What's in a Prague street name

Every street in Prague, one by one.

recent posts (search bar on main page for about a gazillion more)

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).

  • Prague 3, day 101: Husitská

    Originally published on Twitter on 2 August 2022.

    Husitská was built before 1872, and has had its current name since 1947.

    Husitská is named after its most famous resident, the architect, philosopher, politician, nuclear physicist and adult film actress Kateřina ‘CoCo’ Husitská.

    A woman so impressive that the street was named after her 24 years before she was even born.

    Oh, who are we kidding? It’s named after the Hussites. All of them.

    Until 1875, this was the Horská silnice, the ‘mountain road’ which led to Kutná Hora.

    From 1875 to 1940, and again from 1945 to 1947 it was Husova, i.e. Jan Hus had the street to himself before it was decided to make it belong to a huge number of people instead. #communism

    From 1940 to 1945, the Nazis clearly had a ‘change a street name while keeping as many letters as possible’ thing going on, as this became Huttenstraße.

    Ulrich von Hutten (1488-1523) being a German knight and satirist who became a follower of Martin Luther.

  • Prague 3, day 100: Kališnická

    Originally published on Twitter on 1 August 2022.

    Day 100 already. Huh.

    Kališnická was built in 1910.

    A kališník is an Utraquist. The Utraquists were a branch of the Hussites who believed that Eucharist in both kinds (i.e. bread and wine) should be administered to churchgoers.

    They constituted a majority of Hussites. They were also known as the Prague Party, or the Calixtines – after the Latin word for ‘chalice’.

    And ‘chalice’ being kalich in Czech is how we arrive at kališník.

    While it’s obviously not what gave the street its name, a kališník obecný is a Helvella acetabulum, which is a cup-shaped fungus that looks somewhat like a cabbage leaf.

    I know that a chalice looks like a cup, but can’t guarantee whether the Hussites were major cabbage-eaters.

    They were Czech, though, so the chances it was absent from their diet are very low indeed.

  • Prague 3, day 99: Izraelská

    Originally published on Twitter on 31 July 2022.

    Izraelská was built in 1945.

    Until 1995, the street was part of ‘Nad vodovodem’ (‘Above the water pipeline’), which is still located directly to the east of it in Prague 10.

    Izraelská is directly south of the New Jewish Cemetery. The cemetery founded in 1890, as the previous Jewish cemetery (located where the Television Tower now is) had become overcrowded.

    It has space for 100,000 graves, as well as its own urn cemetery (despite Judaism considering cremation as destruction of property).

    The most famous resident of the cemetery is obviously Franz Kafka, but here are many other highly noticeable people who are buried here:

    Vilém Flusser, Czech-Brazilian philosopher (biography on https://flusserstudies.net/flusser).

    Arne Laurin, journalist and editor of the Prager Press (obituary from 1945 on https://jta.org/archive/arne-laurin-influential-czech-jewish-journalist-dies-in-new-york-was-56…).

    Arnošt Lustig, author whose work frequently dealt with the Holocaust (2007 interview with Czech Radio on https://english.radio.cz/arnost-lustig-writers-are-clowns-8604571…).

    Jiří Orten, poet who died aged 22 in Prague as he was hit by an ambulance, but was refused treatment because of his religion. The Jiří Orten Award is awarded annually to a Czech author under the age of 30. Biography in French on https://francais.radio.cz/jiri-orten-8046726….

    Ota Pavel, writer of autobiographical and biographical novels (see this Radio Prague broadcast from 2005: https://english.radio.cz/golden-eels-and-long-ordeals-life-and-times-ota-pavel-8095568…).

    I really wanted to find out exactly when the name change took place in 1995 – specifically to see if it happened as a reaction to the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin.

    I wasn’t able to find out, though I did establish that Václav Klaus attended Rabin’s funeral in Jerusalem (https://cesky.radio.cz/zpravy-utery-7-listopadu-1995-8055054…), and then-president of Israel Ezer Weizman visited Prague in January 1996 (https://cesky.radio.cz/zpravy-streda-10-ledna-1996-8055093…).

  • Prague 3, day 98: Nad Třebešínem III

    Originally published on Twitter on 30 July 2022.

    Nad Třebešínem III was named in 1938, although the road wasn’t properly built until the 1940s.

