Czech Update

Czechs celebrate anniversaries of Jan Hus and Cyril and Metoděj on successive days

admin — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:35:05 -0400

July 5 and 6 represent successive holidays commemorating two corner stone events of Czech history and myth. They are successively the brining of literacy to the Czech lands (or Great Moravia) by Cyril and Methodius in 863 and the burning for heresy of the Czech reform priest Jan Hus in 1415. Both events are amply described around the internet including YouTube.

40th Anniversary of Jan Palach's Suicide

Dominik Lukeš — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 04:33:40 -0500

Today is the anniversary of Jan Palach's suicide. Here's what Wikipedia has to say on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Palach: "The Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968 was designed to crush the liberalising reforms of Alexander Dubček's government during the Prague Spring. Palach died after setting himself on fire in Wenceslas Square in Prague, Czechoslovakia on 16 January1969 in protest. He was the first of a group of students to sign a suicide pact, but most of the others did not go through with their part, after the well-publicised pleas Palach made on his deathbed about the degree of pain they faced."

Palachova zkratka na cestě do dějin - www.lidovky.cz Je to čtyřicet let, co na Václavském náměstí v Praze vzplála „Pochodeň č. 1“. Výročí je dobrou příležitostí Palachův sebezáhubný čin znovu promyslet. Co jej motivovalo a měl jeho skutek vůbec nějaký smysl?

Dictionary of Czech culture

Dominik Lukeš — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 16:56:48 -0400

The Amazon reviewer got it right! This is an excellent (newish) book on Czech culture. It bills itself as a dictionary of Czech popular culture but it contains all those things that make Czechs be Czechs. It is an essential guide to anybody who wants to have a meaningful conversation with a Czech and it is these conversations that bring people closer together more than anything else. I cannot recommend it highly enough!

Amazon.com: From Good King Wenceslas to the Good Soldier Svejk: A Dictionary of Czech Popular Culture: Books: Andrew Lawrence Roberts The topics covered include society, politics, history, literature, music, movies, sports and much more. Regardless of length, the entries are clear and well-written. Historical background is provided whenever needed. The book is rounded off with a useful alphabetical and thematic index to all dictionary entries. People interested in Czech history, culture and politics will find this work a valuable source for informative descriptions and definitions. All the more so because it is written in a lucid, wry style which is a pleasure to read.

Czech opera on YouTube

Dominik Lukeš — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 06:20:02 -0400

YouTube is known mostly for funny little clips or stolen content. But it is also a great resource for music. One thing I came across by accident are a number of clips from Czech opera. This one is a famous and beautiful aria from Dvořák's Rusalka. It is sung in Czech by the American soprano Renée Fleming. The Czech is pretty good but it has a recognizable accent (in as much as you can tell an accent in opera singing) - a bit of a 'lisp' as if spoken by a Pole. Anyway, here it is:

Jára Cimrman to bring new Czech heaven

Dominik Lukeš — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 07:53:23 -0500

Cimrmanův divadelní kšaft - www.lidovky.cz Zdeněk Svěrák a Ladislav Smoljak chystají patnáctou hru, kterou by chtěli oslavit podzimní čtyřicítku Divadla Járy Cimrmana. Nová hra by se mohla jmenovat České nebe s podtitulem Cimrmanův dramatický kšaft.

It is characteristic of many things in the Czech psyche that the greatest Czech of all time [also here], as measured by Czech TV's remake of BBC's 100 Greatest Brittons, never existed. It was Jára Cimrman who will celebrate 40 years of non-existence next year. And his 'discoverers', now revered Czech cultural icons themselves, have just announced they are planning to uncover the 15th lost play by this intellectual giant. The play may be called 'Czech Heaven' and with any luck will open in the fall of 2007. This is big news! Roughly on the scale of announcing the new Star Wars. Unlike the Star Wars, though, this is unlikely to disappoint. Want know why? Read this account by an American of the Czech hero's appeal who sums it up pretty well:

