Maundy Thursday, or Zelený čtvrtek (Green Thursday) as it is known in Czech, is the last Thursday before Easter. Why is it called “Green” in Czech? One explanation is that, in many places before the 13th century, green vestments were used for Mass on that day. Another theory refers to “the Green Ones” — penitents who, after being readmitted to the Church, wore sprigs of green herbs to express their joy. The “grün” in the German name for the day, Gründonnerstag (literally Green Thursday), does not come from the name of the color itself but from a corruption of the old German word “greinen” or “weinen,” meaning “to weep.” Bells Fall Silent Until Saturday On the evening before Easter, all church bells are rung before they fall silent until White Saturday. According to tradition, the bells are said to “fly to Rome.” In their absence, children use rattles and wooden clappers, which are sounded morning, noon, and night in place of bells. In some places, they were even believed to help drive away Judas. Fasting and Green Food Traditions A strict fast was once observed on Green Thursday. Because only one complete meatless meal was allowed — free of any...
If your day doesn’t start until you’re up to speed on the latest headlines, then let us introduce you to our new morning fix. President Miloš Zeman would not support the idea of US soldiers being permanently based in the Czech Republic, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said after a meeting with the head of state on Tuesday evening. From Friday to Monday, metro operations on line C between Muzeum and Pražského povstání stations will be suspended. The reason for the closure will be the replacement of sleepers. Alternative transport will be provided by buses. The Czech National Bank is likely to moderately raise interest rates further as the return of inflation towards the central bank’s 2% target will be delayed, said Governor Jiri Rusnok. Prague’s Assistance Centre for Ukrainian refugees will change venue later this week. The facility has to date been housed at the Congress Centre but is set to reopen at a former bank in the Vysočany district. The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MPSV) is launching a mobile phone app named “Smart Migration”. The app allows foreign residents to easily find answers in Ukrainian, English and Russian to common situations they...
The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MPSV) is launching a mobile phone app named “Smart Migration”, as part of efforts to help refugees from Ukraine. The app allows foreign residents to easily find answers in Ukrainian, English and Russian to common situations they need to deal with after arriving in the Czech Republic, including employment, healthcare, and education. The information will be continuously updated and supplemented. A key feature of the application is a set of interactive tutorials that make it easier to find the necessary information. The application was created by a team from the university’s Faculty of Business Administration and Economics as part of the “Smart Migration in the Czech Republic” project, in which the Prague Metropolitan University also participates. The Ukrainian Initiative (UIČR), an umbrella diaspora organisation in the Czech Republic, is also involved in the Smart Migration project. Latest news: Prague’s Assistance Centre for Ukrainian refugees will change venue on Thursday morning. The facility has to date been housed at the Congress Centre but is set to reopen at a former bank in the Vysočana district on Thursday morning. From this Monday, it is possible for people in the Czech Republic who provide free accommodation...
Ahead of the Czech EU Council Presidency that starts in July, many university students, including those under the EU’s Erasmus project, have been drafted in to fill various roles but they are complaining about working conditions as they will be expected to cover their own expenses. The Czech presidency has opted for a low-cost presidency as decided by the previous government of Andrej Babiš. Although the new cabinet has slightly increased the budget, the extra money will only cover the costs associated with inflation. As the state cannot afford to hire experienced diplomats, a lot of work will be done by university students acting as interns. Students are now complaining to the government about the conditions of the internship. According to a letter seen by Seznam Zprávy, the interns who were selected “in the first wave” are supposed to have their accommodation and travel funded by the government. However, those selected later must pay for their own accommodation in Brussels and travel from the €750 per month Erasmus+ budget or personal savings. “We would appreciate it if the conditions of the traineeship were equal for all trainees and if the costs of the Czech EU Presidency did not have to be...
