Culture

The First Man Who Tried to Ski in the Czech Lands

Believe it or not, the history of Czech skiing started in Prague, right in the center of the city exactly 135 years ago today. On January 5, 1887 skiing fan Josef Rössler-Ořovský used Prague’s Wenceslas Square, with a fairly friendly incline, as the first Czech ski run. Back then, winters were considerably tougher and snowfall more intense to be able to accomplish the feat. Afterward, skiing as a sport began to draw greater interest from the population. In the 20th century, after the fall of communism, foreign goods and sporting equipment became available for the first time in four decades, resulting in the modernization of ski equipment and ski resorts. Josef Rössler-Ořovský Josef Rössler-Ořovský (June 29, 1869, in Prague – January 17, 1933, in Prague) was a versatile Czech athlete and capable sports organizer. He is still one of the greatest personalities in Czech sport. Josef was an outstanding rower and skier, he played football for the Parisian club White Rowers and the English Black Trials Fulham and he was the first Czech football referee. He founded the Czech Ski-Club, the Czech Yacht Club, and the Czech Lawn Tennis Club. He shared in the founding of the Association of Skiers...

by Prague Morning Jan 05, 2022

January 5, 1968: the Prague Spring Begins

The Prague Spring began with the ascension of the reformist Alexander Dubček to the post of first secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.

by Prague Morning Jan 04, 2022

Secret Files of Czechoslovaks Interned in Soviet Gulags Released

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the declaration of a Soviet amnesty on 3 January 1942 pertaining to Czechoslovak citizens imprisoned and interned in the USSR, the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes (ÚSTR) will publish a collection of NKVD investigative files in cooperation with the Department of Cybernetics at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen. These files were kept on 1,000 Czechoslovaks out of a total of approximately 8,000 who were imprisoned in Gulag camps during WWII. This represents the first collection of Soviet secret service files obtained within the framework of systematic digitalisation at the State Archive of the Zakarpatska Oblast (DAZO) in Uzzhorod. “The investigation files include arrest reports, fingerprints, photographs, interrogation reports, charges, a gulag’s discharge, and a rehabilitation decision. The files include personal photographs and documents of those arrested by the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs, which in Russian is abbreviated to NKVD, ” said historian Adam Hradilek, project leader of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes. According to Hradilek, the documents represent about one-fifth of the files on Czechoslovak refugees to the USSR. The first Czechs that were repressed in the Soviet Union were those that settled in Imperial Russia...

by Prague Morning Jan 03, 2022

January 1st, 1922: The “Great Prague” is Officially Established

Heart of Europe – this is how Prague, is often called. The largest town of the Czech Republic is located in the centre of Bohemia, in the Vltava river valley. But how was Prague divided in the past? When we say Prague today, we see a Greater Prague which was created in 1922 when a large number of surrounding villages were connected to the original inner town. The inner town consisted of two parts, Prague I – Old Town, Prague II – New Town, Prague III – Lesser Town, Prague IV – Hradčany (castle part), Prague V – Josefov, Prague VI – Vyšehrad. Greater Prague consisted of a number of smaller or larger villages which were near to the original centre. Wikipedia again has a great map of the division of Inner Town (black), Greater Prague (dark grey), and the new parts which were connected after WW2 (light grey). Development of administrative division Although the towns of Prague formed a territorially continuous whole, they were still administratively separate. After unsuccessful attempts by Charles IV (1367–1377) and later by Jan Želivský (1421–1424) and Jan Pašek (1524–1528) to join the Old Town and the New Town, the unification of the four towns...

