This modern theater building from the 1980s is still one of the most talked-about buildings in Prague. Its characteristic form, designed by Stanislav Libenský and constructed from more than four thousand blown glass blocks, drastically changed the neo-Renaissance appearance of the street. The main reasons for the reconstruction are outdated technology and poor acoustics. According to the management of the New Stage (Nová Scéna), the emphasis will be put on completing the original idea of the author, i.e. to create a multifunctional theater stage that allows for easy reconstruction and change of the stage and the auditorium. “A 21st-century theater stage will be created with a new arrangement of the hall space made for various kinds of performances with a capacity of up to 500 seats using contemporary modern theater technologies and acoustics. This will offer the public new cultural and artistic experiences,” the National Theater said in a press release. Interior reconstruction The external appearance of the building designed by architect Karel Prager will not change. However, due to the energetically ineffective glazing of the foyer facade, its replacement is proposed. The architects want to be sensitive to preserving the theater’s interiors, especially the foyer of the New...
The European Commission approved on Wednesday the Czech Republic’s 7 billion euro plan to recover from the pandemic and transform the economy to become greener and more digitalised. The scheme will be financed from EU grants until 2026. Once the plan is also approved by EU finance ministers, Czechia will get 910 million euros in pre-financing for projects foreseen under the plan. The funding is part of an initiative under which all the bloc’s 27 nations are to get money from an EU recovery scheme worth 800 billion euro. The Commission, which has concluded that Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis is in conflict of interest as final owner of a business empire that receives EU funding, said the Czech Republic needs to improve transparency and preventing conflict of interests when distributing the funds. “(The Czech side) has received a qualified audit opinion due to the absence of effective measures targeting the prevention, detection and correction of cases of conflict of interest,” the Commission said in a proposal for the European Council, without mentioning any concrete people or companies. “Dedicated milestones shall be established to ensure that those weaknesses will have been addressed before the first payment request,” the proposal said....
Every day, more than 1 billion people all over the world wake up to a hazy day because they have impaired eyesight and have no means to address this problem. 80% of these people are concentrated in only 20 countries – and it’s the poorest populations that suffer the most. Having poor vision tends to dramatically decrease one’s ability to learn, earn, be productive and enjoy the highest standard of life quality. To address this enormous global challenge, an innovative solution created in the Czech Republic has the potential to change the lives of millions. The Czech start-up DOT Glasses has come up with the world’s first, one-size-fits-all glasses and radically simplified lens concept. The customized DOT Glasses consist of six-piece snap-together frames and agnostic click-in lenses, which are provided on the spot with the help of a simple DOT Glasses testing tool. The founder, Philip Staehelin, wants to bring his glasses to the most remote locations in countries, such as Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Uganda – nations where roads, quality, and free health care are largely pipe dream. What makes it financially accessible? DOT Glasses solution was designed in such a way that vision screening and glasses...
The flooding in western Europe leaves behind major damage on railways. Several lines in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria and towards the Czech Republic are still disrupted and in some cases, no traffic is possible. Large clean-up and restoration efforts are in progress, here’s a current overview. Water instead of trains on the rails, it was a strange sight. Now that most of it has gone down, layers of mud cover the tracks, which on some parts have been washed away. Track systems, communication lines and other infrastructure elements have suffered major damage from the water and mud. Czech Republic Long-distance trains of Deutsche Bahn between Bad Schandau in Germany and Dečin, Czech Republic, are being disrupted. Since the affected section of the route can only be used on a single track, the trains are delayed by around 60 minutes. There can also be short-term train and stop cancellations. According to DB, this will probably be the case until Tuesday, July 20. According to Czech Railways České Dráhy, the operation for the section Bad Schandau – Sebnitz might only be restarted on July 31. Belgium In Belgium, the rail infrastructure has taken a huge hit. “The severe storm that hit...
The number of taxi drivers in the Czech Republic is lowering each day. Hailing a taxi cab is becoming less common. For example, in Prague alone, up to 40 percent of taxi licence holders had not resumed work since the introduction of various measures to stop the spread of the pandemic last year. Even those taxi drivers who have returned to work have reported a significant drop in income levels, with average earnings down more than 60 per cent. There are several reasons for this change. The biggest challenge is the uncertainty of earnings during a pandemic as well as the increasing popularity of alternative transport services. Many taxi drivers switched to work with the same competitors they had previously protested against. These companies take smaller percentages per ride and have bigger customer demand. “The mobile apps offer more rides than we have,” described one of the taxi drivers. Many have left taxi services for other jobs during the height of the pandemic and have not made the switch back since. “People did not need taxi services. Restaurants, bars and hotels were closed,” said Miroslav Pospíšil from the Pardubice taxi service. “I applied to a security agency to guard buildings....
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will be in Prague today, July 19, to present the Commission’s assessment on the national recovery and resilience plan under NextGenerationEU. On Monday morning, President von der Leyen will meet Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, together with Vice-President Věra Jourová. She will also visit the Prague State Opera and the State Opera and National Museum, and discuss investments in energy efficiency. The Czech Republic will receive CZK 180 billion from the European Union emergency fund to revive the economy after the coronavirus crisis. The country will probably receive the first money in September after it has been approved by the finance ministers of the EU member states. The Commission received the Czech investment strategy at the beginning of June and had two months to evaluate it. von der Leyen’s experts did not find any major mistakes in the plan that would force Brussels to exceed the deadline and demand redress, as was the case in Hungary. The Czech Republic has met all the key criteria, according to which, for example, 37 percent of the money is to be earmarked for climate-friendly projects and 20 percent for digitization. Von der Leyen, who has already covered more than...
