The Christmas Spruce which has been chosen to light up the Old Town Square in Prague this year will be arriving from the Liberec Region. If the situation with covid-19 does not cause significant restrictions, the tree will be on display in the Old Town Square on Saturday, November 27, 2021, when the Christmas markets will also begin. The tree was grown on private land near Jablonec nad Nisou to a height of 21.5 meters, and although it is not one of the tallest trees that adorned the centre of the metropolis in the past, it is beautifully grown and evenly branched. As in previous years, this year people offered their trees for the festive display. “It is partly a question of prestige, every year it becomes the most famous Christmas tree in the Czech Republic. This year, it grew over a hundred kilometers northeast of the Old Town Square, which it will decorate until the beginning of January, “said Prague Councilor Jan Chabr (TOP 09). The company Technology for the Capital City Prague (THMP) will take care of felling and decorating the tree. “We plan to cut down the tree on the penultimate Sunday of November so that it can shine in front...
The Czech government has approved a rise in the minimum gross monthly wage by 1,000 CZK to 16,200 CZK from January, said Deputy Prime Minister Karel Havlicek. The minimum wage is paid to about 150,000 of the country’s four million employees, but it is also used as a benchmark to determine higher wages in a number of professions. The average monthly gross wage was 38,275 CZK in the second quarter. Minister of Finance Alena Schillerová (for ANO) in September had ruled out increasing the minimum wage to 18,000 crowns a month, as proposed by the Social Democrats, the junior party in the governing coalition. The lowest levels of guaranteed wages The minimum wage determines the growth of the lowest levels of the guaranteed wage. The lowest levels of guaranteed wages apply to employees whose wages are not agreed in collective agreements and to employees in public services and administration and set the lowest price of labour in stages according to its complexity, responsibility and effort. For these purposes, the works are classified into 8 groups and for each of them, the relevant lowest level of guaranteed wages in hourly and monthly terms is determined. The following amounts apply for a...
Residents can now find fragments of poems on 15 of the city’s trams. As The Mayor.eu reports, From 4 November until 4 December, Brno’s residents will have the opportunity to read poems in 15 of the Czech city’s trams as part of the project “Poetry in Motion”. Although the trams’ passengers will be people from Brno, they will be reading old and contemporary works by poets from another European city, Kharkiv in Ukraine. At the same time, the residents of the Ukrainian city will read works written by poets from Brno. 13 years ago, Brno and Kharkiv formed a partnership with the aim of creating shared experiences in various areas, from education to urban development. The month-long Poetry in Motion project stems from this partnership, enriching the lives of European citizens and strengthening the ties between them. Commenting on the cultural project, Mayor of Brno Markéta Vaňková shared: “It is great that as part of a partnership, we enrich, inspire and try to get to know each other through literature through such projects. […] Literary works – including poems – can be an important and true testimony to the life and thoughts of locals. Thanks to the fact that the...
There was a time in the not-too-distant past when brunch options in Prague were scarce. Things have since changed. Brunch is now an institution with countless possibilities found throughout the capital. The wide range of choices now available could certainly lead to debates concerning the best brunch in the city and VENUE, located in a lovely part of Old Town, has earned a spot in this discussion. VENUE began serving brunch in 2016. It is this establishment’s central focus served all day. The menu is both expansive and compact. A guest should never feel overwhelmed whilst trying to select a meal and VENUE succeeds by eliminating that dilemma. This is quite an achievement considering the numerous dishes on offer. The service was friendly, effective, and attentive. The staff were there when needed, but also knew when to back off. Meals arrived quickly even though the restaurant was quite full. The bacon french toast was an excellent choice. It wasn’t smothered in syrup or sugar to the extent where the bread was soggy which would detract from the taste. However, the bacon’s consistency differed slightly, but not to the point where this would elicit any sort of complaint. This was a...