by Prague Morning Jan 01, 2022

Prague Concerts 2022: The Best Shows to Book for Next Year

Following nearly two years of postponements, cancellations and rescheduling due to COVID-19, big-name artists and music venues in Prague are optimistically heading into the new year with loaded concert calendars. Next Saturday, January 8, the Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli should open a new concert season at the O2 arena. Two weeks later, Till Lindemann will perform at Holešovice Tipsport arena, as part of a European tour he is set to embark on with his solo project called “Lindermann”. Pop singer Enrique Iglesias will play on February 18, at the O2 arena. The same location will host on Saturday, March 12, the Swedish metal band Sabaton. The Canadian singer Shawn Mendes, who plans to perform at the O2 arena on April 11, mainly addresses teenagers. Mendes has almost 30 million subscribers on its YouTube channel, will play in the Czech Republic for the first time. On Saturday, April 23, a joint concert by Helloween and Hammerfall will take place again at O2 arena. One Republic (May 10), Tool (May 23) and German veterans Scorpions (May 26) should also perform in the multi-purpose arena. Rammstein will take the stage at Prague’s Letňany on Sunday and Monday, May 15th and 16th. On Friday,...

by Prague Morning Dec 31, 2021

Europe’s Biggest WWII Resistance Action Began 81 Years Ago Today

Today marks 80 years since Czechoslovak parachutists Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš were dropped into occupied Bohemia to carry out the assassination of Nazi Governor Reinhard Heidrych in Operation Anthropoid. The May 1942 assassination of Acting Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia Reinhard Heydrich in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia is considered to be the greatest act of European domestic resistance during the Second World War. The eventual fate of Heydrich, the “executioner of the Czech nation,” who immediately unleashed terror against the Czechs in September 1941 and launched the Holocaust of the Protectorate Jews and Roma, first began to materialize in the autumn of 1941. The Czechoslovak government-in-exile in London began planning an action on a larger scale with the British at that time. Eighty years ago, on the night of 28-29 December 1941, three airdrops of paratroopers (Silver A, Silver B and Anthropoid) were deployed into the Protectorate, including those would would plan the assassination of Heydrich. The 37-year-old Heydrich, who had been the Acting Reich Protector for a total of eight months and eight days, had been installed as ruler at Prague Castle for just three months as of 28 December 1941. The assassination would take place five months...

by Prague Morning Dec 29, 2021

Czech Traditions: New Year’s Eve and Lentils Soup

The Czech Republic has got a very rich history full of traditions that carry on to today.

by Prague Morning Dec 28, 2021

Prague’s Loreto Carillon to Play Christmas Melody

The Loreto bells will play a traditional Christmas melody from December 24 till February 2. It is the first time in over 120 years. The melody – which is a closely guarded secret – will sound every hour from 10:00 to 17:00 daily. The Christmas carol was last heard at the end of the 19th century when the melodies in the mechanism changed regularly. It was designed so as to allow a change of melody fairly easily. History The Loreto (Loreta) was built during the 17th century (1626) at the order of Katerina of Lobkowicz, in the times of Ferdinand II, as part of the Catholic campaign to attract the Czechs back to Catholicism. Its construction followed the battle of the White Mountain, where the Czech Protestants were defected and the Catholics retook control over Prague. Its impressive Baroque Bell Tower was given to the Loreto by the rich merchant from the Lesser Town, Eberhard von Glauchau. The author of all twenty-seven signed playing bells (only one was damaged in the 18th century and replaced) was the Amsterdam town bell-founder Claude Fremy, who made them between 1683-91. The consecration of the bells in the Loreto in 1695 before they were set...

by Prague Morning Dec 21, 2021

7 Czech Christmas Traditions That You Will Love

Celebrating Christmas in the Czech Republic? You might be curious to learn about some of the unusual Czech Christmas traditions and superstitions! Here is the list of 7 known and rather weird traditions, customs, and superstitions. Foretelling the future Common foods and items are used on Christmas Eve day to foretell your fortune for the coming year. For example, an old tradition says an unmarried girl should throw a shoe over her shoulder. If the shoe falls pointing towards a nearby door, marriage is on the cards for the coming year. Another way to foretell whether your coming year will be lucky or unlucky is to cut an apple in half. You take an apple and cut it lengthwise, which means, not the usual way. In the middle, you see a symbol. If you’re going to be healthy next year, you will see a star. If some health issues may occur to you, there’d be a symbol of a cross or of, how Czechs call it, “červíček”, “a little worm”. Presents are opened on the 24th Since Baby Jesus usually delivers gifts while you’re still eating dinner, part of the fun on the 24th is trying to keep the kids from...