For Czechs, as in many nations around the world, Easter brings with it a wealth of traditions and customs which have little to do with the religious aspects of the Christian holiday but are rooted in pagan rituals welcoming spring’s arrival. Until last year when Good Friday became an official Czech holiday, Velikonoční pondělí (Easter Monday) was the only state holiday associated with Easter in the country. Traditional Easter in the Czech Republic Even if it’s not the way that many Czechs celebrate today, the pomlázka, a homemade whip braided from willow branches and decorated with colorful ribbons, has been for centuries one of the most recognizable symbols of the Czech Easter celebration. Along with kraslice, hand-painted eggs decorated with intricate designs, both symbols belong to the tradition of koledovani (caroling) which occurs during the secular celebration of Easter Monday in the Czech Republic, particularly in villages and small towns across the country. The pomlázka According to pagan tradition, the willow whip was used to symbolically give women the fertility and health they’d need in the coming year. Men and boys braided willow branches to make the whip because the blooming willows were the first sign of spring’s arrival. As one male Czech friend eloquently explained,...
If your day doesn’t start until you’re up to speed on the latest headlines, then let us introduce you to our new morning fix. Roughly 26,500 children of refugees from war-stricken Ukraine were enrolled at kindergartens and elementary schools in the Czech Republic by April 7. In addition, elementary schools still have 150,500 vacancies for children and kindergartens around 12,900. Recreational pyrotechnic products in the backpack of a British national caught fire due to inexpert handling at the Prague airport, Terminal 2, yesterday morning and the owner of the bag got burnt. The corridor linking terminals 1 and 2 was evacuated due to security reasons. Nuclear fuel for Temelín, one of the Czech Republic’s two nuclear power stations, will be supplied by American firm Westinghouse and France’s Framatome from 2024. Temelín currently uses fuel from the Russian company TVEL. The new contract for nuclear fuel will run for 15 years. Prague’s Assistance Centre for Ukrainian refugees will change venue later this week. The facility has to date been housed at the Congress Centre but is set to reopen at a former bank in the Vysočany district. The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MPSV) is...
Former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš is skeptical of proposals to establish a U.S. military base in the country, and has called for a public vote on the matter. “We do not support it. I find it unnecessary,” Babiš told his social media followers. “I assume that this is a delicate topic, and it would be best to hold a referendum on it.” Communists, members of the Freedom and Direct Democracy, and the Tricolor Citizens’ Movement are also against the proposal. Babiš stated that he has no information about NATO desiring a U.S. base in the Czech Republic. Minister of Defense Jana Černochová said on Friday that she would hold talks with her U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin in the United States after Easter. According to Černochová, negotiations on the U.S. presence in the Czech Republic are also at stake and she wants to bring up that topic in the meeting as well. The U.S. base in the Czech Republic could be in Přerov or Mošnov, said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Marian Jurečka on Sunday. The Ministry of Defense said on Sunday evening that specific locations are not being discussed. Babiš noted that the NATO...
Of the first four shots Olha Dembitska fired from an AK-47 assault rifle in her life, one hit the target. “It´s pretty difficult the first time,” the 22-year-old Ukrainian woman acknowledged. On this occasion, the target was the shape of a human body at a shooting range in the Czech Republic. Next time, it might be for real, in Ukraine, and the target could be one of the Russian troops who have invaded her homeland. Dembitska is one of at least 130 men and women who have so far undergone free-of-charge training for Ukrainians living in the Czech Republic who want to learn how to fight the aggressor. “I might return to Ukraine if they need me,” she said. Almost none of the participants had any experience with weapons before war struck their homeland. Since Russia launched its brutal attack, Ukrainians from all parts of the country and elsewhere have been arriving in Brno, attracted by courses designed to teach them essentials and skills to safely handle lethal rifles while being able to inflict damage on their enemy. Beside learning to shoot, the courses give them the basics about guns, movement around the battlefield and a lesson in providing first...
