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In last week’s From the Archives we heard about radio’s central role in the Prague Uprising against the German occupation at the end of World War II. Not only did the signal for the uprising to begin come over the air, but the radio also helped to co-ordinate the fighting. It also played a third role. At the time the Red Army was already approaching Prague from the east, and General Patton’s Third Army was in Plzeň just a few dozen kilometres to the west. Many of those fighting in the streets of Prague were untrained and had few weapons, and the

Public broadcaster Český Rozhlas or Czech Radio is financing an unusual project – the attempted recovery of a WWII tank rumoured to be lost somewhere at the bottom of the river Labe (or Elbe). Diving teams are trawling through the river hoping to find a lost artefact from the past.

“Calling all Czechs! Come quickly to our aid! Calling all Czechs!” It is May 5 1945, and with these words Prague radio appeals to Czechs to join the uprising against the German occupation. This was to be one of the last European battles of World War Two and the greatest moment in the history of Czechoslovak Radio. For some time radio staff had been working secretly with the Czech underground to prepare the ground for the uprising. Their radio appeal marked the beginning of the battle. In the confusion of the following three days with street battles

The wartime president of occupied Bohemia and Moravia, Emil Hácha, is one of the saddest figures of Czech twentieth century history. An elderly academic, he only agreed reluctantly to become head of state after Edvard Beneš resigned over the Munich Agreement in 1938. He made the tragic mistake of remaining in office when Hitler marched into the country six months later. Hácha’s hopes of preserving at least some of his country’s independence were gradually worn down, and as his health failed, he eventually became nothing but a puppet of the

During the wartime occupation, German-language broadcasts from Prague were absorbed into the radio network of Nazi Germany, the so-called “Reichssender”. A number of archive recordings in German survive from the time. Most vivid and chilling among them are the long lists of names broadcast each day of Czechs arrested and executed. But there are also some propaganda curiosities. In June 1941, Prague’s German programme interviewed a nurse. She was living and working in the city, and remembered with great nostalgia one particular patient who had come

In Mailbox this week: response to Radio Prague’s special 85th anniversary broadcast; a new TV ad trying to lure tourists to Prague. Listeners quoted: Aloisie Krasny, Brian Kendall, Imo-Obong Umana, Anne Fanelli, Soumya Bhattacharjee, Ashraful Islam, Wang Li, Erik Koie, Jonathon Pukila.

A still-life by French painter Georges Braque called The Green Basin (1942) was sold in auction in Prague on Sunday for 11.5 million crowns (the equivalent of around 716,000 US dollars). The price is the 5th highest ever paid for a work of art in a Czech auction house. The record belongs to Elevation, a work by Czech painter Frantíšek Kupka, which sold for 22.1 million crowns in October.

Welcome to Mailbox on this very special day for Czech Radio. Eighty-five years ago today, on May 18, 1923, regular radio broadcasts began in Czechoslovakia from a tent in Prague-Kbely. We have a special programme dedicated to the anniversary which is to follow shortly.

One of the earliest recordings from the Czech Radio archives features the voice of Czechoslovakia’s first President, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, talking to a group of Czech children on the occasion of the tenth birthday of Czechoslovakia in October 1928. The president reminds the children of the principle of “a healthy mind in a healthy body”. “Don’t be afraid of water,” he says. “Wash yourselves with gusto, bathe and swim, take exercise in the fresh air and let the sun’s rays warm you.”

Czech Radio held an Open Doors Day at its main headquarters in Prague on Saturday, allowing visitors to get a “behind-the-scenes” look at production studios and other facilities used by the radio’s flagship Radiožurnál (Radiojournal) as well as other stations including Radio Prague - the international service of Czech Radio. This Sunday, May 18th, marks an important milestone for the public broadcaster: it was 85 years ago that, following the UK, Czechoslovakia became the second country in Europe to offer regular broadcasts. Its first broadcast went out at 8:15 pm from a military tent in Prague-Kbely. It featured musical performances as well as the spoken-word.