by Prague Morning Dec 21, 2021

Historical Czech Christmas Traditions: Vánoční Cukroví

They say that Czech Christmas cookies have no parallel in the world and foreigners are simply amazed with their diversity, decoration and even flavours… Vánoční cukroví, or translated to Christmas sweets, can be seen in all kinds of bakeshops and cafés throughout Prague, but the vast majority of Czech families bake their own at the beginning of December. With roots that go back as far as the 16th century, Czech cukroví is an enduring tradition based on pagan beliefs and rituals. However, in that time, the Christmas cukroví was made out of fruit and shaped into figures for the children. Other baked goods were made, but with much more ceremonial purposes. Using flour from a person’s own crop meant that they would have a bountiful harvest the following year, and animal shapes intended to protect livestock. These cukroví were hung around the property to protect the family and create good fortune. The 19th century had much more familiar cukroví, with old variations of the recipes we know now. Ingredients such as honey, butter, eggs, and cocoa were used in many recipes. However, expensive ingredients were still sparse for anyone who was not wealthy. It was not until after World War II that the general...

by Prague Morning Dec 21, 2021

New Book Explores Legacy of Vaclav Havel Through Series of Exclusive Interviews

December 18th, 2021 marks the tenth anniversary of the death of President Václav Havel, a significant figure for the CzechRepublic and the history of modern Europe. For this occasion, the Prague-based magazine directed by Giovanni Usai “Progetto Repubblica Ceca”, edited a new book on the former Czech dissident, “Václav Havel. A multi-voice portrait of the hero of the Velvet Revolution”. The publication is composed of eighteen exclusive interviews with prominent people, both national and international, on the figure of the late Czech president and human rights activist. Among them Martin Palous, Dominik Duka, Cyril Svoboda, Václav Malý, Karel Schwarzenberg, Michael Žantovský, Vladimír Dlouhý, Gabriele Nissim, Jakub Hladík, Luděk Niedermayer, Alexandr Vondra, Jacques Rupnik, Veritas Holiková, Zdeněk Bakala, Zdeněk Hřib, Ing.Kopp Pavel, Madeleine Albright. The interviews have been conducted and curated by Amedeo Gasparini, a 24-year-old Swiss-Italian freelance journalist, graduated in “International Relations” at Charles University in Prague. The introduction is by journalist and writer Sergio Tazzer, an expert on Central and Eastern Europe. “In anticipation of the tenth anniversary of Havel’s death, Progetto Repubblica Ceca’s editor-in-chief Giovanni Usai and I started contacting the people who could help us put together a multi-faceted and multi-voice portrait of the former Czech president,” said author Amedeo Gasparini....

by Prague Morning Dec 20, 2021

Czech Animation Film “My Sunny Maad” Nominated for the Golden Globe

The Czech animated feature film My Sunny Maad has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award in the Best Picture-Animated category. The Czech Film Fund supported the film for both development and production. Since 2006, when the animation category was added to the Globes, My Sunny Maad is the first Czech film to receive a nomination. The 79th Golden Globes Awards ceremony will take place on January 9, 2022. About the film The film tells the story of Herra, a Czech woman, who falls in love with Nazir, an Afghan man, and she has no idea about the life that awaits her in post-Taliban Afghanistan, nor about the family she is about to join. My Sunny Maad world premiered in the Feature Films competition of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2021 and won festival’s Jury Award later. Furthermore, the film won prizes at the FICG in Guadalajara or at the Bucheon International Animation Festival and it was also screened at many other festivals all over the world, including Karlovy Vary IFF, Zurich IFF or Cairo IFF. About the director The director Michaela Pavlátová garnered international attention with her short film Words, Words, Words in Annecy in 1991 (followed by an Oscar nomination...

by Prague Morning Dec 14, 2021