hussite population was not the easiest.
It wasn’t revealed until 500 years later that Ladislav had died of leukaemia; rumours spread saying that JzP or his wife Johana had poisoned him.
In 1458, the Czech estates elected JzP king. He proved to be a pragmatic ruler, earning the respect of both the Hussites and the Catholics.
His rule was based on the Compacta of Prague, which promised religious tolerance. However, in 1462, Pope Pius II decided to cancel the Compacts.
JzP suggested a solution which kind of preempted the EU: he proposed a treaty of all Christian powers, whereby all these countries would settle their previous differences.
Rome rejected this, as did Louis XI of France.
In 1465, the Catholic nobility, at Zelená Hora, formed an anti-Jiří alliance, which Pope Paul II encouraged.
In 1466, Paul ordered that JzP be deposed. The Bohemian War ensued, with Jiří putting the Zelena Horá alliance down in 1468, and then dealing with an attack by Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, a former son-in-law.
Matthias was declared King of Bohemia by the Catholic nobility in Olomouc in 1469, but the Hussite nobility refused to accept this.
This would come into effect in 1471, when Jiří died and was succeeded by Vladimir Jagellonský.
The distinctive church on the square is the Roman Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart of the Lord, by Slovenian architect Josip Plečnik.
The square is also the location of some very good markets.
Insider tip: on Thursdays, there’s an Armenian stall on Thursdays that not only serves an excellent kebab, but may also happen to sell you very strong red wine when all you asked for was pomegranate juice.
A tough afternoon at work followed.
Paintings within this post are by Czech painter Adolf Liebscher (1857-1919).
Originally published on Twitter on 28 October 2022.
Laubova was built in 1896.
Nikki Lauba (1949-2019) was a Formula One driver from the old Austro-Hungarian Empire.
No, sorry, wait.
Until 1952, the street was called Vilímovská, possibly after a vineyard. There’s a street with the same name in Dejvice.
Ferdinand Laub was born in 1832 on Újezd, the son of a famous (and brilliantly named) music teacher, Erasmus Laub.
He first performed on the violin in a pub on Václavské náměstí at the age of six; his first solo concert, at Stavovské divadlo, took place when he was ten.
After studying at Prague Conservatory (where his graduation performance was attended by Berlioz and Liszt), he toured both the Czech Lands and Germany, before becoming a soloist in Vienna’s theatre orchestra.
In 1851, he played at the inaugural Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace, London. Tours around Europe ensued, although health issues meant that this wasn’t always easy for him.
Originally published on Twitter on 27 October 2022.
Korunní was built in 1889.
From 1956 to 1990, this was Wilhelma Piecka, after Wilhelm Pieck, first president of the GDR from 1949 until his death in 1960 (i.e. this is a rare case of somebody getting a street named after them during their lifetime).
The rest of the time, it’s been Crown Street. Not named after the Czech currency, achievements in dentistry or that show about some island on Netflix.
It’s specifically named after the Crown of St Wenceslas, made for the coronation of Karel IV.
The crown was made in 1346, which puts it in the unique position of being something that I’ve mentioned in this series that wasn’t made by Přemysl Otakar II.
It was declared the property of the nation as a whole, not just of the King.
It’s held at the St. Wenceslas Chapel at St Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle, and doesn’t get brought out very often at all; indeed, its exact location is not known by the public.
There are seven locks that need unlocking before you can access it. The owners of these locks are currently Jan Graubner, Markéta Pekarová Adamová, Miloš Vystrčil, Miloš Zeman, Petr Fiala, Václav Malý and Zdeněk Hřib, and there’s a prize if you can name their positions.
Here’s a video of Zeman two months after his inauguration in 2013. You’re welcome, especially for the comments:
The crown has 96 precious stones and is made of 21-22 carat gold. I really don’t know my carats, but I do know this makes it 3-4 carats better than the gold that Madonna sang about not needing in ‘Express Yourself’.
The first person to be crowned with it was Karel IV, in 1347; the last one was Ferdinand I of Austria (who was also Ferdinand V of Bohemia) in 1835.
Legend has it that anybody who puts the crown on their head without being entitled to will die within a year.
Originally published on Twitter on 26 October 2022.
U Vodárny was built in 1885.
