Breda & Weinstein Department Store

The Breda & Weinstein department store by the Viennese architect Leopold Bauer first opened at the beginning of October in 1928. It was one of the most modern buildings of its time. It stood five stories above ground and had two underground floors, and it served as retail shops as well as a clothing factory....

Architecture, CULTURE

January 3, 2019

Moravian Maurice Grau and the Metropolitan Opera

“The family with Czech roots who popularized musical theatre, ran the Metropolitan Opera, and published insightful books on theatre were the Graus. Maurice Grau was the universally loved head of the Met, his brother toured North America producing repertory opera-musicals, and another brother wrote the books.” The quote came in the form of a comment...

History, LIFESTYLE, NOSTALGIA, PEOPLE

January 2, 2019

Listen to Bill Clinton Play Saxophone Live in Prague

As a child growing up in Arkansas, William Jefferson Clinton had a passion for music and considered it to be one of his favorite hobbies. He especially loved jazz music and favored the sound of the saxophone, so it was no surprise when he started playing and practicing daily. In school he played in the jazz ensemble,...

ENTERTAINMENT, Music

November 15, 2018

The Republic of Bohemia

A very rare and beautiful book from 1643 on the History of the Republic of Bohemia (the Czech Republic) has come available for sale. For a collector, this is a wonderful and very rare gift indeed. Written in Latin, it shares a mysterious and little known history of Bohemia at the time. The focus of...

Books, ENTERTAINMENT

November 2, 2018

The Tale of the Headless Gingerbread Men

Two weeks ago, we wrote about the mysterious legend of The House at the Golden Well (Czech: Dům U Zlaté Studně), which follows the story of Ľubomíra, a housemaid who fell into the house’s well while looking for gold and died. According to the legend, her ghost continued to haunt the building for many years...

NOSTALGIA, Time Warp

October 19, 2018

The Legend of The House at the Golden Well

The House at the Golden Well (Czech: Dům U Zlaté Studně) is a baroque building situated on the corner of Karlova and Seminářská street in Prague. It was built during the 14th century and, since then, it has undergone multiple reconstructions. The last reconstruction of the exterior took place in 1769 and resulted in a...

NOSTALGIA, Time Warp

July 18, 2018

The Mysterious Amateur Photography of A Soldier in Prague

Looking through old photographs of Prague, we stumbled across a Flickr album by a user named Mark Susina containing spectacular photos of Prague in the 50’s. The photographer of these photos is Marks father, who took the photos while being stationed in Prague in the army. Mark says of the photos that a few of...

CULTURE, Photography

July 2, 2018

The Letov L-290 Orel Maneuvering Through Prague

Imagine walking down the sidewalk in Prague when suddenly the larger than life body of an airplane moves past you. That is exactly what happened just a few months after the end of WWII with the plane that would be known as the Letov L-290 Orel. LETOV is an aircraft company located in Prague –...

History, Time Warp

June 10, 2018

Memorial to Lidice by Bohuslav Martinů

On an unforgettable night in June 1942, the peaceful village of Lidice, Czechoslovakia, ceased to exist. It was neither earthquake nor flood that wiped this town from the verdant hills west of Prague; it was the dark evil of man’s nature. Nazi troops swept through the village as it slept, killing the men, deporting the...

Czech Republic, History

June 8, 2018

3 of Prague’s Most Important Cemeteries

A city as old and as rich in history as Prague has many cemeteries. Some are quite famous, others have been forgotten with time. Some are tucked away and hidden from the eyes of the general public and some are considered protected monuments and closed to the public in order to preserve the graves they...

PLACES, Prague

June 6, 2018

The Return of The Iconic Czech Čezeta Scooter

Everybody knows and loves the Vespa, an Italian scooter first manufactured in 1946 which became famous through the iconic movie, Roman Holiday where Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn zipped through the streets of Rome getting ice-cream and falling in love on its two wheels. The infamous idealistic word Vespa, means ‘wasp’ in Italian. Surely it...

NOSTALGIA, Retro Chic

May 30, 2018

Old Czech Language and the National Anthem

Czech language developed at the close of the 1st millennium from common West Slavic. Until the early 20th century, it was known as Bohemian but I will refer to it as old Czech language in this post. I wanted you to hear a wonderful example of old Czech language, at least as old an example...

Bohemians, ENTERTAINMENT, History, LIFESTYLE, Movies, NOSTALGIA

May 28, 2018

The Tragic 1895 Quicksand Disaster at the Town of Most

Imagine walking with your family, coming home from market when suddenly the buildings around you begin to crumble and the earth begins to swallow the people right in front of you. That is exactly what occurred in 1895 in a city called Most in Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) in the worst quicksand disaster in...

History, Movies, NOSTALGIA

May 14, 2018

The Old Town Hall of Prague by Count Lützow

What I am sharing today was a published extract from the speech delivered by Count Lützow (Lützow) W, D. LITT. OXON. PH.D. PRAG., at the Old Town Hall of Prague on the occasion of the visit of the Lord Mayor and Deputation of the Coronation of the city of London on the 18th of September,...

Architecture, Czech Republic, History