I will never be able to fully appreciate Cimrman the way the Czechs do. For him, he is a representation of their entire history all rolled up into one person, even if that persona is fictional. The Czechs were always there, being one of the most important and loyal provinces of the Hapsburg Empire, they helped start the Protestant Reformation long before Martin Luther nailed his theses to the door of the catherdral, many of the greatest minds in art and science resided or were born in Czech lands (Kafka, Freud, Mozart all either were born in or lived at some point in Czech lands, and good king Wenceslas's real name was Václav, who was a Czech king), Bohemia was one of the most industrially advanced regions of Europe for much of the early part of the 20th century and during the Cold War serviced almost all of the Warsaw Pact's armor and weapons needs. Basically, the Czechs were always involved in great things and movements, but they almost never received credit or recognition for what they accomplisehd; just like Cimrman. Someone always held the patent on that darn lightbulb, or someone was always just five mintues ahead of them.

Tracking the history behind the Wenceslaus Carol

Dominik Lukeš — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 06:08:04 -0500

Czech point: On the trail of Wenceslaus: Independent Online Edition > Europe Wenceslaus was born into the Premyslid dynasty, which had risen to hegemony in this part of central Europe a couple of generations earlier. His father was Duke Bratislav, his mother from a tribe from further north in the Czech lands. But his greatest influence was his grandmother, Ludmilla, who also picked up a sainthood after introducing Christianity to the Czech people.

The Independent set out on the trail of the Good King and found that he is inextricably tied to all that the Czechs hold dear about their history including a famous Prague square.

Ask someone to name an address in the Czech Republic, and the chances are that the one they will choose will be Wenceslaus Square. It is a couple of miles from the castle, on the far side of the river Vltava. And even with a giant, luminous Christmas tree at one end, it lacks the grace * * found elsewhere in Prague. "Square" it most certainly isn't: more of a broad avenue running from the edge of the Old Town to the National Museum. This is an ugly, stuffy institution of the kind that gives national museums a bad name. But in front of it stands an early 20th-century equestrian statue of Wenceslaus, surrounded by some lesser Czech saints - including his gran, Ludmilla.

And that the Good King might even have some future:

Many Czech people still believe that Wenceslaus may live to fight another day. He is, they say, currently enjoying a deep and dreamless sleep beneath the mountain of Blanik - about 35 miles from Prague. "When the worst time comes to this country," says Jan Stodola, "he will ride out of the mountain and will free the country. Then there will be peace in this country for ever."

Who killed Jan Masaryk?

Dominik Lukeš — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 08:55:53 -0500

Ruský novinář: Vím, kdo zabil Jana Masaryka - www.lidovky.cz (Foto: Hynek Glos, Lidové Noviny) MOSKVA 17. prosince 2006 | 11:29 Syna prvního československého prezidenta a poválečného ministra zahraničí Jana Masaryka zabil Michajl Iljič Bělkin, který zemřel v roce 1980. Tvrdí to ruský publicista Leonid Paršin

A new development in a 60-year-old murder. Jan Masaryk, the son of the Czechoslovakia's first president T. G. Masaryk, and a minister of foreign affairs in the exile government during WWII as well as the post-war government, died under suspicious circumstances in 1948. He was found dead at the bottom of the ministry building presumably having jumped to his death out of his bathroom window. His death has long been a fodder for many conspiracy theories (although, in this case not as far fatched as most). Now, a Russian journalist has come forward with information about a confession by Masaryk's presumed murderer to his mother. However, a definite proof is still absent from this long tale to which some have referred as the Third Defenestration of Prague.

Czech mythology and gender roles in politics

Dominik Lukeš — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 10:25:59 -0500

MF DNES VÍCE ŽEN V POLITICE Po komunálních volbách přibylo žen ve vedení hlavního města a také čtyři městské části zvolily političky do svého čela. Podle odborníků je to pořád málo. Jenže strany stále nechtějí ženy umisťovat na přední místa kandidátek. Praha - Pověst o mytické kněžně Libuši vypráví o tom, kterak moudrá žena raději ustoupila velmožům a vládu nad Vyšehradem přenechala svému muži. Pohled do lavic nového zastupitelstva Prahy napovídá, že velkou službu svým následovnicím neprokázala. Stereotyp, že na správu věcí veřejných má pravé know-how jedině muž, přežil celá staletí - mezi 70 zastupiteli je pouze 14 žen a v jedenáctičlenné radě zasedají všehovšudy tři ženy. Ve srovnání s předvolebním stavem se však pořád dá mluvit o úspěchu. Tehdy bylo žen ve vedení města dvakrát méně.