    The only ‘full’ street sign on Nad Třebešínem III suggests it’s in Prague 10. Which it is, mainly.

    But, while number 3 is in Prague 10, number 5 is in Prague 3 (proof attached, complete with ‘temperamental dog’ warning).

    We’ve taken the Třebešín story as far as we can on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/11/26/day-96-na-trebesine/, so let’s talk about when Třebešín was the home of Karel Gott (information taken from https://prazsky.denik.cz/zpravy_region/karel-gott-vily-bungalov-strasnice-bertramka-kobylisy-pieta-pohreb-20191012.html…).

    In 1969, Gott asked the architect (and former Olympic basketballer) Jiří Siegel to build him a house on Slunečná, in the style of an American bungalow.

    It was pretty high-tech for the time – swimming pool, sliding windows, floor-mounted window convectors, and now I’m talking like an estate agent.

    Gott sold the house to the future Czechoslovak Minister of Construction, Karel Polák, in 1974, and moved to Bertramka in Smíchov.

    In one interview, he (Gott, obvs) stated that the humidity in the house wasn’t good for his vocal cords.

    Here’s Karel in 1969, around his moving-in date, putting a rather spirited (and German-language) twist on the Stones’ Paint It Black.

    And here he his around the time he left his allegedly humid house, giving the Rubettes’ Sugar Baby Love some welly in Czech and not looking very sad to be leaving Třebešín at all.

  • Prague 3, day 97: Zvěřinova

    Originally published on Twitter on 29 July 2022.

    Zvěřinova was built in 2016, making it the newest street yet.

    Josef Zvěřina (1913-1990) was a priest, art historian, theologian, philosopher and educator.

    He graduated from the (no longer existing) Archbishops’ Gymnázium in Bubeneč in 1932, and was ordained as a priest in Rome in 1937.

    After the Czech universities were abolished in 1939, he taught at a ‘substitute’ theological school, but was imprisoned for his anti-German activities for just over a year, starting in 1942.

    After WWII, he joined the theological faculty of CU, but was called up for military training when theological schools were closed in 1950.

    In early 1952, he was sentenced to 22 years’ imprisonment. Released early in 1965, he served as a theologian in the underground church.

    In November 1989, he gave speeches to the protesting students, including before an estimated 800,000 on Letná on 25 November (other speeches from that day are in the video below).

    After the revolution, it was expected that he would teach at the relaunched theological factory of Charles University – but he died unexpectedly in August 1990.

    He was fully rehabilitated in December of the same year.

  • Prague 3, Day 96: Na Třebešíně

    Originally published on Twitter on 28 July 2022.

    Na Třebešíně was built in 1925.

    It’s mainly in Prague 10, but street signs don’t lie. Also, it was originally designated as a square.

    Třebešín is the name of the residential district located here on a long hill. It’s significantly more villa-based than the areas that surround it.

    Before 1914, this area was just fields; the first houses were recorded in 1926.

    The origins of the name Třebešín aren’t clear, but it was first mentioned on a map in 1841.

    There’s a district of Hradec Králové called Třebeš, however, and that was originally called Střebeš – which leads me to wonder if Třebešín’s name has something to do with stříbro, i.e. silver.

    A park on this street (admittedly in the Prague 10 part) is named after Jiří Karen (1920-2000), a poet who, in addition to his Czech works, also published several volumes in Esperanto.

  • Prague 3, day 95: Pod Kapličkou

    Originally published on Twitter on 27 July 2022.

    Pod Kapličkou was built in 1925.

    Yes, I thought we were only going to get more central from here on, but then my atlas kindly reminded me that there’s a few streets on the outskirts of Prague 3 that I forgot about.

    I found out that Pod Kapličkou is named after a nearby kaplička, but, when I thought it was time to double-check my facts, Seznam Slovník started to have a laugh.

    I know that a kaple is a chapel (I also know that my Mac just tried to change kaple to ‘maple’ THREE TIMES).

    So I am assuming a kaplička is a small chapel. But the dictionary also tells me that a kaplička is a gauge cluster, or one of these.

    Given the street was built in 1925, I’m going to quietly go with the odds that we’re dealing with a chapel here. Not sure it’s there anymore, mind you.