It was known as Gebauerova from 1940 to 1945, after Jan Gebauer (1838-1907), one of the most important Czech linguists.
He famously exposed the Manuscripts of Dvůr Králové and Zelená Hora (which I really hope I get to write about one day) as a hoax in 1886.
‘U Vodárny’, meanwhile, means ‘At the waterworks’, and is named after the Vinohrady Water Tower.
Side note: yesterday morning, when I took this pic, was glorious.
The water tower was built in 1882, based on a design by the architect Antonín Turek (1861-1916), in a Neo-Renaissance style.
It was a reaction to the increasing population and industrialisation of the area.
Until 1912, the water came from the Vltava; after that it originated in a waterworks in Káraný, a village in Prague-East.
Until 1962, the waterworks provided H2O to Vinohrady, but also, at different times, to Žižkov, Strašnice, Vršovice, Pankrác, Nusle and Braník.
Which feels quite appropriate, given that the tower lies at the border of three Prague districts (Prague 2, Prague 3 and Prague 10).
There used to be a lookout tower here, from which you could see the Krkonoše mountains on a good day, but it hasn’t been accessible to the public for years.
After 1962, the tower was converted into a residential area, which may be the only reason why we still have it today.
There are current plans to turn the waterworks into the ‘Hydropolis Centre’ – an education space teaching the public about drinking water, and also containing spaces for leisure. http://hydropolis-praha.cz
A rather swish-looking video showing plans for Hydropolis – which should be opened in 2024 – is here:
Originally published on Twitter on 25 October 2022.
Nitranská was built in 1889.
Nitra, located 95 km east of Bratislava, is the fifth-largest city in Slovakia, with a population of 79,000.
It’s also the oldest Slovak city, first mentioned in 828, but archeological items found there have been dated back more than 25,000 years.
A major Celtic settlement from the 5th century BC onwards, the town was subsequently occupied by the Romans (1st-4th centuries), and the Germanic Quadi, whose capital it may have been.
The first Slavs arrived around the year 500. In the 8th century, the city became the centre of the Principality of Nitra.
In 833, Nitra joined the Great Moravian Empire, and occupied a larger territory than it does now; in 880, the first Christian bishopric in Slovakia was founded here.
Nitra later became part of Hungary, surviving a Mongol invasion in 1241, and also being damaged by Přemysl Otakar II (of ‘everything’ fame) in 1271-2.
Having become a royal town in 1248 under Béla IV, Nitra lost this privilege in 1288.
Subsequent centuries weren’t much calmer – the Hussites attacked in the 15th century, and the Ottomans conquered the castle in 1663.
Nitra was burned down in anti-Habsburg fighting in 1708.
Following the 1848 Revolutions, it was given the right to self-government.
From 1883 to 1919, Nitra – which had as many Hungarians as it did Slovaks at the time – was the seat of FEMKE, the Upper Hungarian Magyar Educational Association, an NGO whose basic aim was to make Slovaks speak (and be) Hungarian instead.
The Romanesque St. George’s Rotunda, on top of the hill, is one of the oldest buildings in the country, first mentioned in writing in 1128.
There’s a sign near the rotunda that says ‘Co Mohamedu Mekka, to Čechu Říp’ – i.e. Říp is to the Czechs what Mecca is to a Muslim.
Říp became a popular pilgrimage site; on 10 May 1868, 20,000 people demonstrated there, an event inspired by similar demonstrations in occupied Ireland.
Originally published on Twitter on 23 October 2022.
Perunova was built in 1889.
Perun is a Slavic god and quite the multitasker, being the god of the sky, thunder, lightning, storms, rain, law, war, fertility and oak trees.
He’s analogous to Thor and Mars.
There are multiple potential origins for his name – for example, ‘perti’ is an old Slavic verb meaning ‘to beat’, and there’s an analogous Baltic god called Perkūnas whose name means ‘oak tree’.
Perun is first mentioned in the sixth century, though not by name – in his History of the Wars, Procopius states that a South Slavic tribe regarded the ‘creator of lightning’ as their lord.
The Nestor Chronicle, or the Rus’ Primary Chronicle, composed in Kyiv around 1113, states that Perun was the divine guarantor for multiple treaties between Kievan Rus’ and the Byzantine Empire between 907 and 971.
