Sian Bradley, Author at Prague Morning

U Fleků, one of the oldest Prague breweries, broke a 177-year old tradition to expand its appeal. In response to the decrease in tourism, it has brewed a light beer called ‘Svatováclavský ležák’ for the first time ever. Since 1843, U Fleků has produced exclusively classic dark beer with a gravity of 13%.

The brewery, which previously focused on tourists, plans now to attract more local residents. Light beer varieties are traditionally much more popular among Czechs.

The coronavirus has hit the brewery hard. Half of the staff were laid off, and beer production fell to 15% of the pre-crisis level.

The classic dark beer remains on the menu and dropped in price from 69 to 59 CZK for 400 ml to cope with the pandemic challenges.

If the light Svatováclavský ležák is received well by locals, production will continue.

About U Fleků

U Fleků is the largest restaurant in the Czech Republic, seating 1200 people. In 1499, it was owned by a man called Kremenec; a name which later which lived on in the street the brewery sits on.

In 1762, the brewery began to prosper under the ownership of a brewer named Flekovsky, which the brewery is still named after.

The original brewery was small- just one building, two stories high. As it grew in popularity in the 18th century, buildings were connected creating the courtyard that you can see 500 years after it opened.

In the Westfield Chodov shopping center, a special frame was installed for customers which disinfect the whole body in a few seconds. The novelty is intended to prevent coronavirus and seasonal respiratory diseases.

The device consists of a metal frame with an integrated spray mechanism. When a person passes through the frame, they trigger sensors that release tiny droplets of disinfectant.

According to the management, the solution is natural and therefore should not irritate the skin or damage clothing.

“In addition to mandatory measures, we also undergo a Health and Safety audit. At the beginning of July, the shopping centre received the highest level of certification, Safe & Healthy Places, which is the maximum standard available for hygiene and safety. The certification of the centre was granted by the independent auditing company Bureau Veritas,” said Petra Valentová, the marketing manager of the Westfield Chodov centre.

Photo: Novinky.cz

A curious situation occurred on Thursday in Choceň in the Pardubice Region. In the morning, a new shopping center was supposed to open after a marketing campaign saw hostesses handing out invitations in the park.

In the end, however, it turned out that the opening was not approved by the City Hall and it was not going ahead.

Due to the lack of approval, the supermarket and several shops selling clothes, toys and electricity did not open.

The information that no customer would be able to buy anything from the mall on Thursday was not published until the evening before the planned opening.

The entrance to the shopping park was blocked by wooden pallets with a short inscription: “For technical reasons, the retail park is closed. We apologize to all our customers. ”

Bystanders also report that two hostesses stood at the entrance explaining that the center was closed.

They had been on site since six in the morning, and the stores were meant to open at seven. According to one of the hostesses, they had to explain the situation to hundreds of people. Many of them were – understandably – disappointed, others angry.

This strange story will remind Czech people of a similar hoax in 2007 when two film students ordered a leading advertising company to coordinate a promotional campaign for a nonexistent product: a hypermarket.

They filmed a comedy documentary poking fun at the marketing hype.

In 2019, 197,842 new trees were planted in Prague. The average person used 114 litres of water per day in 2019, and motorists spend an average of five days and eight hours in traffic jams per year.

This is Prague in numbers, as offered by the new data-crunching website, Pragozor. With one hundred and fifteen eye-catching graphs to explore, you can find information on health, housing, environment, public transport, cars, safety, mobility, and tourism – as well as live data on coronavirus cases.

The data offers insights into the success and failings of Prague. For example, Every citizen of Prague (including infants and seniors) produces 330 kg of waste per year, yet the amount of waste that ends up in landfill is steadily decreasing. There is a shortage of surgeons in the city, but Prague is rated as having better access to healthcare than Vienna and Berlin.

The number of new builds has increased since 2019, but so has the price and the number of city flats that are privatised. Meanwhile, the rate of violent crime has dropped drastically while cases of graffiti have increased.

Mayor Zdeněk Hřib commented: “The smart city is data-driven. I am glad that we can now offer this useful data to all Praguers in one place.

We live in a time of frequent dissemination of misinformation and fake news, so it is a big plus that all information on Pragozor is verified and that website visitors can click through to the sources of information.”

Pragozor processes data from traffic sensors and the Smart Prague Index, as well as parking garages, police statistics, and more, explains Michal Fišer, ICT Operator of the platform. Therefore, forty of the graphs are based on live data and update daily.

Did you know that nine pharmacies across Prague are open 24/7? These ‘non-stop’ pharmacies offer emergency services so you may not need to go to the hospital if you need to access medication in the middle of the night. Here’s where to find them.