  • Prague 3, day 94: Basilejské náměstí

    Originally published on Twitter on 26 July 2022.

    Basilejské náměstí – Basel Square – was built in 1932.

    The Swiss city of Basel, as well as being a very nice place to walk around (which the square is currently not – see later on) has a special significance for Czechs.

    The Council of Basel was called in 1431 by Pope Martin V (who died before it could take place) in order to discuss papal supremacy and Hussite heresy.

    In 1436, the Council and the moderate Hussites (the Utraquists) agreed upon the Compacts of Basel, or the Compactata. These granted Hussite priests the right to administer wine to laymen during the Eucharist.

    A year later, the Council confirmed that ‘communion under both kinds’ (i.e. receiving both consecrated bread and wine) was not heretical.

    Google Maps typically suggests that I go through Basilejské náměstí if I want to walk into the centre. Normally, this works quite well.

    Lately, it works less well, as there’s so much building work going on that you start to wonder if somebody in Basel recently declared functioning pavements as heretical as well.

    In the last few days, it finally seems to be going in a visibly right direction, though: https://www.blesk.cz/clanek/regiony-praha-praha-zpravy/718192/malo-zelene-hodne-betonu-na-sitich-se-kvuli-podobe-basilejskeho-namesti-dohaduji-obyvatele-i-politici.html

  • Prague 3, day 93: U Zásobní zahrady

    Originally published on Twitter on 25 July 2022.

    U Zásobní zahrady was built in 1947.

    A zásobní zahrada is a ‘supply garden’.

    The garden here provided flowers for Prague’s parks, and for specific events, from 1937 onwards. That’s a lot of flowers.

    It replaced a previous storage garden, also located in Žižkov, but at Rajská zahrada, which we’ll discuss when we get a little more central.

    This was a year after the Kapslovna factory closed down, as production was moved to Vlašim in 1936. Meaning that I’ve managed to work out a little bit more of what was here post-factory and pre-biathlon association.

    The walls around the southern part of the Kapslovna factory were demolished around 1960; the supply garden disappeared along with them.

    There are nice photos of both supply gardens (I think it’s both of them, in any case) on https://praha3.cz/aktualne-z-trojky/zpravy/retrospektiva/zahrada-ktera-zdobila-kvetinami-prahu-n1131671.htm….

  • Prague 3, day 92: Na Parukářce

    Originally published on Twitter on 24 July 2022.

    Na Parukářce was built in 1947.

    We explained Parukářka yesterday – see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/11/26/prague-3-day-91-pod-parukarkou/ – so today we can talk about people not quite agreeing what this area should be called.

    We know about Vrch svatého Kríže / Mount of the Holy Cross, named after a wooden cross placed on the summit in 1822.

    And about Parukářka, a name given in 1804 after a wigmaker based here.

    Olšanský vrch / Olšany Hill also gets mentioned – Olšany being the village that was located around here once upon a time (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/11/22/prague-3-day-73-olsanska/).

    Then, there’s Zámeček (Little Castle), named after a one-floor building that was located at the bottom of the steps until about 1910.

    Finally, other records say that the old name of the hill was Křížek (Small Cross).

  • Prague 3, day 91: Pod Parukářkou

    Originally published on Twitter on 23 July 2022.

    Pod Parukářkou was built in 1997.

    Parukářka is the name of a former vineyard and farm, founded in the 15th century and located on the eastern part of Vrch svatého Kříže / Hill of the Holy Cross, though it was initially called Hejtmánka.

    From 1804, the homestead also housed a wig factory. The is where the name Parukářka comes from (paruka is Czech for ‘wig’, very similar to the German Perücke).

    In 1825, Sellier and Bellot (see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/11/22/prague-3-day-74-ke-kapslovne/) purchased it and founded the Kapslovna factory.

    Parukářka is now the name of a park in this location with excellent views of Prague.

    If I can turn this series a bit Ed Talks for a second: I took a couple of pretty big knocks, mentally speaking, in 2019.

    Hard to explain, and almost trivial-sounding when I do, but the kind you don’t bounce back from that easily, especially when 2019 + 1 = 2020.

    But Parukářka will always be the place where, last year, I sat with a friend, stared at Žižkov down below, said very little, listened to myself breathing, and felt like I was possibly getting my sh*t together.

