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The town of Vysoké nad Jizerou this week marked the 150th anniversary of the birth of notable Czech politician Karel Kramář. As an MP within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Kramář fought for Czech national interests, leading to his arrest for treason by the Austrian authorities during World War I. He was tried and sentenced to death, galvanising Czech public opinion, and although the sentence was reduced to imprisonment, Kramář became a national hero. Eventually he was released as part of a general political amnesty in 1917. The flood of support pushed

On Monday the Association for Czech Tour Operators and Travel Agencies posted figures for 2010 on the number of tours sold to Czech tourists, from vacations in nearby countries to more exotic locations. After many pinched pennies (or rather crowns) in 2009, Radio Prague wanted to know whether there were significant changes this year.

Police and customs officers have just made one of their biggest hauls of illegal bootleg liquor in recent times and broken up an organized gang that was apparently functioning for several months. The discovery in the eastern city of Ostrava could well have many Czechs taking a second look at cheap Christmas spirits bought off the back of a lorry or at market stalls.

It may be the holiday season, a time when most prefer fairy tales on Czech TV, but fans of detective fiction, horror or the avant garde also had a chance to come into their own. Just before Christmas the Klicper Theatre in Hradec Králové premiered a new play by one of the Czech Republic’s most successful playwrights and directors, David Drábek. The focus? None other than the great fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.

Disgruntled Czech hospital doctors on Monday began handing in their resignations in an attempt to force the government to increase their salaries. Some 3,800 of the country’s 16,000 physicians are expected to hand in notices by the end of the week, which is when the hospitals will get a clearer picture of what will happen in March, when the resignations take effect. But Heath Minister Leoš Heger has come up with one idea for the hospitals that might face crisis due to understaffing.

The run-up to Christmas used to be a hectic time in most Czech households with cleaning, baking and decorating starting in late November. Now things are changing – many Czechs have come to appreciate the luxury of taking it easy and letting professionals bake their cookies, deliver their Christmas tree and decorate their house.

The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, under new management after years of discord, has appointed the world-class conductor and native Czech Jiří Bělohlávek to be its chief conductor when the current maestro, Eliahu Inbal, steps down in 2012. The choice has been widely applauded, with Mr Bělohlávek seen as just the thing to bring the national philharmonic into the future and out into the world. Earlier I spoke by phone with Jaroslav Pondělíček of the orchestra’s artistic board, who told me how Jiří Bělohlávek could succeed where others could not.

Czech sport has had a pretty good year: a singles finalist at Wimbledon, gold medals in world and European rowing events as well as an ice hockey world title and surprise silver medal at the women’s world basketball championship hosted by the country. But there was little real suspense about who the sport’s personality for 2010 would be: speed skater Martina Sáblíková.

The centre-right coalition government weathered its first serious crisis on Tuesday surviving a no-confidence motion tabled by the opposition in the wake of a massive corruption scandal at the Environment Ministry. Although the ruling parties opposed the no-confidence motion as one man, the scandal has further undermined coalition unity and tarnished the image of a government that has upheld a strict anti-corruption stance.

The Czech Republic’s oldest prisoner, Ludmila Brožová-Polednová, received a full pardon from President Václav Klaus on Tuesday and was promptly released from prison, bringing a definitive end to one of the most controversial justice cases in the post-revolution Czech Republic. The 89-year-old communist era prosecutor ultimately served one year and seven months of a six-year sentence for her part in the 1950 state execution of democratic politician Milada Horáková, and remained defiant even as she left the prison gates.