Na Františku Hospital emergency pharmacy

Easy to access in the centre of the city, Na Františku is located inside the hospital, on the ground floor of the main building. The entrance to the hospital is locked from the afternoon to eight in the morning so you will need to ring the bell between these hours.

Address: Na Františku 847/8, 11000 Prague 1, Telephone: 222 801 397

U Svaté Ludmily’s Emergency pharmacy

Lékárna U Svaté Ludmily also sits in the city centre, near Náměstí Míru. It has a long history, dating back to the time of the First Republic. Outside standard working hours, you can use the standby window. You can also get basic medicines for your four-legged pets here.

Address: Belgická 37, Prague 2, Telephone: 222513396, 222519731

Thomayer Hospital Emergency Pharmacy

For an emergency surcharge of fifty crowns, you can use the pharmacy located in Hall P of the Thomayer Hospital complex after half-past six in the evening.

Address: Vídeňská 800, Prague 4, Telephone: 261 084 019

Emergency pharmacy of the University Hospital in Motol

Motol University Hospital is one of the workplaces of the largest Czech hospital. Although it is only partially accessible to patients, it is open 24 hours a day. If there are no staff in the pharmacy, just ring the bell.

Address: V úvalu 84, Prague 5, Telephone: 224435736

BENU Pharmacy

BENU Pharmacy is accessible directly from the street, located on the ground floor of the Polyclinic of Prague 7. As well as common medicines for children and adults, they stock homeopathic and veterinary treatments. From 19:00-6:30 on Sundays and public holidays. During these times, you’ll have to queue at the drive-by window. Card payment can be used only up to five hundred crowns.

Address: Fr. Křížka 22, Prague 7, Telephone: 731638010

Na Bulovce institutional pharmacy

The pharmacy has been operating in the Na Bulovce Hospital complex since 2012. It is located near the main entrance of the hospital. From eight o’clock in the evening to seven o’clock in the morning, you can access dispensing medicines through the window after ringing the bell.

Address: Budínová 67/2, Prague 8, Telephone: 266082017

EUC Lékárna Praha – Plaňanská

Also in Malešice, Malešická lékárna is located in Plaňanská Street and is accessible on standby between 6 pm and 7 am.

Address: Plaňanská 573/1, Prague 10, Telephone: 281 019 258 – daily operation, 724 210 499 – emergency operation

EUC Lékárna Šustova

Similar to Malešice, EUC is open on standby between six o’clock in the evening and seven o’clock in the morning.

Address: Šustova 1930/2, Prague 11, Contact: 271913307 – daily operation, 296 506 128

Dr. Pharmacy Max Prague 6

This pharmacy is fully open from 8:00 to 20:00 but offers a medicine dispensary after this.

Address: Vítězné náměstí 997/13, Prague 6, Telephone: 224 325 520

How will Prague look in the next 20 years? Discover the answer at ‘Prague Tomorrow? Priorities in Prague’, an exhibition at the Centre for Architecture and Metropolitan Planning (CAMP).

The exhibition consists of 25 public construction projects which explore ways to transform Prague. They include ambitious aims to transform a brownfield area in the Nové district, to complete the inner city ring road, and build a new park on the island of Štvanice.

Mayor Zdeněk Hřib believes that transforming Bubny-Zátory, the city’s largest brownfield, is a particularly fundamental objective for the city as it will improve access to housing.

However, Deputy Mayor Petr Hlaváček is supporting potential plans to build a philharmonic building, which he hopes could become a creative symbol of 21st century Prague.

Several architectural groups were involved in the transformation of the brownfield at Žižkov Freight Station.
Photo: IPR archive

Ondřej Boháč, director of the Institute of Planning and Development, explains that the exhibition is a “model selection of twenty-five interesting projects that will change the expression of Prague as we know it today.”

The projects have been divided into five specific categories: new neighbourhoods, squares, parks and opportunities and connections. What unites them is improvements for life in the city.

According to the 2013 design of the RKAW architectural studio, a sports and relaxation area will be built on the island of Štvanice. Photo: IPR archive

Not all of these projects will come to life. Pavel Vyhnánek, Deputy Mayor for Finance and Budget understands the problems with obtaining state support for the projects: “My task is to secure funding, which is especially difficult in the current difficult coronavirus period.”

The success of these projects will be decided by elected public representatives. Members of the public are invited to contribute to the conversation during a tour of the exhibition.

Charles bridge is famous not only for its rich history but as a place for couples to attach ‘love locks’. The Association of Artists now believes they have removed an incredible 13.2 tonnes of these locks over the past 11 years.

Roman Kotrč of the Association has taken lock splitters and a bucket to the grilles on Charles Bridge every Tuesday morning for the past five years. He then devotes some of raw materials to artists for recycling. They also plan to feature them in an exhibition on modern-day symbols at the Prague City Gallery.