When Volodymyr the Great became Grand Prince of Kyiv and ruler of Kievan Rus’ in 980, he erected statues to five pagan gods, including Perun, at his palace. He got rid of them (quite brutally) when he converted to Christianity eight years later.
Place names which are possibly named after Perun include the Pirin Mountains in Bulgaria, the village of Perná in Břeclav district, and the Austrian village of Parndorf.
Surnames stemming from his name include Peruničić (in Montenegrin) and Perunovski (in Macedonian).
Meanwhile, in Slovak, Perun is known as both Perún and Parom; ‘Parom te trestal!’ (‘Parom punished you!’) is used as a curse, as is ‘Do paroma’.
There’s also the Polish ‘idź do pioruna’ (‘Go to Perun / Go to hell’).
It’s been reported that the Azov Regiment worships Perun, lighting a fire, asking Perun to bless their weapons, and then walking over the embers.
Here’s a video of the Azov Regiment erecting a statue of Perun in Mariupol:
The Táborite priest Bedřich ze Strážnice built a castle on the site of the monastery in 1437. In 1458, he sold it to Jiří z Poděbrad (who is coming up in a few days).
It seems that every city in Bohemia had multiple devastating fires in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Kolín, not wanting to be outdone, managed to have them in 1579, 1587, 1589, 1597 and 1617, interspersed with bouts of plague in 1568, 1582, 1598 *and* 1613.
On 18 June 1757, the Battle of Kolín took place. The Austrians under Count von Daun defeated the Prussians under Frederick the Great, causing him to give up the siege of Prague and his plans to march on Vienna.
Kolín was nearly destroyed by yet another goddamn fire in 1796.
When the Prague-Olomouc railway came into being in 1845, Kolín began to become industrialised, to the point that it was, by the start of the 20th century, known as “český Manchester”.
During WW2, Kolín’s refinery was used to produce Zyklon B, a cyanide-based pesticide, for Nazi concentration camps. And this in a city with a long Jewish tradition.
The city was bombed four times by the Allies.
Kolín remains a significant industrial centre, including what was Toyota Peugeot Citroën back in 2007 (when I taught its staff English for all of six weeks), but is, since 2021, just plain Toyota.
Famous Kolínites include composer František Kmoch (1848-1912), Bohemian-French mime Jean-Gaspard Deburau (1796-1846), renowned photographer of Prague Josef Sudek (1896-1976) and Václav Morávek (1904-42), figure of the anti-Nazi resistance and a national hero.
And Miloš Zeman, who I think we can all agree is the best president called Miloš Zeman that this country has ever had.
Across the pond, Czech migrants founded Kolin, Louisiana in 1914.
There’s also a Kolín, Montana, whose origins are rather hard to Google given that Montana is also the name of a bicycle store in The Original Kolín.
Finally, Kolín is not to be confused with Kolín nad Rýnem (on the Rhine), which is Cologne / Köln in Germany.
Adalbert survived, but had to flee Bohemia as a result, going to Italy and then Poland. He died in 997, killed by a pagan mob while carrying out missionary work near modern-day Elbląg on the Baltic.
Břetislav I reputedly stole Adalbert’s remains from the Polish town of Gniezno in 1039, whereas Polish accounts claimed that he actually took somebody else’s remains.
So now Adalbert has two shrines, one in Prague Cathedral, and one in Gniezno, both of which to claim to contain his relics.
The only way that this can be true is if Adalbert had two skulls.
Under the Přemylids, the castle in Libice was the scene of yet another massacre in 1108, when Prince Svatopluk arranged for the Vršovci clan to be killed.
The castle was abandoned around 1130 and not much has happened here since.
Meaning that I can get away with the Hussite-wars-prosperity-occasional-fires-Thirty-Years-War-decline-then-industrialisation-much-later posts that seemed to be becoming an essential part of these threads of late.
Originally published on Twitter on 20 October 2022.
Boleslavská was built in 1910.
Stará Boleslav came into existence in the early 10th century, when the Přemyšlids built a castle here to guard their Central Bohemian domain.
A church was built too, dedicated to Arab physicians and two Christian martyrs, Saints Cosmas and Damian.
This church gained notoriety in 935, when Václav I was murdered at its door, presumably by his brother Boleslav.