    So I’m pretty grateful it’s there.

  • Prague 3, day 90: V Kapslovně

    Originally published on Twitter on 22 July 2022.

    V Kapslovně was built in 1997.

    I’m about to go on annual leave from work for two weeks and have what I can only describe as a Kapsload of work to get through today, so I’m happy to keep this one brief and point you to https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/11/22/prague-3-day-74-ke-kapslovne/.

    tldr: Kapslovna was a factory making cartridges for infantry. Then it wasn’t. Then it became a biathlon club and still is one.

    It seems there’s going to be a park called Kapslovna here soon, too, so that’s nice: https://praha3.cz/aktualne-z-trojky/zpravy/prijdte-se-seznamit-s-navrhovanou-podobou-budouciho-parku-kapslovna-n1143806.htm

  • Prague 3, day 89: Náměstí Barikád

    Originally published on Twitter on 21 July 2022.

    Náměstí Barikád was built in 1904, bearing its current name (Barricade Square) since 1952.

    Until 1952, this was Perštýnovo náměstí, named after the Pernštejn family, a distinguished noble family from south-western Moravia.

    Recent followers of these posts will be *stunned* to know that they were Hussites.

    The square was renamed after the barricades that were erected in Žižkov during the Prague Uprising in 1945.

    On 28 October 1968, a Lípa republiky (Linden of the Republic) was planted on the square to commemorate 50 years since the founding of Czechoslovakia. http://prazskestromy.cz/stromy/vyznamne-stromy/90-lipa-republiky-na-namesti-barikad-na-zizkove/

    The most famous building on the square is probably the Hussian Congregation of Jan Žižka (Husův sbor Jana Žižky), a prayer house (photo links to Wikipedia as it’s much better than the one I took): https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hus%C5%AFv_sbor_(%C5%BDi%C5%BEkov)#/media/Soubor:%C5%BDi%C5%BEkov_Hus%C5%AFv_sbor_J._%C5%BDi%C5%BEky_1.jpg

  • Prague 3, day 88: Koldínova

    Originally published on Twitter on 20 July 2022.

    Koldínova was built in 1904.

    Pavel Kristián z Koldína (1530-1589) was a lawyer and writer.

    He held several key positions in Prague: rector of the Latin school, dean of Charles University (from 1561), and chancellor of the Old Town from 1565 to 1584.

    In 1569, he and Jiří Melantrichaz Aventýna drafted the code of urban law of the Kingdom of Bohemia (Práva městská Království českého).

    The Code came into force in 1697, and applied until the Austrian Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch / General Civil Code came into force in 1812.

  • Prague 3, day 87: Tovačovského

    Originally published on Twitter on 19 July 2022.

    Tovačovského was built in 1904.

    Jan Tovačovský z Cimburka st. (1400-ish to 1464) was a Moravian nobleman.

    Born a Catholic, he converted to the Kalisz faith and became a faithful follower of Jiří z Poděbrad.

    He took part in the battles of Ústí nad Labem (1426) and Tachov (1427).

    From 1439 to 1460, he was a provincial governor in Moravia.

    His son, Ctibor Tovačovský, was a politician and author, who became governor of Moravia in 1469, and was Supreme Chancellor of Bohemia from 1471 to 1479.

  • Prague 3, day 86: Dovcova

    Originally published – albeit with a more inconclusive (slash wrong) ending – on Twitter on 18 July 2022.

    Dovcova was built in, well, let’s talk this one through.

    Google Maps says that Dovcova exists.

    But there’s no street sign, and the street (is that even the correct word?) looked like this when I went to take a photo of the non-existent sign.

    It’s not on the list included on https://regiony.kurzy.cz/praha/praha-3-mestska-cast/ulice-vypis/… (whose final page is behind a paywall, which will traumatise me no end in a few months when I realise I’ve left out one street in Prague 3 and can’t work out which one).

    It’s also not mentioned in this fine volume (which includes an English translation, so do get yourself a copy).

    I originally assumed this street was under construction – the photo would certainly imply that.

    But it turns out that this is known as a ‘trap street’ – a street which publishers of maps include in their maps, knowing full well that it’s not real, because, if somebody else happens to produce a map including the same, fictitious street, they can then go and sue them for plagiarism.

