Modern Art – Entropa I was reading this month that France had just taken over the rotating Presidency of the European Union Council which means Czech will be next and it reminded me of what happened this week in January 2009 when France was handing over to Czech. It’s a tradition that the country taking … Read More
Czech Presidents, Emil Hacha and the Poison Chalice When you take a look at Czech history especially in the 20th Century you’ll find lots of references to Tomas Garrigue Masaryk (the first President of Czechoslovakia) or Edvard Beneš (longest serving Foreign Minister and second President of Czechoslovakia). Then we have a third President called Emil … Read More
WW2 Roma Internment In World War Two a group of people were racially profiled, segregated, interned, transported, tattooed and executed. But this isn’t a story about Jewish people. In England we might know them as travellers, some people call them gypsies but in Czech they are called Roma. As far back as 1933, Adolf Hitler … Read More
A Pair of Red Shorts Every now and again there has to be a line drawn and some consequences dished out. This is a true story about an outlandish protest and an equally outlandish but ultimately petty response. This post will help you understand why sometimes you see a pair of red shorts hanging above … Read More
Prague Kinsky Palace, National Gallery Location The Kinsky Palace is the largest single building on the Old Town Square. Before you say “that’s not true, what about the churches and the Old Town Hall?”. Well the Old Town Hall is 4 buildings joined together, the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn is set back from … Read More
Story of a Photograph I never know where I’ll be drawn next when I’m writing about Prague. This was supposed to be a religious persecution post, but it took a few turns and left me with a big surprise at the end. It started with a picture I took years ago of an empty building … Read More
Prague Old Town Square 1621 Memorial As you wander around the city you’ll pass various memorials to people and events. On the Old Town Square you’ll find the 1621 memorial. Actually you are more likely to walk over it first. It might look old but in reality it only goes back to renovation work done … Read More
Thirty Years War Before you read this post take a few minutes to read about the Prague Defenestrations and specifically the third one. This sets the political tone. You might think that this is just history but in fact it has a direct impact on your tourism today. Look in your guidebook and it will … Read More
Prague Defenestrations Defenestration comes from the German word for window i.e. Fenster. the act of throwing someone or something out of a window. expulsion, riddance, ejection, exclusion – the act of forcing out someone or something; Oxford English Dictionary The First and Second Prague Defenestrations As far as throwing people out of windows goes then … Read More
Prague Coat of Arms There’s always history in a coat of arms and it’s often changed through the years but normally it’s a family coat of arms. In this case I’ll walk you through the origins of the Prague Coat of Arms, how things have changed over the years and why we’ve settled on the … Read More