New Year’s Eve and Lentils

What is it about New Year’s Eve and lentils? Well – there is an old Czech saying – “Jak na Nový rok, tak po celý rok” which translates as: “As on New Year’s Day, the same throughout the whole year.” Therefore, on New Year’s Day, most Czechs consume lentils (čočka). Lentils are served on New...

Food, Holidays

December 31, 2019

Czech Christmas Chocolate Collections

How many of you remember growing up with Czech Christmas chocolate collections? You know, the ones that came in the large box which included hooks for hanging on your Christmas tree? The chocolates themselves were wrapped to resemble all sorts of Christmas ornaments. In our house, Christmas was not complete unless we had these included...

Food, Holidays, LIFESTYLE

November 17, 2019

International Students’ Day Began with the Czechs

Today is International Students’ Day and a public holiday in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia thanks to the martyrdom of nine at the hands of the Nazi occupation forces this day in 1939. The previous fall, Hitler had cowed the allied powers into ceding the mountainous Czechoslovakian Sudetenland to the Third Reich in order...

LIFESTYLE

November 15, 2019

The Versailles of Southern Moravia

Lednice is a Summer palace which is known as the Versailles of Southern Moravia. The palace is built in an English Neo-Gothic style and dates, as it looks today, from 1846-1858. However, its roots date back much further. The first record of Lednice dates back to 1222, when a Gothic fort with a courtyard stood...

Czech Republic, PLACES

November 13, 2019

The Earliest Czech Autochrome Photographers

Today we are looking at some of the earliest Czech autochrome photographers. The Autochrome Lumière is an early color photography process patented in 1903 by the Lumière brothers in France and first marketed in 1907. It was the principal color photography process in use before the advent of subtractive color film in the mid-1930s. Commercial...

CULTURE, Photography

November 9, 2019

The Salvation Army in Czechoslovakia

The Salvation Army in Czechoslovakia from 1919 until 1951 was largely due to the work of Josef Korbel (Order of the Founder) and his wife, Erna. Josef Korbel was born on January 17, 1907 in Prague. He grew up in the town of Prelouc, where his father owned a factory for agricultural machinery. He attended...

History, Men, NOSTALGIA

November 8, 2019

Photographs of The Prague Spring by Josef Koudelka

In the August of 1968, crowds of Soviet tanks rolled into the shining capital of Prague, marking the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. This historical event, which would change the lives of the Czech people for years to come, has come to be known as The Prague Spring. During the invasion, one young man took to...

CULTURE, Photography

October 29, 2019

Steel Strings and Iron Curtains

As you know, the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution is coming up on November 17th. Just in time, we wanted to introduce the English-speaking community to Central Europe’s versions of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Ray LaMontagne and Elliot Smith through Steel Strings and Iron Curtains. In this extraordinary project, a group of...

ENTERTAINMENT, Music

October 28, 2019

Voice of the Velvet Revolution

The first major manifestations of dissatisfaction began in August of 1988. The demonstrations continued until end of totalitarian regime. In January of 1989, memorial demonstrations were held to commemorate Jan Palach’s self-immolation. Water cannons and special intervention units were sent to the streets. The reaction of the communist regime prompted more people to attend further...

ENTERTAINMENT, History, Movies

October 27, 2019

A Brief History of the Early Bohemians of Chicago

The following is a reprint of an article featuring a brief history of the early Bohemians of Chicago that appeared in the Chicago Tribune on March 07, 1886. It was entitled as follows: Manners and Customs of the Bohemian Portion of the City’s Population. They Are Industrious, Thrifty and Generally of a Most Peaceable Disposition....

Bohemians, History, NOSTALGIA

October 25, 2019

Watch This: Princezna ze mlejna or The Watermill Princess

Princezna ze mlejna (English: The Watermill Princess) is a Czech fairytale film which tells the story of a young man named Jindřich, who dreams of finding and freeing an enchanted princess. The movie begins in a sun-drenched village in Southern Bohemia, surrounded by shady woods and silvery ponds. It is in this gentle village where...

ENTERTAINMENT, Movies

October 21, 2019

Texas Czechs – A People United

While describing the American character in his essay, “What is an American?” Jean de Crevecoeur also defined the unifying forces of the Czechs who immigrated to America. He stated, “In this great American asylum the poor of Europe have by some means met together, and the consequence of various causes.” The Czech pioneer in Texas...

History, NOSTALGIA

October 18, 2019

A New Declaration of Independence

The Czechoslovak Declaration of Independence or the Washington Declaration (Czech: Washingtonská deklarace; Slovak: Washingtonská deklarácia) was drafted in Washington, D.C. and published by Czechoslovakia’s Paris-based Provisional Government on 18 October 1918. The creation of the document, officially the Declaration of Independence of the Czechoslovak Nation by Its Provisional Government (Czech: Prohlášení nezávislosti československého národa zatímní...

History, NOSTALGIA

October 18, 2019

Vodník: An Animation Based on The Traditional Czech Fairytale

Arguably one of the most famous characters in Czech fairytales and legends, Vodník, also known as hastrman, is a mythical water goblin who lurks in dark ponds and lakes, luring beautiful young women to their deaths. This mysterious water sprite, who is often portrayed as a hideous green man dressed in dripping coattails and riding...

Art and Design, CULTURE

October 13, 2019

Potato Flatcakes or Bramborové Placky

Imagine, these little rounds of potato goodness may have been the legacy of the Queen of Bohemia. We’re sure they most likely came from the time when Bohemians started to grow potatoes in our country, sometime in the 1870s – under Maria Theresa. During that time, the potato flatcakes spread throughout the lands of the...

Food, Recipes

October 11, 2019

Czech Graphic Artist Jiří Slíva

Jiří Slíva was born in Pilsen in 1947 and has lived in Prague since 1966. After completing his studies in economics he spent eight years working as a sociologist and futurologist. Since 1979 he has worked very successfully as a freelance cartoonist, illustrator and graphic artist. Jiří Slíva’s first drawing was published in 1972. He...

Art and Design