Czechs in History | All stories

It has been thirty-five years since Soviet troops began entering Czechoslovakia late on August 20th and early August 21st in a carefully orchestrated invasion designed to crush the period of political and economic reforms known as the Prague Spring, reforms led by the country's new First Secretary of the Communist party Alexander Dubcek. A movement viewed by Leonid Brezhnev and other Soviet hard-liners in Moscow as a serious threat to the Soviet Union's hold on the Socialist satellite states, they decided to act. In the first hours on the 21st

Car enthusiasts can probably tell a Porsche by the sound of its engine; many people can tell a Porsche when they see one, and it is widely known that Ferdinand Porsche designed the forerunner of the famous Volkswagen Beetle, which was produced up until July, 30, 2003, when the last Beetle rolled off the assembly line in Mexico. But how many car fans are aware of the fact that the legendary constructor was born and spent his youth in Bohemia?

In today's edition of Czechs in History we will be looking more closely at the St. Wenceslas' crown, one of the objects from the currently exhibited Bohemian Coronation Jewels. The Crown was exclusively made for Charles IV, who on September 2nd 1347 was the first to be crowned King of Bohemia with it. The numerous precious stones that decorate the gold crown frame reflect the ancient crafts, trades, and beliefs of people in the Middle Ages, and recalls the coronation of the most famous of all the Bohemian kings. More than 600 years ago St. Havel's

In the last edition of our programme we looked at one of the most defining moments in the history of the Czech lands - the Battle of White Mountain. The culmination of a three year long Protestant Uprising that saw Ferdinand II deposed and Frederick the Winter King installed, albeit only for a short while: the battle of White Mountain was poorly lost by Protestant forces. Their defeat culminated in an exodus of thousands, including such figures as the scholar Jan Komensky, or Comenius as he is more widely known, who fled to the Netherlands. Those

In today's edition of Czechs in History Radio Prague looks at the historical significance and fallout of the Battle of White Mountain, one of the most famous events in Czech history every student here at one time has learned by heart. The date of the battle was November 8th, 1620. The setting: a small, normally quiet hillside, just outside of Prague. But, the day would see a disappointingly one-sided affair, a battle that took less than two hours to lose by the Czech nobility. Defeated were the Protestants of the Bohemian Estates' army, vanquished

Today's edition of Czechs in History is dedicated to beer lovers. Historically Bohemia has a long tradition of brewing beer, and one hundred years ago there were dozens of small brewing houses throughout the country, the majority of which no longer exist. But there's one that continues even today, a renowned pub and brewery called U Fleku, where you can get a taste of days gone by. In existence since 1499, it is safe to say this pub is a must for any visitor to the Czech capital, and for any beer drinker worth his salt. And if brewing beer for

In early 1991 the Prague-based book publisher Paseka, run by Ladislav Horacek, acquired an old house going to ruin in the north Moravian town of Litomysl, with one intention in mind: to save the magnificent wall paintings within, which had been completed by the great Czech graphic artist Josef Vachal almost seventy years before. Rare wall paintings that were once brilliant in expressive colour, displaying an array of mystical characters and motifs which had been the artist's life-long obsession, now crumbling beyond recognition, threatening to

Tour guides on the way through the city will tell you it's one of the most unusual villas in Prague, found at the cross-roads of Mickiewiczova street and Chodkovy sady, where the city's old ramparts used to stand, an ambitious structure completed in 1911. Surrounded by tall trees, evergreens, a wide garden, it was designed by the famous Czech Art Nouveau Symbolist sculptor Frantisek Bilek, whose life we look at in this edition of Czechs in History.

'How I Came to Know Fish' - for years I glimpsed this elegant volume of short stories in Prague's English-language bookstores, at times wondering over its greenish cover featuring a fish on a hook. I wondered blankly over the name of its author, without, I admit, inquiring further. Ota Pavel. The name, though known to most Czechs, said nothing to me then, at most I had an inkling the author had been a sports journalist for Czech Radio in the 1950s. Then I caught a glimpse of his photo somewhere - Ota Pavel, writer - the author in his youth, a black

He was a man who never lived, yet who went further in defining the Czechs in the 20th century than perhaps anyone else: the most famous of Czech literary characters, the Good Soldier Svejk. Created by the true bohemian - as well as anarchist - writer Jaroslav Hasek, Svejk is often impenetrable but ultimately irreverent beneath a simple child-like smile most often mistaken for foolishness. He makes a mockery of his "betters" within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, ultimately seeing through the hypocrisies of his day. Almost unintentionally he sabotages