Hotel Olympik Fire 1995 A fire at the Hotel Olympik on the evening of May 26th 1995 would result in the deaths of 8 people and injuries to more than 30 others. Lessons were learned that day. Hotel Olympik opened in 1971 as a brand new purpose-built hotel with 318 rooms (831 beds) over 18 … Read More
The Last Woman Hanged Every now and again I have to wait at a tram stop called Strossmayerovo namesti (Holešovice district) to take the short one stop journey to the Vltavska metro station. It’s a popular stop at the bottom of a hill named after a lady called Milada Horakova. I was researching a completely … Read More
Jachymov Work Camp When you meet a Czech communist nowadays and you try to engage in some discussion about what the Czech communists did to non-communist Czechs in the 1950s there’s often this defence about “not everybody was executed, many only went to work camps”. Let’s take a look at one of those places, specifically … Read More
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia 1939-1945 During a walking tour when people ask me what was it like in Czechoslovakia during World War Two they are always surprised at my answer “there was no Czechoslovakia in World War Two”. A Mental Picture Try to picture a situation of somebody in Prague listening to the radio … Read More
Politics and History – Charter 77 You don’t have to spend too much time watching Czech news to learn that famous people have died. Sometimes however the name is followed by a simple phrase “Charter 77 signatory”. In our current time of being able to say pretty much whatever we like and not have to … Read More
The Prague Fords It has always fascinated me how Prague has developed. On the walking tours I’m often asked the question about why the city of Prague originated in its current location. Anybody in the world will know the answer to this question if they understand their own geographical history. I was actually born in … Read More
The WW2 Prague Uprising A frequent question on my walking tours is whether the centre of Prague was bombed during World War Two because it looks so old. I answer this question more fully on my World War Two Walking Tour but in summary, yes it was bombed but no the majority of any damage … Read More
The Linden Tree, Slavic Icon About 4 months after arriving in Prague I was having a conversation with a local guy and I asked what was the national flower of the country. He replied that they did not have a national flower but they did have a national tree, the Lípa (pronounced like leepa) or … Read More
The Beneš Decrees As I write this, Ukraine is being invaded by Russia, some towns are being occupied and Russian supporting people are being put in public administrative positions. It made me think of events in Czech in 1945 when the occupying power was kicked out and retribution swiftly followed against those considered, rightly or … Read More
1948 Communist Coup All over this website on the historical and political posts as well as many of the attractions you’ll see me refer to the “Communist takeover” or the “Communist coup d’etat” which is still referred to historically as “Victorious February” by our local communist party. It’s worth taking some time to see where … Read More