    Handy.

  • Prague 3, day 85: Žerotínova

    Originally published on Twitter on 17 July 2022.

    Žerotínova was built before 1875.

    Karel starší ze Žerotína / Karel the Elder from Žerotín (1564-1636) was born to an ancient Moravian noble family. He studied in Ivančice, Strasbourg and Basel.

    In 1594, he commanded the Moravian Cavalry in the Ottoman wars.

    In 1599, he was put on trial for alleged treasonous connections. He was acquitted but also relieved of his posts.

    From 1608 to 1615, he was regional governor of Moravia, managing to secure the religious freedom of Protestants for a few more years.

    After the Battle of Bílá Hora, he provided asylum to priests of the Unitas Fratrum.

    He voluntarily emigrated to Wrocław in 1629, and helped the Unitas Fratrum move their library (the Kralitzer Library) there.

    He moved to Přerov in 1633, and died there three years later.

  • Prague 3, day 84: Blahoslavova

    Originally published on Twitter on 16 July 2022.

    Blahoslavova was built before 1875.

    Jan Blahoslav (1523-1571) was a writer, translator, and composer, among many other professions.

    He was a bishop in the Jednota bratrská (see yesterday: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/11/26/prague-3-day-83-ceskobratrska/), and, in 1564, translated the New Testament into Czech.

    He also published ‘Muzika’ (a ‘guide to how to sing hymns’ – think those For Dummies books, but in 1558), reputedly the first Czech-language book on music theory.

    In written correspondence, he used various pen names which I am totally going to try out for myself: Apteryx, Makarius and Blasius.

  • Prague 3, day 83: Českobratrská

    Originally published on Twitter on 15 July 2022.

    Českobratrská was built before 1875.

    The Jednota bratrská / Unitas Fratrum was the Bohemian Reformation Church, founded in 1457 in Kunvald.

    Its principles were based on the teachings of Petr Chelčický, who we dealt with on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/11/24/prague-3-day-78-chelcickeho/.

    Unsurprisingly, the Church did not do particularly well out of the Counter-Reformation.

    It wasn’t revived in the Czech Lands until the 19th century, this time with the name ‘Jednota českobratrská’ (Czech Fraternal Unity’).

    The Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren (ECCB) (Českobratrská církev evangelická; ČCE) has existed in its current form since the unification of several Protestant churches in 1918.

    It’s the second-largest church in the Czech Republic, although its membership was just under 33,000 according to the 2021 census, when, in 1991, it counted 204,000 members.

  • Prague 3, day 82: Komenského náměstí

    Originally posted on Twitter on 14 July 2022.

    Komenského náměstí was built in 1872.

    Named after John Amos Comenius / Jan Amos Komenský (1592-1670). There’s a lot to say about this guy.

    Komenský was born into the Moravian Brethren, a pre-Reformation Protestant denomination, whose last bishop he ultimately became.

    The religious wars forced him to seek refuge in Poland.

    While in exile, he became one of the earliest champions of universal education.

    He advised governments across Protestant Europe (including in Sweden and England) on this in the mid-17th century.

    Among the innovations he introduced were textbooks written in languages other than Latin, prizing logical thinking over memorisation and equal opportunities for women and the poor.

    There’s a strong chance that you see Komenský’s face every single day, even without realising.

    28 March, his birthday, is celebrated as Teachers’ Day in the Czech Republic.

    Comenius University in Bratislava is Slovakia’s largest university, founded in 1919. More recently, the University of Jan Amos Komenský was opened in Prague in 2001.

    In the 1980s, nearly all the 19th century buildings in the square were destroyed and replaced by paneláky.

    There were plans to destroy the school in the square, too, but 1989 and the Velvet Revolution arrived before the bulldozers could.

    The square has undergone some major revitalisation in recent years, swapping a parking lot for a park and a pedestrian zone.

    You can see pictures of the renovation – performed by MCA atelier s.r.o. in 2018 – here: https://www.earch.cz/architektura/clanek/atraktivni-verejny-prostor-misto-zanedbaneho-parkoviste-mca-atelier-navrhl-revitalizaci-komenskeho-namesti-na-zizkove