Břetislav I established a basilica, dedicated to Václav, in the mid-11th century. This inevitably became a pilgrimage site, but disappeared in the 14th century.
Like other cities in the region, SB suffered in the Hussite Wars; unlike other cities we’ve mentioned, it didn’t particularly recover after them either, at least not until the late 15th century, when, encouraged by the Jesuits, it became a site for Marian pilgrimages.
The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in SB, built in the early 1600s, includes an image of the so-called Palladium of the Czech lands, a Gothic metal relief of the Virgin Mary with child.
And SB gets quite significant traffic every 28 September too (the date of Václav’s murder and also Czech Statehood Day.
In 1960, the town joined with its neighbour to form Brandýs nad Labem-Stará Boleslav (i.e. ‘doing a Brighton and Hove but 37 years earlier’).
Only one town in the Czech Republic, the wonderfully named Nová Ves u Nového Města na Moravě, has a longer title.
Hněvkovice na levém břehu Vltavy deserves a special mention too.
And for the grammar fans who are wondering why it’s not Starý Boleslav?
In Old Slavonic, the name of the settlement was actually ‘Boleslav’ plus the suffix ‘-jъ’, meaning ‘Boleslav’s (castle).
‘jъ’ was a soft consonant ending, which, as in modern-day Czech, often leads to feminine nouns. At some point, the ‘jъ’ became silent, but ‘Boleslav’ – when not used as a man’s name – remained feminine.
Other examples of feminine cities that you might not expect in Czech include Plzeň (possibly Plzen’s Castle) and Olomouc (Olomút’s Castle).
Whereas other feminine cities that dropped the jъ over time include Mysliboř, Svatoslav, Slaviboř and Telč.
Originally published on Twitter on 18 October 2022.
Čáslavská was built in 1910.
Čáslav, population 10,000, is a town in Central Bohemia, in the Kutná Hora district.
It was founded in 1264 by Přemysl Otakar II, who I am just going to start assume founded everything, including me.
Initially on the side of the Catholics in the Hussite Wars, Čáslav changed sides in 1421. In July of the same year, the Bohemian Parliament met there and voted in a Hussite government.
In November 1910, during renovation work on St. Peter and Paul Church in the town, various human bones were found in a bricked-up niche.
A committee concluded that the skull parts that were discovered most likely belonged to Žižka, a conclusion also made by anthropologist Emanuel Vlček in 1980.
It’s believed that the remains were hidden by a local clergyman, Matouš Ulický, in the early 1620s (i.e. shortly after Bílá Hora).
Ulický was arrested in 1627 for sedition. He was executed in the same year, undergoing severe torture beforehand.
After the 1420s, Čáslav followed a pattern that seems to come up a lot in this set of posts – prosperity despite a couple of large fires (1452 and 1522), followed by having a pretty crap time of it during the Thirty Years’ War (the Swedes invaded in 1639 and 1643).
In the early 19th century, Čáslav became an important administrative centre in the region.
The town’s most famous son must surely be Miloš Forman, who was born here in 1932.
It was also the birthplace of military intelligence officer František Moravec (1895-1966).
Although he died in the US, his remains were recently transferred to the Czech Republic, coinciding with the 80th anniversary of Operation Anthropoid.
Čáslav is also noticeable for its successful athletes, being the birthplace of Jarmila Kratochvílová (gold medals in 400 and 800 metres at the 1983 World Championships, setting a record in the latter which still stands).
The comments on that video. Sigh.
There’s also Ludmila Formanová (gold medal in 800 m at the World Championships in 1999).
Originally published on Twitter on 17 October 2022.
Chrudimská was built in 1908.
Chrudim, population 23,000, is the second-largest city in the Pardubice region. It was first mentioned in writing in 1055, when Břetislav I died there during a military campaign.
A proper city was then constructed here starting in 1263, at the initiative of Přemysl Otakar II. It became a pro-Hussite city in 1421.
In 1620, the year of the Battle of Bílá Hora, Chrudim supported Frederick V (The Winter King) – and paid dearly for this when he, and the Hussites, were defeated.
Chrudim was the setting of the region’s administrative court from 1854 to 1949, located on the site of the Dominican monastery, which had been destroyed during the Hussite wars.