Great Synagogue of Pilsen, one of the largest in the world, restored after over a decade of lobbying by local Jewish community. The Great Synagogue of Pilsen was restored at a cost of around CZK 100 million. The synagogue is the second largest in Europe and one of the five largest in the world. To celebrate the synagogue’s reopening, a parade took place through the Pilsen starting from the city’s Old Synagogue, Czech news site Seznam Zprávy reported. The parade of hundreds of people included bringing a Torah scroll and the five books of Moses dating from 1896 to the newly opened historic synagogue. The Torah was carried during the procession by Czech Chief Rabbi Karol Sidon. In the parade were also rabbis and members of Jewish communities from all over the Czech Republic. They walked down the street singing Psalms of David. Once at the Great Synagogue, the chair of Pilsen’s Jewish community, Jiří Löwy, carried the Torah into the synagogue sanctuary. The Pilsen Jewish community has 98 members, according to its vice president Roman Štix. The Great Synagogue building, with two 45-meter towers, was built between 189 and 1893 when the city had a population of 2,500 Jews. The newly...
If your day doesn’t start until you’re up to speed on the latest headlines, then let us introduce you to our new morning fix. The Czech State Material Reserves Administration (SSHR) is sending more humanitarian aid to Ukraine, specifically 127 tonnes of food from its stores. The SSHR will also ensure the transport to Ukraine with its own means, Svagr said. In all, the SSHR has helped Ukraine with equipment and food worth 120 million crowns. Czech President Milos Zeman will meet Prime Minister Petr Fiala at their regular talks at the Lany presidential manor near Prague at 6 pm on Tuesday. They will mainly debate the situation in Ukraine, government spokesman Vaclav Smolka said. The Czech Republic has granted 279,229 special visas to the Ukrainians hit by the Russian invasion since its start and on Sunday alone, there were another 2,572. Based on the temporary protection visas, the Ukrainians can stay for up to one year in the Czech Republic, have access to public health insurance, education and the labour market. Inflation reached 12.7 percent in March, up from 11.1 percent in February, according to data released by the Czech Statistics Office. Inflation is at...
The Czech Republic could follow in Slovakia’s footsteps by signing a deal with the US to deploy American troops on Czech territory, Defence Minister Jana Černochová hinted. Černochová will travel to the US after the Easter holidays and could discuss the US base in Czechia. “I would like to raise this topic during the bilateral meeting. We can follow the path of the agreement that Slovakia took,” Černochová told Deník N in an interview. According to the US-Slovakia deal, Slovakia would grant limited capacities to two military airports to the US army. While in Slovakia, there were strong anti-US sentiments related to the agreement, Černochová does not expect the same discussions in Czechia. “The Slovaks negotiated their agreement before the war in Ukraine, specifically at a time when there were talks of possible aggression. And the sentiment in Slovakia was very negative,” Černochová said, adding that nobody expected Russia actually to invade Ukraine at the time. Czechia’s five-party ruling government has not yet discussed the possible presence of the US military in Czechia. Such a move would have to be approved by both chambers of parliament. Opposition parties have already expressed an unwillingness to have US troops on Czech territory. However, while the...
From Thursday, April 14, it will no longer be obligatory to wear a respirator on public transport in the Czech Republic. “The National Institute (for Pandemic Management) agreed on this decision, although not 100% unanimously,” said the minister of health, Vlastimil Válek. However, Válek still recommends that people continue to use respirators if surrounded by strangers or in poorly ventilated rooms, because of both Covid-19 and other respiratory illnesses. “For example, in Japan, respirators have never been mandatory, and yet every citizen wears a respirator when there is a risk of getting infected,” added the minister. The obligation to wear respirators in medical facilities and social services should be also abolished at the end of April and the end of May. “We are still waiting, the situation is not quite ideal yet. (…) We will see how it develops,” he added. Latest statistics 2,251 new cases of Covid-19 were recorded in the Czech Republic on Saturday, a fall of around 350 on the same day a week earlier. The seven-day case incidence rate on Saturday was 295 per 100,000 inhabitants, the lowest figure since the end of October. The number of people hospitalised on Saturday, 1,258, was also the least...
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