In an interview with Radio Frekvence 1 on Friday, President Miloš Zeman confirmed that he will appoint Petr Fiala (ODS) as Prime Minister. According to him, he will do everything to ensure that a new government is formed as soon as possible. Mr. Zeman was moved from an intensive care unit after more than three weeks of treatment to a standard hospital room on Thursday after his condition improved. Zeman, 77, was taken to hospital with an unknown condition on October 10, a day after the central European country held an election that his ally Prime Minister Andrej Babis lost to a group of opposition parties. The newly-elected lower house is due to meet on November 8 in a session that will initiate the transfer of power. Once its opening session is concluded, the current government of Prime Minister Andrej Babis will be obliged to resign and the president is due to appoint a new prime minister. The five centrist and center-right parties that won 108 seats on the 200-seat lower house in the election have reached an agreement on forming a new government. The two blocs have agreed that Spolu nominees will serve as the ministers of finance, defense,...
In a study that assesses liveability, living costs, infrastructure, and employment compliance, Prague was ranked 5th out of 80 cities around the world for remote working. How the study was conducted As part of its study, WorkMotion revealed an extensive methodology in which cities were scored out of 100, under 17 different “factors” divided into four broader categories — remote working compliance, cost of living, civic infrastructure, and liveability. For some of these “factors”, a high score is considered better while for others a lower score aids the city’s ranking. In order to account for this difference, WorkMotion revealed its score calculation method, inverting scores where low value is better and using a min-max normalization formula. “The final score was determined by calculating the sum of the weighted average score of all of the indicators,” WorkMotion added. How did Prague fare The cities were ranked on the basis of the ease of corporate compliance for employing workers remotely, the flexibility of the legal system, and availability of a remote worker visa. Prague ranked 5th among the top 80 cities in the world. Prague scored just 73.30 on ease of compliance, and 62 on legal flexibility. Cost of living score was...
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. Czech President Milos Zeman, who has been hospitalized at the intensive care unit of the Prague Central Military Hospital (UVN) since October 10, moved to a regular hospital room on Wednesday. The Czech Republic’s central bank has again sharply increased its key interest rate by a point and a quarter to 2.75%, to tackle soaring inflation amid the economy´s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. The 22nd edition of the queer film festival Mezipatra begins on Thursday in Prague, with feature films and documentaries by and about LGBT+ people screening through November 11. The People in Need Czech humanitarian NGO has provided financial aid to some 800 families, roughly 5,600 people, in Afghanistan after the Taliban movement overtook the country in August. Every family received some 1,600 up to 2,000 CZK. Although hundreds of thousands of workers and craftsmen are missing in the production companies, the growth of starting wages has not been seen this year. Workers in professional positions in particular improved, most often by one percent. That’s according to a survey of Grafton...
From November 4 to 6, we are bringing the power of the EU Space Programme down to Earth! A colourful experience invites you to discover the latest applications and services enabled by Galileo, EGNOS, Copernicus, and GOVSATCOM. Under a new name and with a broadened scope of activities, EUSPA decided to move its signature event, ‘’Open Days’’ outside to comply with the current hygiene rules. ‘’EUSPA Open Space” is a walkthrough, open-air exhibition that will introduce visitors to the newly established EU Space Programme as well the agency’s new mission. With just a month away from the launch of the newest Galileo satellites from the European Spaceport, EUSPA Open Space will offer you the possibility to brush up on space knowledge. Wander around the exhibition, learn more about the upcoming services of Galileo and EGNOS before immersing yourself in a colourful Earth Observation collection with Copernicus images from around Europe. With Europe set to become climate-neural by 2050, space data and services play a crucial role in the EU Green Deal. From helping curb CO2 emissions to fighting illegal logging, Galileo, EGNOS and Copernicus contribute to the fight against climate change. EUSPA Open Space also highlights the link between the...