While Chrudim did well when industrialisation came in the 19th century, it also got overtaken in regional importance by Pardubice, largely because of the latter’s better geographical position and transport links.
Nowadays, Chrudim is best known for its connection to puppetry – its annual puppetry festival (Loutkářská Chrudim) was launched in 1951, is the longest-running such festival in the world: https://loutkarskachrudim.cz/en/front-page-en/
There’s also a fantastic-looking museum, which also serves to remind us that sometimes the simplest of URLs are the most satisfying ones: https://puppets.cz/en
Perhaps the most famous resident of Chrudim was Josef Ressel (1793-1857), who has been credited with inventing the ship propellor.
For language nerds, Chrudim ends in a consonant but is feminine, and has two acceptable genitive forms: Chrudimi and Chrudimě.
Originally published on Twitter on 16 October 2022. I’m really rubbish at transferring these to the website so far.
Hradecká was built in 1908.
Hradec Králové (German: Königgrätz), population 91,000, literally translates as ‘Queen’s Castle’.
It’s the capital of the eponymous region (Královéhradecký kraj in Czech, so… eponymous-ish), in north-East Bohemia.
Originally just called Hradec (‘little castle’) since its founding in the late 1000s, the Králové was added in the early 1300s when the castle became the official residence of Czech queens after they had been widowed.
By the time of the Hussite Wars, HK was the most important city in Bohemia after Prague. During said wars, the city became a major centre for Žižka’s supporters (and he was buried there).
In the mid-1500s, HK suffered hard for its support of the anti-Habsburg movement.
Worse was to come with the Thirty Years’ War (1618-48), during which the city was occupied by the Swedes and was practically destroyed.
Prussian invaders caused a devastating fire in 1762. These invasions compelled Josef II to build a huge military fortress in the city.
In 1866, HK was the scene of the Battle of Königgrätz), the defining battle of the Austro-Prussian War (and a Prussian victory).
It’s been immortalised by Johann Gottfried Piefke’s Königgrätzer Marsch, which some of you may know from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade:
Side note: I’ve just realised why, back (way back) when I was living in Austria as a student, locals used to refer to Germans as ‘Piefkes’.
Famous names associated with HK include current world No. 1 in tennis doubles, Kateřina Siniaková, and Detroit Red Wings defence man, Filip Hronek.
While, for those who like their twinnings, HK’s quite glam set of sister cities includes Arnhem, Banská Bystrica, Chernihiv, Metz and Wrocław.
And, to add to yesterday’s Pisek, North Dakota, ND also has a New Hradec. There are some pretty great photos on here: http://hradec.org/dakota/hradec.html
Originally published on Twitter on 15 October 2022.
Písecká was built in 1910.
Písek, with 30,000 inhabitants, is the third-largest city in South Bohemia.
Its name means ‘sand’, deriving from the gold-bearing sand found on the banks of the Otava River.
It was first mentioned in 1243, when Václav I built a castle there, although it was his son, Přemysl-Otakar-II-of-Královec-fame, who founded the city itself (and spent a lot of time in it).
As well as its mineral wealth, Písek was built in order to protect the Zlatá stezka (Golden Trail), a series of trade routes connecting Bohemia with the Danube.
In the early 1400s, Písek was an important centre of the Hussites. The city joined the Unity of Tábor and was frequently visited by Jan Žižka. It also, somehow, managed to avoid any military clashes.
After the Hussite Wars, Písek achieved prosperity, but was largely destroyed by fire in 1532 and suffered repeatedly during the Thirty Years’ War (1618-48).
In the 19th century, during the Czech National Revival, so many schools and learning institutes were set up in the city that it became known as ‘South Bohemian Athens’.
Originally published on Twitter on 14 October 2022.
Slezská was built in 1889.
Silesia (Slezsko in Czech, Śląsk in Polish, and Schlesien in German), is a historical region of Central Europe (translation: this might not be the briefest of threads).
Czech Silesia is one of the three historical Czech lands, though it’s significantly smaller than the other two (taking up about 5.6% of the country’s land, and containing 9.5% of its population).
Only four of the 30 biggest cities in Silesia are on the Czech side (and three of these, Havírov, Opava and Frýdek-Místek, rank 20th or lower).
The obvious exception is Ostrava, which is third behind Wrocław and Katowice.