With the administration of 4.2 million vaccines nationwide and over 1.7 million people recovered from Covid-19, the Czech Republic is close to reaching herd immunity, indicated the biochemist Zdeněk Hostomský. “We are talking about more than 40% of the population has already received one or two doses, which is extremely important. We are possibly among the most advanced countries,” he said. The Pfizer vaccine has been the most widely used. Hostomský moreover argues that the actual number of people who have contracted the virus in the past year is likely to be much higher. The Czech Republic has recently halved the waiting time to get a second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to three weeks, as the country races to boost vaccinations and fend off new coronavirus variants. The country is aiming to boost vaccination numbers before the autumn and as new coronavirus infections slowly start to rise again, hoping to get younger people inoculated. As part of this effort, the government last week opened two new vaccination centres in Prague – one at the main railway station and another at Chodov – for walk-ins, requiring no registration beforehand. The Czech Republic went through some of the world’s worst waves of the...
Construction works have already begun in Prague 5 on the corner between Stroupežnického and Ostrovského streets, as Manifesto Anděl prepares to welcome its first visitors on the 17th of August. The opening celebration will last for almost a week until August 22. The line-up will feature music programs, beauty corners as well as other attractions for the first guests to discover and enjoy the new venue. “We will organize six days of concerts and other cultural programs for our first visitors. We had to delay the project due to the pandemic, so we want to enjoy the late start as much as we can. At the same time, no one has to fear missing out if they are not in town during the first hours of fun”, explains Founder Martin Barry. The market’s signature design element will be its airy construction of mint scaffolding, a shallow water element and abundant greenery including vertical walls made of plants, besides countless novelties driven by sustainable efforts. The project, designed by architects Chybík + Krištof, has been of great interest since its unveiling to the public, and has provoked favorable reactions. Gastronomic city There will be 15 restaurants in Anděl, most of them...
On July 16, Ryanair celebrated its first Prague to Warsaw route, operating twice weekly as its Summer ’21 recovery schedule. With over 100 weekly flights from Prague to 30 destinations, Ryanair remains committed to restoring connectivity for Prague and recovering traffic and as we enter the peak Summer months of July and August. This new route, as well as flights from Prague to European holiday hotspots such as Palma, Marseille, or Amman will help boost air traffic and the tourism industry in the region, while vaccination programs continue across Europe. Ryanair’s Prague Summer ‘21 recovery schedule will deliver: Over 100 weekly flights 30 routes in total 1 new route to Warsaw Modlin Flights to European holiday hotspots including to Bari, Corfu, Malaga, Palma, Rhodes and Zadar Weekend getaways to Brussels, Copenhagen, London, Milan and Rome Czech consumers can now book their summer holidays at even lower fares (with the reassurance of zero change fee should plans change). To celebrate, Ryanair has launched a 549 CZK seat sale for travel until October 2021, which must be booked by midnight Sunday, 18th of July on www.Ryanair.com. “We’re pleased to celebrate our first Prague flight on our new twice-weekly service to Warsaw Modlin. Czech families and...
Czech legislation of marijuana is “more benevolent” than most other countries in Europe, said Jan Vit, chairman of Konopa, a non-profit organisation that works with educating people about marijuana. Possession of fewer than 10 grams of marijuana and growing five plants at home has been decriminalised since 2010, although it remains a civil offence and can be punished by a fine of around CZK 10,000. However, possession of more than 10 grams remains a criminal offence, and selling marijuana carries a prison sentence of between 2-18 years. In January, a cross-party bill was defeated in parliament which would have allowed people to store 1.25 kilograms of dried cannabis at home and to carry up to 30 grams in public. Notably, it would have also allowed people to legally give 30 grams to another adult but only for free, not sold. Tomas Vymazal, an architect of the parliamentary bill defeated in January and a member of the Pirate Party, has argued that allowing home-growers to “give” cannabis to friends for free would end much of the black-market trading, as well as needless criminal charges for small-time growers. Current laws also put buyers at more risk of associated crime as well as...
Czech nationals vaccinated in any third country are now eligible to apply for the EU Digital COVID-19 Vaccination Passport, the Czech Ministry of Health has announced. According to a press release issued by the institution, Czech nationals who have been vaccinated with one of the vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) such as Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, and Pfizer are permitted to apply for the document that aims to facilitate the travel process within the block. “We want to provide Czech citizens vaccinated in third countries with one of the four vaccines, which is also available in the EU, the same benefits that vaccination brings them in the country,” the Health Minister, Adam Vojtěch, noted. He also said that people coming from third countries and have or will visit a healthcare provider will have their information electronically shared into the Infectious Disease Information System; therefore, the vaccine will be issued a single EU certificate. The criteria for the applicant to obtain such a document is to present proof of the vaccination certificate issued in a third country in English by the medical authorities. The certificate must also include information on the holder’s vaccination, such as type of vaccine administered,...
Signal Festival 2021 will take place from Thursday 14 October to Sunday 17 October in the streets of Prague 1, 7, and 8. You can look forward to a total of 15 works – video mappings, projections, and breathtaking installations – by important Czech artists such as Milena Dopitová, Jiří Černický, the duo Vrtiška & Žák, internationally renowned foreign creators of Onionlab or Weltraumgrafik, or young talents of the Czech audiovisual scene. This year’s main theme is Plan C, which deals with ecology, human coexistence with the planet, but also how to make a festival in one of the biggest social crises in recent decades. “The pandemic of the insidious disease COVID-19 has affected the whole world. We had to react, look for new solutions. Look around the corner and try new techniques. But we learned a lot along the way and remembered the basic unchanging values,” states the official website. “To be resilient, we must take care of ourselves, our friendships, our families, society, culture and landscape. A healthier environment and mental well-being will help our physical health. We need a new plan. Considerate, friendly, sustainable for our planet, society and the environment. A plan that can react to adverse circumstances...
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