The Mezipatra queer film festival has returned to Prague to showcase Czech and foreign feature and short films and documentaries centered around LGBTQ+ issues. The films will be about the lives of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender people (LGBTQ+) and will remain in the capital until 11 November, before moving to Brno. “This year’s Mezipatra represents a return to the big screen for us,” said festival director Pavel Bicek. “Together with our audience, we want to celebrate the film, queer stories and, most importantly, the opportunity to be together.” Visited by about 12,000 people each year, the films in the festival are apprised by a professional jury as a part of a prestigious international competition. The festival is organized by non-profit organizations Mezipatra and STUD Brno and returns with much anticipation to cinemas after two years as last year it was held online. Their mission is to provide the people of the Czech Republic with space for discovering the variety of sexual and gender issues. They aim to not only broaden horizons but also offer a space for meetings and self-expression. Mezipatra helps people to understand their own identity and the meanings related to the word “queer”. The word ‘queer’...
The outlook for the future is not optimistic, but the Czechs and the Czech Republic have managed to get through much worse periods, stated Prime Minister Andrej Babiš in a speech on the national holiday on Oct. 28. According to him, in the darkest times, the nation has always stuck together. He hopes that the new government will fight for Czech interests. Babiš also again urged people to get vaccinated and thanked them for their trust. Babiš delivered his speech on the day when the president usually speaks at the state decorations ceremony at Prague Castle. This year, the ceremony did not take place due to the hospitalization of Miloš Zeman. According to Babiš, people should wish the president a speedy recovery. “This is exactly the moment when we should tame our potential antipathies and when politics should step aside,” he said. He noted that the pandemic and the post-election situation have exacerbated the atmosphere in society and that developments at home and abroad are not helping either. He mentioned rising energy prices, the poor situation in the car industry, and the rising price of goods. “From the headlines, it would seem that one disaster after another is coming at us. Maybe we got...
Skeletons of 12 men believed to have fought in the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805 have been discovered in Brno. Reconstruction work in the cellars of a house in the city of Brno, south-east Czech Republic, has revealed the skeletons of 12 men, thought to be soldiers who fought in the Napoleonic wars. The bodies were aged between 20 to 30 years old, and had been placed in a previously unknown mass grave. As the grave offered no clues about the individuals’ identities, or even when they were buried, a team of researchers examined the bodies to reconstruct their lives and deaths. “The analysis of the skeletons was very complex,” says Katerina Vymazalova, an assistant professor in the department of anatomy at Masaryk University, Brno, and one of the authors of the paper. “We were able to determine the sex and approximate age at the time of death of the individuals. Paleopathological analysis revealed war wounds, including amputation of part of the femur. Using the radiocarbon method, the skeletons were dated to the early 19th century.” One of the men had a fractured left arm, likely the result of a gunshot, while another had his left thigh amputated by a...
The Czech Republic is one of the worst in Europe in terms of carbon dioxide emissions from new cars. With emissions of 120.9 grams per kilometer, it is the sixth-worst in the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) ranking. Arval pointed this out. The main reason for this situation is the conservative approach of companies and people to alternative drives. In Europe, emissions from new cars fell by an average of 11 percent. The average is around 108.2 g / km. According to ACEA, Norway, Iceland and the Netherlands have the lowest emissions from new cars. At the other end of the scale are the countries of Eastern and Central Europe, the worst result being Bulgaria with 133 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer. “Czech companies still mostly buy cars with internal combustion engines, although the situation is gradually changing and 22 percent of domestic companies already have vehicles with alternative drives in their fleets,” said Tomáš Kadeřábek, a consultant for Arval, which provides operating leases. The share of companies with electric vehicles in their fleet has increased significantly, compared to last year to eight percent. “However, if there is no significant tax advantage for cars with alternative drives, a greater...
Don’t have an account? Register
Already have an account? Log In
How Would You Like to Promote Your Business? PR ArticleDisplay bannersVideo productionNewsletter adsJob ListingsInfluencer Marketing
Your Email
We will come back to you within 24 hours with our proporsal