The Association has been granted funding to help with their removals over the years, allowing them to buy new shears, cutters, containers, pliers, and gloves.

This custom was first popularised by Italian tourists and has since spread to Prague, where locks appear on many bridges.

Legend has it that if you touch the relief and make a wish, your wish will come true. It’s therefore an ideal place for couples to write their names on a lock, make a wish then throw the key into the river.

The problem is that the number of locks attached to the grid makes the bridge very heavy, which can cause structural damage. “The lamp has been destroyed by the weight of the locks and our association has already financed its repair twice,” Kotrč explained. Also, according to Kotrč, inexperienced people try to cut the locks off and accidentally cut the grid itself.

The solution is not simple. There are ongoing negotiations to create a heart of iron bars on the Náplavka riverbank, but no conclusion has been reached. Prague is also trying to improve tourists knowledge of the damage these locks can cause.

The brothel in Prague’s Holešovice district has lost its eviction battle with the city council, Mayor Pavel Vyhnánek has announced.

The Mayor expects that the owner of the space will appeal the decision, but has ‘no doubt’ it will fail. If the city wins, sex workers who perform there will have to vacate.

This decision comes after the brothel owners ignored out-of-court calls to evacuate the premises, leading the council to file a lawsuit. Eroc, the company which operates the brothel in Showpark, bought the lease from the building’s previous owner, Delta Center.

According to the city council, this isn’t legally possible; either they would have to apply to lease the space for prostitution which is a criminal offence, or lie about its function.

Eroc’s Managing Director, Zbyněk Matela, has previously argued that the brothel provides a positive function for the city and it’s closure would have ‘undesirable consequences’. In response, Mayor Vyhnánek stated that this dispute isn’t ‘ideological or moral, but legal’. He continued: “The whole problem was that ShowPark never had a contract with the city. We don’t want to, but even if we did want to, we can’t sign off on a lease agreement with the brothel operator.”

The municipality succeeded in evicting Delta Center in 1998, which rented the entire market from the city. They had to vacate the area and pay the outstanding rent, with accessories, of CZK 246 million.

In April, plans to use the Showpark brothel to quarantine homeless people were scrapped after the Regional Hygiene Station said the building is not suitable for long-term accommodation of high-risk groups.

Lentilky, the iconic multi-colored, sugar-coated chocolates are no longer produced in the Czech Republic.

Nestlé has been making Lentilky for more than 110 years in Holešov, Moravia. Now the company moved production of the much-loved Czech sweet to Hamburg, Germany, where it will share a “new recipe” with Smarties.

According to the company, factories in the Czech republic couldn’t manage the ‘technological demands’ of producing paper packaging.

Vratislav Janda, the company’s director of corporate affairs, told Radiožurnál: “We are unifying the recipe between Lentilky and Smarties, which means that there will be less sugar and more chocolate in Lentilky, which was based on consumer tests.”

The spokesperson explained Nestlé believes the Hamburg plant is better equipped in terms of the “reduction in maintenance costs for production technologies, and better capacity utilization… Which is sufficient for the production and distribution of the product to all EU countries”.

Janda also revealed that Nestle will pack Lentils in paper packaging, which is technologically demanding and cannot be produced in the Czech Republic but can in Hamburg.

This is not the first sweet treat that has been moved from the Czech Republic. Five years ago, Mondeleez Czech Republic moved its Opavia sponge cake production to Poland.

Similarly, the Hamé company no longer produces Znojmo cucumbers in Znojmo, but in Bzenec, which is about a hundred kilometres away.

History

Brothers Philipp and Rudolf Kneisl started making Lentilky in Holešov in 1907. The name chocolate candies come from the Latin word for Lentilky. The brothers patented the product. Thanks to them, the Sfinx factory was established in the town, which still produces Lentilky.

At the end of last year, about 400 people worked in the Holešov plant. More than half of its production consists of jelly products sold on the domestic market, mainly under the Jojo brand.

The company also produces hard candies Bon Pari or Hašlerky, and dragees, including Lentilky and Smarties. Chocolate for smarties is imported from Nestlé’s second confectionery plant in the Czech Republic, Olomouc’s Zory.

About 1.6 million Lentilky are produced in the Sphinx in one shift. Sphinx also makes marshmallows and semi-finished products for caramels.

The history of confectionery production in Holešov dates back to 1863. It then moved to the current factory on Palackého Street in 1910. Sphinx is, therefore, one of the oldest confectionery factories in the Czech Republic and has been a part of Nestlé since 1992. The year before, it produced almost 15,900 tons of confectionery.

Outside of Europe, Nestlé’s largest production facility for Smarties is in Toronto, Canada, where Nestlé has been manufacturing products since 1918.

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