One of the outcomes of the recent local-government elections was a slight increase in the numbers of women in Prague local-government. Still, there are only 14 women (out of 70) in the city chamber and only 3 (out of 11) sit on the city council. This represents a doubling of the number of women but is still very much insufficient. Part of the problem is with the parties themselves who often do not put women in the front positions on the ballot so they often have to rely on 'preference votes'. Another interesting bit in this iDnes article is the reference to the mythical Czech queen Libuše who abdicated in favor of her husband Přemysl to quieten down the men of her time.

Czech traditions and German influence

Dominik Lukeš — Fri, 16 Dec 2005 08:23:47 -0500

The Prague Post Online Experts agree that proper Olomouc cheese, or Olomoucké tvarůžky, should be moist and slightly sticky, with a lustrous, translucent layer on the outside. The inside, by contrast, should be firm but not tough, its color somewhere between light beige and creamy white. And then there is the characteristic smell. ... But is it authentically Czech? On that point hangs a debate stirring up the EP [European Parliament]. Tvarůžky and another of the country's favorite products — thin, sweet wafers from Karlovy Vary known as oplatky — are at the center of an argument between Czech, German and Austrian members of the EP. ... Germans and Austrians are against granting Czechs a PDO for Karlovy Vary wafers and Olomouc cheese, arguing the two products were traditionally made by Germans living in Czechoslovakia before the end of World War II. ... Some 30 Czech products are currently awaiting PDO approval by the European Commission, including gingerbread from Pardubice and carp from Třeboň.

Interesting. But certainly more interesting is the historical and cultural background of the story. First, the traditional products and foods: olomoucké tvarůžky also known as smradlavý sýr - smelly cheese - a popular and well-known type of cheese with a pungent odor karlovarské oplatky - thin Carlsbad wafers popular as a souvenir for those returning from their favourite spa town jihočeský/třeboňský kapr - carp from the ponds of Southern Bohemia, such as the famous one near Třeboň. Carp, of course, is a traditional Czech Chritmas Eve dish eaten with potato salad. Second, there is the influence of German culture and traditions in Czech history that was suddenly interrupted by the expulsion of most Czech Germans as a retaliation for World War II after 1945. One of the most famous "Czech" writers - Kafka wrote in German. Goethe, a frequent visitor to Carlsbad, supposedly said of Prague that it is the most beautiful German city. In Three Men on a Bummel Jerome K. Jerome and friends visit Prague but only as part of their trip to "Germany". Many of the things that make the Czech lands famous have a German connection (historically for instance, silver mining - giving rise to the word - dollar). Czech lands (Bohemia and Moravia) are also the birthplace of some famous German speakers - Freud, Husserl, Mahler, Porsche, Kafka, etc. Unfortunately (but probably inevitably), the emphasis on the many contentious moments in the history of Czech-German (and that in this case includes Austrians) relations makes an appreciation of the positive aspects of German influence difficult for Czech society at large. The slights cited go all the way back to St Wensceslas, John Hus (and the Hussite wars) and continue through through to the Hapsburg rule (and Germanization attempts after 1621) and of course to the German protectorate (including Teresienstadt and Lidice) during WWII.

Battle reenactment near Slavkov claims 8 injuries

Dominik Lukeš — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 17:18:49 -0500

www.lidovky.cz - U Slavkova se zranilo osm lidí Osm zranění si vyžádala sobotní rekonstrukce bitvy tří císařů v Tvarožné na Brněnsku. Většinu poraněných odváželi zdravotníci přímo z bitevního pole, řekl primář jihomoravské zdravotnické záchranné služby Pavel Urbánek.

Eight people were injured (some fairly seriously) during Saturday's reenactment of the 1805 battle of Austerlitz (or Slavkov in Czech located near the Moravian capital Brno), also known as the battle of Three Emperors and one of Napoleon's great victories. More information about the battle on the 200th anniversary reenactment website.