Initially, the Piasts were successful; they encouraged German migration in order to strengthen the region’s economy; Silesia’s German character would last until the mid-20th century.
In 1335, Charles I of Hungary assigned Silesia to the Bohemian crown. However, the individual principalities maintained their rulers, who (for example) took the Catholic side in the Hussite Wars.
Ruled by Hungary for 21 years between 1469 and 1490, Silesia was then reacquired by Bohemia – meaning it also passed to the Habsburgs in 1526.
By the 1700s, Silesia’s industrial background meant it was the richest province in the Empire, and so Frederick the Great decided it might be quite nice if he could make the region part of Prussia instead.
Cue the War of Austrian Succession, which, in 1742, left the Habsburgs with little more than Opava, Krnov and Těšín, which joined Moravia.
Following WW1, Silesia was divided between Poland, Germany and Czechoslovakia. Arguments and violence inevitably ensued.
The war can be regarded as a victory for Czechoslovakia, which acquired the region’s coal mines. But relations with Poland remained strained until WW2.
After WW2, only a small strip of Silesia (Lusatia) was given to East Germany; the German population was forcibly expelled from the rest.
There is debate about whether Silesian is a dialect of Polish (or of Czech), or a language in its own right; whatever your view, the existence of a TED Talk in Silesian (from 2013) is really freaking awesome:
My goodness, languages are the best.
Bonus material: in 1928, Slezká joined with a street called Chocholouškova, which had existed since 1884.
It was named after Prokop Chocholoušek (1819-64), a journalist and writer whose anti-Habsburg sentiments led to police surveillance and difficulties in making a living.
Originally published on Twitter on 13 October 2022.
Náměstí Jiřího z Lobkovic was built in 1910. It underwent a pointless name change to Lobkovické náměstí (1940-5).
It was then called Náměstí V.I. Čapajeva until 1990. Vasily Chapayev (1887-1919) was a Red Army commander. Soviet propaganda hailed him as a war hero; he also had bugger all to do with Czechoslovakia.
An urban settlement in Kharkiv was named after him until 2006; it’s now called Slobozhanske.
Hope everyone there is as well as they can be. Слава Україні.
Jiří Kristián z Lobkowicz, meanwhile, was born in Vienna in 1835, into one of the oldest Bohemian noble families.
He studied law at the then Charles-Ferdinand University in the 1850s, and became an actuary, although he quit in 1862 in protest against the Austrian government’s centralisation policy.
In 1865, he became mayor of Mělník district, and was elected to the Czech Regional Assembly, a position he would hold until 1872, and again from 1883 to 1907.
As a conservative patriot, he favoured federalisation of the Habsburg Empire, and wished for Bohemia to regain its historic privileges; on the other hand, he was sceptical of ethnic nationalism and insisted on using both Czech and German in his work and correspondence.
In 1871, he took part in the negotiations concerning the Fundamental Articles, which aimed to give the Czech Lands a less subordinate status in the Empire (though still more subordinate than Hungary). The project was never adopted.
In 1879, Lobokowicz was elected as a deputy to the Austrian Parliament (Reichsrat), where he continued to lobby for language and education rights in Bohemia. He became a hereditary member of the House of Lords (Herrenhaus) in 1883.
He died in Prague in 1908. Research indicates that he inherited a heck of a lot of properties, had relatives with more surnames than some of us have letters in our own names, and also had twelve children.
Properties owned by the family include the Lobkowicz Palace at Prague Castle, Mělník Castle, and Nelahozeves Castle, which I always see on signs just outside of Prague and which always confuses me because it looks so much like Hungarian.
Notable contemporary Lobkowiczes include politicians Jiří and Michal, the latter of whom was briefly Czech Defence Minister at the tender age of 34, back in 1998.
As well as the late bishop of Ostrava-Opava, who died in 2022.
And who requires an additional tweet, as his full name was Franz von Assisi Karl Friedrich Klemens Jaroslav Alois Leopold Gerhard Telesphorus Odilius Johann Bosco Paul Marie, Prince von Lobkowicz.
There’s also the unsolved murder of Prince Edouard-Xavier de Lobkowicz, aged 23 at the time of his killing in Paris in 1984. This article is from the time, but the case remains unsolved.
What's in a Prague street name 
